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CNN 10
When Are Professional Sports Coming Back And What Will Be Different?; Where Is The Great Blue Hole?; What Is Freediving?
Aired May 28, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN 10 on this Thursday, May 28th. I`m Carl Azuz outside the CNN Center, happy to have you watching our
penultimate program of the season. Yesterday`s show started with weather, today`s show starts with sports. Fans want to see them.
Teams want to play them. Venues want to profit from them but health officials say crowds and the threat of coronavirus don`t mix. So countries
around the world are looking for ways to say game on without contributing to the spread of the disease. It`s a different picture everywhere you look.
The Summer Olympic Games in Japan, as we`ve told you about, had been postponed until next year. Major soccer events in South America have been
cancelled. Spring marathons in France and Spain were postponed but baseball season is in partial swing, anyway, in places like South Korea.
Though the fans have to watch all the action from home. And in Japan with the nationwide state of emergency lifted, sports teams are looking to
practice again. The Reuters News Agency reports that the Nippon Pro Baseball league will play ball on July 19th and soccer may kick off not
long after that.
Without fans in the stands, the environment for players would be a lot quieter but there may be an app for that. At least one company has a
program that would allow fans watching from home to tap, cheer, boo or chant buttons from their phones and the corresponding sounds would be
played over loud speakers in the stadium.
It`s one of several attempts to recreate a crowded atmosphere in a place where there are no crowds. Though not all the efforts have worked out. In
the United States, NASCAR events have started their engines and charity golf matches have teed off. Here`s a look at where other sports stand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Brooklyn Nets become the first New York based major sports franchise to return to practice but with strict limitations from the
state and the league. Only four players can work out at a time. One player under each basket. Coaches can`t be there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The notion of a team practicing, it`s more individuals who are practicing. It`s -- it`s a small step that`s all it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NBA is now in talks with the Walt Disney Company about resuming its season in late July with all the teams possibly playing
at Disney`s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s almost like you`re running one season right into the season. And for something like the NBA or the NHL, that becomes
incredibly problematic because whether the players take a break --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earlier today the National Hockey League announced it`s going straight to a 2014 play-off tournament in two yet to be named cities.
Major League Baseball is planning return to action around the 4th of July weekend with the season cut in half. No fans in the stands.
Baseball previously had a plan to play all its games in Arizona. Now the plan is to play in teams home stadiums but only in jurisdictions where the
local governments and health officials would allow it. The NFL is preparing to start its season on time with fans but might have to make adjustments.
The Miami Dolphins owner is optimistic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think right now today, we`re planning on every fans in the stadiums.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But from a health standpoint, is it all too much too soon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In order for teams to be able to get back online, you would have to have excellent testing protocols, planning for what happens
if somebody gets sick. How they`re going to be able to manage it? Will they shut down if somebody gets sick?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All considerations that the sports leagues are still trying to figure out. The dangers posed by players constantly running into
each other, breathing on each other are evident enough. But even if the leagues play in only one or two locations each, what about the risks of
players` interactions with people like hotel staffers who come in and out?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It means that they`re going to have to be testing all of the hotel staff on a regular basis as well. And that hotel staff should
be wearing masks, everybody should be wearing masks when in common areas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Analysts say the country has been desperate for a return to sports since an NBA game was cancelled right before tip-off in early
March when a player tested positive for coronavirus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Game tonight has been postponed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds great right now to say we`ll have NBA games in July and we`ll have Major League Baseball games in July and maybe
college football in the Fall. That sounds great and it`s optimistic and it`s a fun thought but there`s no way for sure to know if any of them can
happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. The giant sink hole known as the Great Blue Hole is located nearest to what country? China, Egypt, Costa Rica, or Belize. It`s
on the Central American nation of Belize that you`ll find the Great Blue Hole.
And it`s often that you`ll find people who want to dive into it. The marine sink hole is almost 1,000 feet across and more than 400 feet deep. The
renowned explorer Jacque Cousteau made it famous in the early 1970s.
And it`s been explored by submersibles and divers for decades. That includes free-divers, people who literally take a deep breath and then swim
down as far as they can go without an oxygen tank. It`s dangerous. It could lead to lung damage, losing consciousness or dying. But for people who love
the sport, like the man you`re about to meet, free diving is a deeply unique experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN SUNNEX, FREE DIVER: I`d be lying if I said I`ve never been scared. I`ve had two occasions where I sort of thought you`re not going to make it
but as long as you keep your composure. Everything seems to work out. My name is Jonathan Sunnex. I`m 30 years old from New Zealand. Here on Long
Island in the Bahamas at the beautiful Dean`s Blue Hole. I`m a professional freediver. Competitive free diving is where we compete to see who can swim
the furthest, deepest or their breath for the longest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jonathan Sunnex.
SUNNEX: We`ve achieved things that doctors once thought were impossible. We`re exploring the capabilities of the human body. Pushing ourselves to
see what the human body can really do. I feel like I`m just getting started. We couldn`t have designed anything better. This is like the
freediving Mecca. People come from all over the world.
It is the place to dive. One of the things that lured me into this sport was the whole science behind it. Before I dive, I go through a whole
preparation and that will include stretching of the body, stretching of the lungs, the diaphragm, (inaudible) muscles.
Packing is adding extra air to your already full lungs while using the mouth as a pump. I would estimate that I would pack at least an extra liter
into my lungs. And then I`ll come down to the beach. I`ll visualize my dive. Whilst I`m making my deepest dives, what goes through my mind is
always positive thoughts, positive energy.
It`s like a form of meditation. It`s a very deep within yourself. The physical sensation I get through diving, it touches on all senses what you
can see, what you can hear or maybe even it`s the lack of noise. During dives, your heart rates drop down to below 30 beats per minute. When we`re
going down to depths where we`ve got basically a length of a football field above us.
It`s not the sort of place where you want to have any negative thoughts. When I make it to the surface after a big dive, (inaudible) makes a
spiritual experience. There`s quite a famous quote. A scuba diver will dive in the water to look around and the free diver will go underwater to look
inside himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Still making waves in today`s last segment, splash. Seoul, South Korea is about 20 miles away from the Yellow Sea but this 3D billboard is
bringing the ocean to the city. Even though it looks like a giant tank full of water, it`s actually a dry digital image that took four months to design
and finish.
And it can be seen making a splash for one minute of every hour. People were split on whether this is relaxing or stressful. But there`s nothing
boring about a "born". It simply cannot be ignored for making waves like water "poured".
Through it "eludafured" join tourists who are "allured". But anchored like a ship that`s "moored" watching 3D waves that "roar". Going back and
splashing forward. Watch out if your guard is lowered. Because when you see that sight to see when on land and not at sea.
It`s intimidating to see waves so inundating. Mountain Ridge High School maybe in a landlocked state but it`s great to see our viewers in Herriman,
Utah today. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
END
