We had storms overnight but the sun emerged from misty cloud late morning, leaving the air humid and full of insects. On my daily ride I encountered thousands of white butterflies that were out and enjoying their brief sojourn on the planet. Everything seasonal is out of kilter this year, so their appearance in November and in such vast numbers surprised me. I was wondering what the collective noun for these insects was, but there were so many and in such darting and weaving forms that I thought 'flurry' was the best. They did indeed put one in mind of snow flurries.

Congratulations are in order to rank-and-filer Abi who won the Emporers Cup yesterday in Fukuoka. The tourney came down to a rare three-way contest between Abi, Ozeki Takakeisho and fellow Maegashira Takayasu, the latter being the sentimental favourite. But the long, long arms of Abi prevailed against his worthy opponents. It is interesting to note that the last three bashou have all been won by rank and file wrestlers, which may well speak to the dearth of talent at the top. In this tournament alone, the ranks of ozeki have thinned to but one wrestler only. And there is only one yokozuna and he, injured.

The World Cup in Qatar has been a wealth of surprises and upsets with only a few top nations performing as expected. This opens up the field considerably and makes the tournament unpredictable, though I do expect to see the likes of Spain or Brazil in the finals. By there are several dark horses who might go far. Many smaller football powers have little to lose. The oddness of the venue tends to play into their hands somewhat. I'd love to see Australia get to the round of 16 as in 2006 but if we fall short, may we fall short gloriously.