In my previous post, I mentioned the advice of being effective, not popular. In the post, I attached a picture of the sumo wrestler Asashoryu.
Check out the video above. Asashoryu is a very good example of effective-not-popular. Sumo is a traditional Japanese sport, one which is as much sport as tradition to the Japanese. When Asashoryu became the 68th Yokozuna (Grand Champion), he was the first Mongolian ever to attain the rank and the third non-Japanese yokuzuna after Akebono and Musashimaru, who are both Samoan. Currently, he is the only active yokozuna, along with Hakuho, who is also Mongolian. There have been no Japanese Yokozuna since Takanohana retired in 2003.
As evident in this article, Asashoryu has been involved in numerous controversies, some of which are related to a lack of discipline on his part, some of which may be attributed to sumo’s xenophobic attitudes. In any case, Asashoryu is effective: he’s one of the greatest sumo wrestlers ever with 23 top division championships, he was the first wrestler ever to win all six tournaments in a single calendar year, and his name sells tickets like crazy. People want to see him because he’s an exciting fighter who wins. He’s working on the other parts of his personality, and if he can settle down and get his mind back into the game, he could become an even greater force.
Effectiveness trumps popularity. People watch Asashoryu because he wins, and he wins with exciting moves. When people go to a sumo match, they want to see sumo. The niceties are pleasant, but they are secondary to the main purpose, which is good sumo wrestling. If you do something worth doing, it is worth doing well.
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I wonder if he would be more popular if he was Japanese as opposed to Mongolian. Even though Akebono showed the reverence to the sport, there was much reluctance and controversy over his promotion. Konishiki’s cavalier behavior and comments gave the JSA excuse, albeit thin, to withhold promotion.
Tiger Woods is the No. 1 golfer in the world since 1998 save one year by Vijay Singh. Now he has been unseated by Y.E. Yang in the PGE tournament. Simply because Yang beat Tiger in one PGA competition, doesn’t make him the No. 1 golfer in the world. Yang will have to continue to prove himself over and over again in order to unseat Tiger.
When Tiger came about, there was much controversy over a black man being the best at a white man’s game. But before Tiger, Who ever heard of Greg Norman?
Before Konishiki, Akebono and Musashimaru, how interesting was Sumo to those outside of Japan?
I think if Asashouyruu continues to be good at what he does, the JSA will have to give credit where credit is due or their biases will only be too obvious and hurt their credibility.
I wonder if there’s a difference between the JSA’s views and the general public’s views. It seems that they’re watching him and criticizing him, but he’s so good that they also can’t get enough of him. A sumo wrestler with depression. It doesn’t get more exciting than that! In the past, sumo wrestlers were supposed to practice silence and stoicism, and now you have a guy like Asashoryu who is suddenly human. I imagine that everyone, Japanese and non, is appreciating the energy that he brings to the table.
The funny (and great) thing is that there isn’t really much they can do, since yokozuna cannot be demoted. They can force his retirement, as they did with one loser yokozuna who hit his stablemaster’s wife, but they really don’t have enough to go on against Asashoryu because:
a) Everyone sees that he’s trying hard to work by the rules. It’s not a lack of good intentions.
b) He’s not been cocky and trashy in the media, a la Matt Hughes.
c) He rescued a dying sport.
d) He wins.
I think that there is definitely enough support in the general populace to prevent the JSA from whipping out that forced retirement hammer. Which is still hard, since they can continue to harass and criticize him…
You highlight a good issue. There is probably a difference between the public opinion and the JSA, although I think strong public opinion would influence the JSA.
Another tangent . . . this sort of reminds me of Andre the Giant. When he came on to the then WWF scene, it was the “golden boy” American Hulk Hogan vs. “the foreigner” Andre the Giant. Andre represented all that was bad and I think people even thought he was Russian, when he is actually French. Andre towed the line for the first few years even though people did not like him. It was not okay to cheer for the non-American. It was almost unpatritotic to not support the golden boy. Some time during all that nonsense, people started to like him. He became beloved and beholden when he played Fezzik in the Princess Bride.