Posted on 10/23/2005 9:01:08 PM PDT by churchillbuff
For fans, it was worth the weight.
More than 8,000 people lined Madison Square Garden last night to catch a glimpse of what happens when the official sport of Japan gets an American makeover.
The Garden hosted 24 of the world's largest athletes with the first World Sumo Challenge.
"It's been my life's dream to see live sumo," said Laurie Huenteo, 43, with a straight face.
Huenteo was able to live her dream thanks to her boyfriend, Donald Dimiceli, 45, who overheard talk of the tournament in a sushi bar.
The final match will likely provide plenty of conversation at the restaurant.
Japan's Mitshuhiko Fukao managed to keep his 412-pound body in the air just long enough to win the tournament, hitting the dohyo (ring) floor a fraction of a second after his opponent, Bulgarian Petar Stoyanov, stepped out of bounds.
By the time the judges announced the result, most of the crowd was standing and screaming.
"The crowd was full of energy," said Fukao in Japanese after the match.
The tournament was brought to New York by Big Boy Productions, a Manhattan promotional group looking to organize a national sumo tour. Rolling from event to event, they were happy to help promote the tradition-rich Japanese sport.
Of course there were some tweaks to tradition for the American crowd. One was a 10-minute dramatic performance about the legend of the origin of sumo, complete with taiko drummers, acrobats and Dry Ice smoke - definitely not the norm in Japan.
The wave the crowd performed during intermission? Not a Shinto custom.
"This is more like a WWE [World Wrestling Entertainment] event," said Miho Manabe, 34.
"A lot of Japanese might be offended," said Manabe, quickly adding she wasn't one of them.
Judging by the raucous cheers of the crowd, which included actor Michael J. Fox, New Yorkers have made room in their hearts for these scantily clad strongmen. For the record, they're wearing mawashi, not diapers.
"I was watching a lot of faces when I came out, and I saw a lot of giggles over the exposed butts," said Kena Heffernan, a Hawaiian wrestler who was eliminated in the first stage last night. "But I didn't see that same expression when the matches started. . . . Hopefully, they're having a good time."
Capitalism in action, and evidently Michael J. Fox has a piece of the action.
Good for him.
Ten thousand Ankh-Morpork dollars for the life of the man, woman, or beast who wrote that headline.
The wrestlers were full of Carnegie Deli.
I am reminded that my Ma washi lotta diapers many years ago...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.