Frankly, it’s just great to have a real sport to watch again. I’ve quickly grown tired of the melodramatic rolling around on the ground and crying, emblematic of that other competition. So, it’s great to have sumo back. There’s no advantage given to miming and diving here.

from https://tachiai.org/2026/07/12/nagoya-2026-day-one/

i've watched last 30 minutes of a couple of ⚽ matches and i couldn't agree more with the above statement. I've read the paragraph while searching for more info about why i don't see Wakatakakage in this tournament

here:

The biggest storyline is the sudden kyujo of May’s tournament winner, Wakatakakage. He was rushed to hospital after experiencing severe pain in his thigh. He underwent surgery and we hope for a swift recovery. Thus, he is absent from the Day One match-ups. Another prolonged, multi-basho absence would be a real gut-check. He’d climbed back from the knee injury and we’d just started muttering the words, “Ozeki Run,” but now that’s gone. He will tumble into the midst of the rank-and-file for Aki, likely as far as Maegashira 10 or 11.

I just got into watching midway through the May basho, so he really stood out for me, and I'm almost through watching the March tournament and he looks great there as well. I read he has compartment syndrome, so I asked my wife about it who works in the ER and she said that can be some really serious stuff. I hope he gets the time to hopefully recover, it looks like so many guys are always fighting hurt. I've been loving a lot about the sport, but it looks to be a lot of physical suffering for the guys.

If my first tournament getting to watch him ends up being the last, that's a real shame, he looks so talented, and of course I just want him to be ok! 🥺

I’ve read the paragraph while searching for more info about why i don’t see Wakatakakage in this tournament

Yeah here's more info: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260706/p2g/00m/0sp/008000c

As anon6789 says, it looks like pretty serious.

I've been totally ignoring the football world cup, I hope it's going well.

i can't ignore. It's summer, windows are open. Suddenly there are cheers. i'm curious.
Or a dead silence … "wtf is happening! oh, yes, there was a match today. They're loosing."
People are talking during lunch. "Norwegians are playing like robots." Like i wrote, i'm curious. What do they mean by "like robots"? I have to see 🫣

for a training injury that left him at risk of paralysis

hope he gets well soon. I love his face-off arm shake (elbow push)

I don't watch football (soccer) because all the diving & rolling around on the pitch in agony, followed by two seconds of limping, only to be immediately followed by running after the ball at full speed, is damn tiresome! Then there's football (american)...so boring! And even more boring baseball.

Watching sumo is so much more entertaining! I only wish the NHK YT channel would show more than just 20 seconds of the rikishi preparing and then straight to the tachi-ai. Is there a better way to see the banner parade and preparations?

Also give me rugby any day!

Try this channel

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEGSm9D5mUHY

Thanks, will give it a try.