Sumo Match of the Century!

In sports news, the Haru Basho (Spring Tournament) in Osaka made Sumo wrestling history earlier this month as defending champ Hakuhō Shō faced off with Harumafuji Kōhei. It was over faster than the 2nd Ali-Liston fight.

Harumafuji lunged at Hakuhō, who sidestepped. Harumafuji couldn’t stop, and staggered out of the ring to lose. It was over in 1 second. Hakuhō had won his 36th Emperor’s Cup.

Some Sumo fans are saying that Hakuhō, a 31-year-old veteran, should hang up his mawashi and go out a winner after this wild match, but he plans to fight on for his 37th Emperor’s Cup title.

Attention Sports Fans

American sports fans: upset that there’s no pro basketball due to the NBA strike? Bored by the NFL and NHL, disgusted with college football? Don’t despair. The Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament has just started at Fukuoka Kokusai Center and continues through November 27th. Don’t miss it, it’s the last big sumo tournament of 2011. This is truly heavy competition: rishiki (wrestlers) weight in at 250 to 400 pounds. And talk about your World Series: competitors are from Mongolia, Brazil, Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Estonia, and the Czech Republic as well as Japan.