March 2011 Sumo Tournament Canceled

I've been reporting on this most recent scandal to hit the world of Sumo on my all-Sumo channel on YouTube.

Below is the video I made on Feb. 4th when the news first broke and above is my reaction to the news that they are canceling the March tournament in Osaka.

As a big fan of the sport of Sumo, this is really a bad development, with face-saving measures taken by the JSA (Japan Sumo Assoc.) board seeming to hurt Sumo fans more than helping us continue our enjoyment of the sport.

Match-fixing, or "yaochou" in Japanese is not illegal, and it has long been suspected in the lower divisions of Sumo, but this is the first time they have solid proof it has happened.
Americans like myself are a bit immune to less-than-honorable goings-on in our major sports, but it usually doesn't diminish the love of the sport itself, and my guess is the same will hold true in Sumo.

I am eager to watch the next basho, and I sincerely hope that they get all this worked out before the May tournament in Tokyo.

-Jason