2011 is now upon us. The first tournament of the year — the Hatsu Basho — begins on Jan. 9 running for 15 days before the Emperor's Cup winner is decided on the 23rd.

Yokozuna Hakuho, barring injury, will win it.

Never before in recent times has there been so dominant a yokozuna heading into the New Year. Yes, Asashoryu was good. Admittedly Taiho back in the '60s and early '70s was unstoppable in his prime, but with Hakuho in the early 21st century there is something else, what the French might term a certain "je ne sais quois."