Day 494

• Congratulations to the Mongolian Ozeki Terunofuji.  Though he was defeated by Greatest Of All Time Yokozuna Hakuho on Sunday, his performances in the last three tournaments have had the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee recommend Terunofuji formally to the Japan Sumo Association to become the 73rd Yokozuna.  This is largely a rubber-stamp, but the decision will be finalized within the week.  Usually, the first performance of a Yokozuna's ring ceremony is done within the week of such a declaration, but the Olympic Opening Ceremony is Friday, so there's some chance the timeline will either be compressed or the ceremony will be performed after the Games in August.
• The Yokozuna Deliberation Committee also had a number of harsh words for tournament champion Yokozuna Hakuho, both on his use of strikes during the tournament (including some elbows), but also his demonstrative victory celebration after defeating Terunofuji to go undefeated in a tournament which many believed he would not complete, and then be forced to retire from sumo.
• In fact, one member of the Committee has now denounced Hakuho and hopes the new Yokozuna will bring the rank back into the respect and honor it deserves.
• And this year's "Hard Knocks" camp?   HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS????
• Luke Prokop. third-round pick of the Nashville Predators in the 2020 NHL Draft, came out as gay today.  He has the full support of the organization, including an empowering statement from the team's CEO and one from the head of the NHLPA.  Some feared the announcement would be for attention, but he often had to hide his phone, for fear of being outed -- so he decided to do it on his own terms.
• Sports Illustrated has announced it's three cover models for the 2021 Swimsuit Edition:  Megan Thee Stallion, Naomi Osaka, and Leyna Bloom.  One of the highest-scaled rap stars in the world (and not shy about being sexy about it), one of tennis' bright young stars who uses her platform to advocate for mental health, and the first transgender woman ever to grace the cover of the iconic magazine series.
• The SEC has basically said all games will be played as scheduled this season -- any COVID failures will be forfeits.  The Commissioner of the conference is pissed off at the low vaccination rates among the SEC schools.