Sumo

One of the best ways to say excuse me in Japanese is sumimasen. My longstanding joke has been that a large person moving through the crowd should instead say sumomasen. 

I watched sumo last night on TV. I've always enjoyed watching it when I get a chance. Last night the champion deftly stepped aside as his opponent charged right past him and out of the ring. That's all there was to the much touted championship match.

Of course there was more to it than that. There are psychological games as the matches begin, and there was some fancy hand and footwork involved in the fake out. But it was still over in about a second.

The crowd wasn't pleased. They had been waiting all evening for this match and were disappointed to not see a struggle between the two. I get it, though I do feel differently. I thought it was just awesome. 

The only reason sports are interesting, at least to me, is that they are unpredictable. On 'any given Sunday' the weak team can beat the strong one, or the champion sumo wrestler can win his bout with his head rather than his massive body.

The only thing that would have made last night's bout better is if the champion, after winning in that way, had bowed to the crowd and roared sumomasen!