1 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:05,209 announcer: The following is a presentation 2 00:00:05,230 --> 00:00:07,179 of HBO Sports. 3 00:00:11,050 --> 00:00:14,029 [dramatic music] 4 00:00:14,050 --> 00:00:20,100 ♪ ♪ 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,039 - Tonight on "Real Sports"... 6 00:00:23,059 --> 00:00:24,140 We'll look at how one company 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,070 is betting on major league futures 8 00:00:26,089 --> 00:00:28,250 by paying minor leaguers big money today. 9 00:00:28,269 --> 00:00:30,129 - I tell the players this is not a charity. 10 00:00:30,149 --> 00:00:31,250 We're investing in you 11 00:00:31,269 --> 00:00:34,020 because we think we're gonna make money. 12 00:00:34,039 --> 00:00:36,159 - We'll look at how young, healthy Olympians 13 00:00:36,179 --> 00:00:39,009 around the world are getting the COVID vaccine 14 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:41,140 ahead of those who desperately need it more. 15 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:43,200 - One of the last groups you would normally get to 16 00:00:43,219 --> 00:00:46,049 would be healthy, young athletes. 17 00:00:46,070 --> 00:00:47,270 The International Olympic Committee has a huge amount 18 00:00:47,289 --> 00:00:49,179 to answer for. 19 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,039 - We'll meet a rebellious, 34-year-old skateboarder 20 00:00:52,060 --> 00:00:55,090 who's at odds with the idea of even being an Olympian. 21 00:00:55,109 --> 00:00:57,140 - I never thought skateboarding would be in the Olympics. 22 00:00:57,159 --> 00:00:59,000 I never would've thought. 23 00:00:59,020 --> 00:01:01,039 Like, "Well, what are we gonna be wearing, uniforms? 24 00:01:01,060 --> 00:01:04,090 They're gonna be scoring us?" Like, I can't picture it. 25 00:01:04,109 --> 00:01:07,150 - And despite the pandemic, or maybe because of it, 26 00:01:07,170 --> 00:01:10,239 America's long-standing bike wars are getting nastier... 27 00:01:10,260 --> 00:01:12,109 - The bike lane is over there, dude! 28 00:01:12,129 --> 00:01:14,019 - That's a bike lane. - That's the bike lane! 29 00:01:14,039 --> 00:01:16,019 - And deadlier. [bike tire squeaks] 30 00:01:16,039 --> 00:01:23,049 ♪ ♪ 31 00:01:29,230 --> 00:01:32,259 announcer: And now your host, Bryant Gumbel. 32 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,210 ♪ ♪ 33 00:01:34,229 --> 00:01:37,159 - Good evening and welcome to "Real Sports," 34 00:01:37,180 --> 00:01:38,180 where tonight, 35 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:39,289 for the first time in 16 months, 36 00:01:40,009 --> 00:01:43,060 we are broadcasting from our studios in New York. 37 00:01:43,079 --> 00:01:45,000 While it has been a long, strange experience 38 00:01:45,020 --> 00:01:46,099 working from home, 39 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,159 this was very much our home before the pandemic. 40 00:01:49,180 --> 00:01:51,219 And since our return is indicative of the belief 41 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,280 that the worst is now behind us, 42 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,069 we are delighted to be back. 43 00:01:56,090 --> 00:01:58,099 Let's get started with baseball, 44 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,069 a sport in which the average major league salary these days 45 00:02:01,090 --> 00:02:03,170 is north of $4 million a year. 46 00:02:03,189 --> 00:02:04,290 Over 100 players are getting 47 00:02:05,010 --> 00:02:07,040 an excess of $10 million a season. 48 00:02:07,060 --> 00:02:08,289 With that kind of money at stake, 49 00:02:09,009 --> 00:02:10,210 betting on a young player's future earnings 50 00:02:10,229 --> 00:02:12,139 could be a smart investment. 51 00:02:12,159 --> 00:02:14,139 One man is already doing just that 52 00:02:14,159 --> 00:02:15,270 and his approach is impacting 53 00:02:15,289 --> 00:02:19,050 not only his company's bottom line, but also the game 54 00:02:19,069 --> 00:02:22,020 and the young men who are chasing their baseball dreams. 55 00:02:22,039 --> 00:02:24,199 Our Soledad O'Brien has the report. 56 00:02:24,219 --> 00:02:25,270 - The day after the first month... 57 00:02:25,289 --> 00:02:28,020 - In an office outside Washington D.C., 58 00:02:28,039 --> 00:02:29,219 a group of financial analysts 59 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,069 is trying to find the next big thing, 60 00:02:32,090 --> 00:02:34,219 looking for just the right investment 61 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,170 that will make them all rich. 62 00:02:36,189 --> 00:02:37,219 - Are you doing it by investor, 63 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:39,129 by dollars coming in, or is this... 64 00:02:39,150 --> 00:02:41,150 - But Michael Schwimer and his team 65 00:02:41,170 --> 00:02:43,229 don't invest in stocks or start-ups. 66 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:47,229 They invest in something more unpredictable: people. 67 00:02:47,250 --> 00:02:50,129 More specifically, baseball players. 68 00:02:50,150 --> 00:02:52,259 - Barrel percentage, the best in the major leagues. 69 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,000 - Around here, the numbers crunchers 70 00:02:55,020 --> 00:02:58,090 watch not CNBC, but ESPN, 71 00:02:58,110 --> 00:03:00,139 and track not the stock ticker, 72 00:03:00,159 --> 00:03:02,030 but the box scores. 73 00:03:02,050 --> 00:03:03,169 The goal: to figure out 74 00:03:03,189 --> 00:03:05,199 which players are going to go bust 75 00:03:05,219 --> 00:03:07,210 and which will go boom. 76 00:03:07,229 --> 00:03:10,270 So if there is a player who is out on this field, 77 00:03:10,289 --> 00:03:12,229 I could point to that player and you'd say, 78 00:03:12,250 --> 00:03:15,080 "He's gonna make it, or he's not gonna make it." 79 00:03:15,099 --> 00:03:18,009 - I could tell you his expected career earnings 80 00:03:18,030 --> 00:03:19,289 in the major leagues throughout his entire career 81 00:03:20,009 --> 00:03:21,199 and the likelihood at every stop, 82 00:03:21,219 --> 00:03:22,229 like likelihood to make it, 83 00:03:22,250 --> 00:03:24,090 likelihood to become a Hall of Famer. 84 00:03:24,110 --> 00:03:27,050 Like, you know, all of those different probabilities, 85 00:03:27,069 --> 00:03:28,050 I could give you that. 86 00:03:28,069 --> 00:03:29,270 - With how much accuracy? 87 00:03:29,289 --> 00:03:31,289 - Better than anything else that's out there. 88 00:03:32,009 --> 00:03:34,090 - So, like an investor who buys shares 89 00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:37,129 in start-up companies they think will hit it big, 90 00:03:37,150 --> 00:03:40,250 Schwimer buys shares in start-up ballplayers, 91 00:03:40,270 --> 00:03:43,250 minor leaguers, giving them cash today 92 00:03:43,270 --> 00:03:48,110 in exchange for a portion of their earnings tomorrow. 93 00:03:48,129 --> 00:03:50,229 Players like this one-time hopeful 94 00:03:50,250 --> 00:03:54,139 who, back in 2017, was a little-known teenager 95 00:03:54,159 --> 00:03:58,030 but who Schwimer identified as a future star. 96 00:03:58,050 --> 00:03:59,270 - Our model said he was the second-best prospect 97 00:03:59,289 --> 00:04:01,250 in the last 15 years. 98 00:04:01,270 --> 00:04:03,000 Last 15 years. 99 00:04:03,020 --> 00:04:06,090 We gave him a massive amount of money. 100 00:04:06,110 --> 00:04:07,280 - Three years later, 101 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,139 that teenager became one of the best players in the game. 102 00:04:11,159 --> 00:04:12,180 - Tatís! 103 00:04:12,199 --> 00:04:14,090 - Like Superman! 104 00:04:14,110 --> 00:04:17,120 It's Fernando Tatís, Jr.! 105 00:04:17,139 --> 00:04:21,079 - And not long after that, one of the richest too. 106 00:04:21,100 --> 00:04:25,089 - 14-year, $340-million contract. 107 00:04:25,110 --> 00:04:28,209 - The contract stunned the sports world, 108 00:04:28,230 --> 00:04:31,089 but few knew the most stunning part of all: 109 00:04:31,110 --> 00:04:35,060 That a good chunk of that $340 million, 110 00:04:35,079 --> 00:04:38,269 believed to be 10%, or $34 million, 111 00:04:38,290 --> 00:04:41,050 will go not to him, 112 00:04:41,069 --> 00:04:42,180 but to him. 113 00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:44,000 And Michael Schwimer says 114 00:04:44,019 --> 00:04:46,090 there's a lot more where that came from, 115 00:04:46,110 --> 00:04:49,110 that he owns large chunks of the future earnings 116 00:04:49,129 --> 00:04:52,199 of dozens of baseball's young stars. 117 00:04:52,220 --> 00:04:55,129 - We've got multiple people in the top ten of MVP voting 118 00:04:55,149 --> 00:04:57,149 and rookie of the year voting and all this stuff, 119 00:04:57,170 --> 00:04:59,029 so that's when I realized, 120 00:04:59,050 --> 00:05:00,230 you know, look, okay, we got something here. 121 00:05:00,250 --> 00:05:02,100 - How much is this worth to you? 122 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,110 Are you rich now? - This is not a charity. 123 00:05:04,129 --> 00:05:05,230 I tell the players, this is not a charity. 124 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:07,160 We're investing in you 125 00:05:07,180 --> 00:05:09,250 because we think we're gonna make money. 126 00:05:09,269 --> 00:05:11,139 And if we do make money, 127 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,100 it's gonna be a heck of a lot more than we paid you. 128 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:15,149 [bat cracks] 129 00:05:15,170 --> 00:05:18,220 - Investing in human potential is new to baseball, 130 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,149 but I actually first heard about the concept 131 00:05:21,170 --> 00:05:24,209 when I was just starting out and someone made me an offer. 132 00:05:24,230 --> 00:05:26,139 I'm Soledad O'Brien reporting-- 133 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,189 When I was a new reporter, someone offered that to me. 134 00:05:28,209 --> 00:05:29,259 - Really? - Yeah. It was interesting. 135 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,170 Like, "I think you're gonna be successful. 136 00:05:32,189 --> 00:05:35,209 "I give you a chunk of money, I'd invest in you 137 00:05:35,230 --> 00:05:37,100 to help you figure that out." 138 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,149 - I think that's a great thing. And guess what? 139 00:05:39,170 --> 00:05:42,100 There's always a number that makes sense for everybody. 140 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,269 And if it doesn't, the person-- you should just say no. 141 00:05:44,290 --> 00:05:46,199 - I didn't take the offer, 142 00:05:46,220 --> 00:05:49,279 but there's a good reason so many young ballplayers 143 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,209 take Schwimer's: they need the money. 144 00:05:52,230 --> 00:05:56,060 For all the millions paid to stars in the major leagues, 145 00:05:56,079 --> 00:05:57,199 the thousands of hopefuls 146 00:05:57,220 --> 00:06:00,069 spread across baseball's minor leagues 147 00:06:00,089 --> 00:06:02,139 make virtually nothing, 148 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,160 a fact Schwimer knows first-hand. 149 00:06:06,180 --> 00:06:08,100 [cheers and applause] 150 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,050 Because before he invested in aspiring ballplayers, 151 00:06:12,069 --> 00:06:14,069 he was one himself. 152 00:06:14,089 --> 00:06:15,069 What was your salary? 153 00:06:15,089 --> 00:06:16,240 - $5,500 for the year, 154 00:06:16,259 --> 00:06:19,100 which equates to about $2 an hour. 155 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:20,259 I thought it was a joke at first. 156 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:21,259 - Really? - I really did. 157 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:22,259 And it wasn't. 158 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:24,230 - Life in the minor leagues 159 00:06:24,250 --> 00:06:27,000 is baseball's dirty, little secret, 160 00:06:27,019 --> 00:06:29,220 a side of the industry few ever see, 161 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,060 with living conditions like this: 162 00:06:32,079 --> 00:06:34,000 half a dozen players often sharing 163 00:06:34,019 --> 00:06:37,209 the same small apartment just so they can make the rent. 164 00:06:37,230 --> 00:06:39,180 - The toughest thing that I witnessed 165 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:41,220 was literally a player on my team 166 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,050 in the dumpster looking for food. 167 00:06:44,069 --> 00:06:45,180 I mean literally. 168 00:06:45,199 --> 00:06:48,199 It is extremely, extremely difficult 169 00:06:48,220 --> 00:06:50,069 and I don't think the American public 170 00:06:50,090 --> 00:06:51,120 really realizes that. 171 00:06:52,110 --> 00:06:54,240 [cheers and applause] - And he strikes out Ankiel. 172 00:06:54,259 --> 00:06:57,029 - Schwimer was one of the lucky ones. 173 00:06:57,050 --> 00:06:59,159 He made it all the way to the big leagues, 174 00:06:59,180 --> 00:07:01,149 pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies 175 00:07:01,170 --> 00:07:06,000 before an injury ended his career at the age of 27. 176 00:07:06,019 --> 00:07:08,079 That's when he says he had an idea 177 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:09,250 for a new line of work: 178 00:07:09,269 --> 00:07:12,209 to help other young players reach their dreams 179 00:07:12,230 --> 00:07:16,100 by fronting them money when they needed it most. 180 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,040 - The more money that you have in the minor leagues, 181 00:07:18,060 --> 00:07:20,050 the higher likelihood you are to make the major leagues. 182 00:07:20,069 --> 00:07:21,120 You can eat healthier, 183 00:07:21,139 --> 00:07:23,040 you can live in your own one-bedroom apartment 184 00:07:23,060 --> 00:07:24,279 on a mattress instead of an air mattress. 185 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,269 And that helps you succeed. 186 00:07:26,290 --> 00:07:28,170 And I thought, "Well, 187 00:07:28,189 --> 00:07:31,240 "there might be people that want to take on an investment, 188 00:07:31,259 --> 00:07:33,250 "get money in order to give themselves 189 00:07:33,269 --> 00:07:35,000 the best chance to make it." 190 00:07:35,019 --> 00:07:37,180 - Schwimer put together a proposal 191 00:07:37,199 --> 00:07:40,189 for a business he called Big League Advance. 192 00:07:40,209 --> 00:07:43,069 Now, he just needed the money to pursue it. 193 00:07:43,090 --> 00:07:45,029 Enter Bill Miller, 194 00:07:45,050 --> 00:07:47,040 a billionaire known for investing 195 00:07:47,060 --> 00:07:48,230 in upstart ideas. 196 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:52,050 Miller had once spent heavily on a couple of ventures 197 00:07:52,069 --> 00:07:56,000 that worked out okay: Amazon and Bitcoin. 198 00:07:56,019 --> 00:08:00,060 Now he would agree to help bankroll Michael Schwimer. 199 00:08:00,079 --> 00:08:01,290 So when he came to do his proposal, 200 00:08:02,009 --> 00:08:03,089 what do you remember about it? 201 00:08:03,110 --> 00:08:05,290 - I was surprised at how sophisticated it was. 202 00:08:06,009 --> 00:08:08,259 There's almost nothing that I could ask him 203 00:08:08,279 --> 00:08:10,040 that he hadn't thought about. 204 00:08:10,060 --> 00:08:12,110 - Are you happy with your investment in BLA? 205 00:08:12,129 --> 00:08:13,259 - Oh, yeah, yeah. 206 00:08:13,279 --> 00:08:15,170 I mean, it's gonna be pretty hard not to make money on it. 207 00:08:15,189 --> 00:08:19,100 And the data that Michael showed us was 208 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,170 at least 30% a year for, you know, 209 00:08:23,189 --> 00:08:25,089 20 years or so. 210 00:08:25,110 --> 00:08:26,240 - Our investors see the players that we have 211 00:08:26,259 --> 00:08:28,040 and you can expect their returns 212 00:08:28,060 --> 00:08:30,170 and that number could be massive. 213 00:08:30,189 --> 00:08:31,269 It could be in the multi-billions. 214 00:08:31,290 --> 00:08:33,120 The numbers don't lie. 215 00:08:33,139 --> 00:08:35,279 I believe it's gonna be unbelievably successful. 216 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:37,029 [bat cracks] 217 00:08:37,049 --> 00:08:38,269 - Why, exactly, is he so bullish? 218 00:08:38,289 --> 00:08:41,039 Well, consider a standard deal. 219 00:08:41,059 --> 00:08:43,049 Schwimer says the numbers vary, 220 00:08:43,070 --> 00:08:44,190 but for a typical player, 221 00:08:44,210 --> 00:08:48,100 he might offer $350,000 in cash 222 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,210 in exchange for 10% of that player's earnings 223 00:08:51,230 --> 00:08:54,110 for the rest of his baseball life. 224 00:08:54,129 --> 00:08:56,240 If that player makes-- make up a number-- 225 00:08:56,259 --> 00:09:00,059 $100 million, which would be a great contract... 226 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:01,090 - Yeah. 227 00:09:01,110 --> 00:09:02,259 - How much money will they pay you back 228 00:09:02,279 --> 00:09:06,080 on that $350,000 that you gave them up front? 229 00:09:06,100 --> 00:09:08,259 - That would be $10 million if they did the full 10%. 230 00:09:08,279 --> 00:09:11,100 - That's a lot of money on $350,000. 231 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,169 - Making $100 million is a lot of money. 232 00:09:13,190 --> 00:09:15,169 - Of course, on the flipside, 233 00:09:15,190 --> 00:09:17,289 if Schwimer and his team of numbers crunchers 234 00:09:18,009 --> 00:09:21,129 invest in the wrong player, they take the loss. 235 00:09:21,149 --> 00:09:24,210 If the algorithm is wrong, player never makes the majors, 236 00:09:24,230 --> 00:09:26,019 what do they have to pay back? 237 00:09:26,039 --> 00:09:28,070 - Zero. Absolutely nothing. 238 00:09:28,090 --> 00:09:29,279 - Are you mad about that when it happens? 239 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:31,220 - I am not. I know it's the risk that I'm taking 240 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,259 and our company's taking and our investors are taking. 241 00:09:33,279 --> 00:09:37,000 - Which makes the company's statistical analysis 242 00:09:37,019 --> 00:09:39,149 of each minor leaguer crucial. 243 00:09:39,169 --> 00:09:42,120 Schwimer says it's their secret sauce. 244 00:09:42,139 --> 00:09:43,240 - We are trying to figure out 245 00:09:43,259 --> 00:09:46,230 what are they doing that is predictive to future success 246 00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:49,049 and what are they doing that is harmful to future success? 247 00:09:49,070 --> 00:09:52,000 - If I wanted to see the various measurements 248 00:09:52,019 --> 00:09:54,159 of the algorithm popped up on your screen, could I do that? 249 00:09:54,179 --> 00:09:55,230 - [laughing] No. 250 00:09:55,250 --> 00:09:56,269 - Why are you laughing? - That's--that's-- 251 00:09:56,289 --> 00:09:57,269 this is our secret-- this is-- 252 00:09:57,289 --> 00:09:59,149 why don't you go to Coke's offices 253 00:09:59,169 --> 00:10:00,259 and ask for the recipe there? 254 00:10:00,279 --> 00:10:02,120 See if they'll let you in and give you the recipe. 255 00:10:02,139 --> 00:10:03,240 - The day we visited 256 00:10:03,259 --> 00:10:05,179 the Big League Advance offices, 257 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,279 one of Schwimer's best investments 258 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,250 had just played one of his best games of the year. 259 00:10:10,269 --> 00:10:12,039 [bat cracks] - Hammered! 260 00:10:12,059 --> 00:10:13,200 Deep left field! 261 00:10:13,220 --> 00:10:17,009 The Franimal has been unleashed here tonight! 262 00:10:17,029 --> 00:10:18,059 - Look at the Franimal. 263 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:19,149 - He's one of your guys? - Oh, yeah. 264 00:10:19,169 --> 00:10:21,120 A great Big League Advance example. 265 00:10:21,139 --> 00:10:23,149 Like, prime example. 266 00:10:23,169 --> 00:10:25,210 - Around here, watching the highlights 267 00:10:25,230 --> 00:10:29,019 is like watching a stock go up or down. 268 00:10:29,039 --> 00:10:32,210 - He smokes that one! Franmil Reyes! 269 00:10:32,230 --> 00:10:34,179 - How often, when you come in here, 270 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,110 do you see your guys up on the screen? 271 00:10:36,129 --> 00:10:37,110 - All the time. 272 00:10:37,129 --> 00:10:38,179 We've got, you know, 273 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:39,210 60 players in the major leagues right now. 274 00:10:39,230 --> 00:10:40,269 This is what we do. 275 00:10:40,289 --> 00:10:42,120 I always think you can do everything better. 276 00:10:42,139 --> 00:10:45,019 - And with the success of all those players, 277 00:10:45,039 --> 00:10:47,169 Schwimer has become a wealthy man 278 00:10:47,190 --> 00:10:49,210 who recently built his dream home 279 00:10:49,230 --> 00:10:53,179 complete with all the features of a star athlete's house. 280 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,169 A basketball court 281 00:10:55,190 --> 00:10:58,190 with an automatic rebounding machine... 282 00:10:58,210 --> 00:11:00,120 - That could be good. 283 00:11:00,139 --> 00:11:03,120 - A golf simulator so he can play any course in the world, 284 00:11:03,139 --> 00:11:04,230 and a home gym 285 00:11:04,250 --> 00:11:07,049 where Schwimer's wife, a personal trainer, 286 00:11:07,070 --> 00:11:09,049 puts him through a daily workout. 287 00:11:09,070 --> 00:11:11,129 - Nice job, nice job. 288 00:11:11,149 --> 00:11:13,080 - It's enough that some wonder 289 00:11:13,100 --> 00:11:14,120 if he's the solution 290 00:11:14,139 --> 00:11:16,259 to the exploitation of minor leaguers 291 00:11:16,279 --> 00:11:19,169 or just another part of the problem, 292 00:11:19,190 --> 00:11:22,080 preying on vulnerable, young players, 293 00:11:22,100 --> 00:11:25,129 especially those from poor Latin American countries 294 00:11:25,149 --> 00:11:28,279 where so much of baseball's best talent is from. 295 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,230 Do you think they're taking advantage of the players 296 00:11:32,250 --> 00:11:35,129 who are in a desperate situation in many cases? 297 00:11:35,149 --> 00:11:37,250 - You walk into a home of an indigent family, 298 00:11:37,269 --> 00:11:39,149 they're unsophisticated, 299 00:11:39,169 --> 00:11:41,279 often many of them don't have high school educations, 300 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,019 and here's $800,000. 301 00:11:44,039 --> 00:11:46,029 They're often going to accept it immediately. 302 00:11:46,049 --> 00:11:48,259 - Baseball's super-agent, Scott Boras, 303 00:11:48,279 --> 00:11:50,220 represents dozens of players 304 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,019 across the major and minor leagues. 305 00:11:53,039 --> 00:11:56,000 He claims that BLA often approaches these players 306 00:11:56,019 --> 00:11:59,230 directly, without looping their agents into the process. 307 00:11:59,250 --> 00:12:03,019 - The biggest concern we had was that our players were 308 00:12:03,039 --> 00:12:05,230 being solicited without our knowledge. 309 00:12:05,250 --> 00:12:09,059 The issue is not what they're offering, 310 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,190 the issue is the tactics they're using 311 00:12:11,210 --> 00:12:14,080 to get the players to sign the contracts. 312 00:12:14,100 --> 00:12:15,120 - We tell every single player, 313 00:12:15,139 --> 00:12:16,220 "We want your agent on the call." 314 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,220 - Is that right? - Every single one. 315 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,019 - And do their agents join? 316 00:12:20,039 --> 00:12:22,080 - Well, the players will very often, 317 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:24,009 you know, 30% of the time, be like, 318 00:12:24,029 --> 00:12:25,149 "I don't want my agent to know about this." 319 00:12:25,169 --> 00:12:28,019 I built this company by players, for players. 320 00:12:28,039 --> 00:12:29,230 Not for agents. 321 00:12:29,250 --> 00:12:31,230 - Still, Schwimer insists 322 00:12:31,250 --> 00:12:35,090 that BLA has never signed a player without having 323 00:12:35,110 --> 00:12:38,100 the player's own lawyer review the contract. 324 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,259 In fact, Schwimer says that before each signing, 325 00:12:41,279 --> 00:12:45,120 he requires the player to name their lawyer on camera 326 00:12:45,139 --> 00:12:47,029 in a videotaped interview. 327 00:12:47,049 --> 00:12:48,039 - What is the name of the lawyer 328 00:12:48,059 --> 00:12:49,269 who reviewed the contract with you? 329 00:12:49,289 --> 00:12:51,179 - And make sure the players 330 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,169 know what they're getting into. 331 00:12:53,190 --> 00:12:55,289 - We do an interview with the player on camera 332 00:12:56,009 --> 00:12:57,129 asking him questions. 333 00:12:57,149 --> 00:13:00,019 "Do you understand if you make $500 million, 334 00:13:00,039 --> 00:13:01,019 "you're gonna owe us $50 million 335 00:13:01,039 --> 00:13:02,080 over the course of your career?" 336 00:13:02,100 --> 00:13:03,289 If they can't answer the question correctly, 337 00:13:04,009 --> 00:13:05,070 we don't do a deal. I will-- 338 00:13:05,090 --> 00:13:06,230 - That sounds like you're protecting yourself 339 00:13:06,250 --> 00:13:08,149 for a later lawsuit. - No. Absolutely not. 340 00:13:08,169 --> 00:13:10,049 - Say this into the microphone. [chuckles] 341 00:13:10,070 --> 00:13:11,279 - It's the literally exact opposite. 342 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,019 I would not be able to sleep at night 343 00:13:14,039 --> 00:13:16,009 if I knew a player did a deal with us 344 00:13:16,029 --> 00:13:17,190 and didn't fully understand it. 345 00:13:17,210 --> 00:13:19,049 - But Schwimer acknowledges 346 00:13:19,070 --> 00:13:22,029 that at least 50% of the players they've signed 347 00:13:22,049 --> 00:13:24,080 are from poor Latin countries, 348 00:13:24,100 --> 00:13:26,200 players like Fernando Tatís Jr., 349 00:13:26,220 --> 00:13:28,059 Franmil Reyes, 350 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,059 and this year's sensation, Yermín Mercedes. 351 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,049 [audience exclaiming] - Yermín Mercedes! 352 00:13:34,070 --> 00:13:36,269 Send him to the All-Star Game! 353 00:13:36,289 --> 00:13:38,100 - Mercedes says he made the deal 354 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,230 with Schwimer's company when he was in the minors 355 00:13:40,250 --> 00:13:42,139 because his family back home 356 00:13:42,159 --> 00:13:45,080 in the Dominican Republic needed the money. 357 00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:47,259 - I have a big family. 358 00:13:47,279 --> 00:13:49,070 They need me all the time 359 00:13:49,090 --> 00:13:52,179 because right now, I'm the head of my family. 360 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,139 I just want to do the best I can do for them. 361 00:13:55,159 --> 00:13:59,139 - So you got $165,000 from BLA? 362 00:13:59,159 --> 00:14:01,159 - Yeah, [unintelligible]. 363 00:14:01,179 --> 00:14:04,059 - And then what percentage of your future earnings 364 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:05,259 do they then get? 365 00:14:05,279 --> 00:14:08,019 - 15. - 15%? 366 00:14:08,039 --> 00:14:09,169 - Yes. 367 00:14:09,190 --> 00:14:13,039 - If Mercedes keeps hitting, he will make millions. 368 00:14:13,059 --> 00:14:14,179 That's the good news. 369 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,159 The bad news is that for the rest of his career, 370 00:14:17,179 --> 00:14:19,159 he'll owe Big League Advance 371 00:14:19,179 --> 00:14:23,240 15% of every MLB check he earns. 372 00:14:23,259 --> 00:14:26,110 They gave you $165,000, 373 00:14:26,129 --> 00:14:30,129 you have to pay them, if you make $10 million, 374 00:14:30,149 --> 00:14:32,120 $1 1/2 million. 375 00:14:32,139 --> 00:14:34,110 - I gave it to them. Yeah. 376 00:14:34,129 --> 00:14:36,009 You know why? - Why? 377 00:14:36,029 --> 00:14:38,220 - Because those people trust in me. 378 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:39,259 They believe in me, you know? 379 00:14:39,279 --> 00:14:41,190 Nobody believe in me at that point. 380 00:14:41,210 --> 00:14:43,039 And they believe in me. 381 00:14:43,059 --> 00:14:45,100 - Yermín's story kind of broke my heart, right? 382 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,090 He needed the money for his family. 383 00:14:47,110 --> 00:14:49,149 - Thank God for us, right? - In the DR. 384 00:14:49,169 --> 00:14:52,049 - How else was he gonna get the money? 385 00:14:52,070 --> 00:14:53,090 Imagine what would've happened to his family 386 00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:54,169 if we didn't exist. 387 00:14:54,190 --> 00:14:57,240 These are real lives that we are changing. 388 00:14:57,259 --> 00:14:59,269 - But agent Scott Boras says 389 00:14:59,289 --> 00:15:01,289 the more these players have to pay, 390 00:15:02,009 --> 00:15:05,210 the more they're going to regret the deal they made. 391 00:15:05,230 --> 00:15:07,240 Do you think these players, 392 00:15:07,259 --> 00:15:09,240 maybe when they're paying back millions 393 00:15:09,259 --> 00:15:12,200 on a $165,000 that they were given, 394 00:15:12,220 --> 00:15:16,059 that's when you'll hear the complaints and the anger? 395 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,159 - Their level of sophistication will grow 396 00:15:18,179 --> 00:15:20,059 as they become earners. 397 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:21,149 Did they need the money? 398 00:15:21,169 --> 00:15:23,059 Did it resolve a problem for them? 399 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:24,240 That's always the case. 400 00:15:24,259 --> 00:15:26,019 But the question is, 401 00:15:26,039 --> 00:15:28,070 "How pleased are they gonna be when they're 45?" 402 00:15:28,090 --> 00:15:31,179 - Does it upset you when people say that you're exploitative? 403 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,000 - The good news is, 404 00:15:33,019 --> 00:15:34,240 no one that's logical or intelligent has said that. 405 00:15:34,259 --> 00:15:36,029 I do this for minor league players. 406 00:15:36,049 --> 00:15:38,000 I do this because I lived it. 407 00:15:38,019 --> 00:15:41,100 I do this because it's wrong, this system is wrong. 408 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,230 Any time you build any business that's disruptive, 409 00:15:43,250 --> 00:15:45,240 there's going to be people that don't understand, 410 00:15:45,259 --> 00:15:47,080 and that's fine. And that's why-- 411 00:15:47,100 --> 00:15:48,169 why do you think I'm here talking with you? 412 00:15:48,190 --> 00:15:50,070 So people can understand. 413 00:15:50,090 --> 00:15:54,240 ♪ ♪ 414 00:15:54,259 --> 00:15:57,139 - Soledad, I love this story. - Thank you. Me too. 415 00:15:57,159 --> 00:15:59,190 - BLA, Big League Advance, 416 00:15:59,210 --> 00:16:00,250 about how many players do they have 417 00:16:00,269 --> 00:16:02,059 in the major leagues, how many in the minors? 418 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,120 - 350 overall... - Wow. 419 00:16:04,139 --> 00:16:07,139 - Of which 60 have made it into the majors, 420 00:16:07,159 --> 00:16:09,049 so that's a lot. 421 00:16:09,070 --> 00:16:11,059 - They invest in a player's career. 422 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,279 Do they ever intervene in that career in terms of saying, 423 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,200 "We'd like you to go here because you'll make more money, 424 00:16:17,220 --> 00:16:19,019 we'd like you to sit this out." 425 00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:20,049 Do they ever intervene? 426 00:16:20,070 --> 00:16:21,159 - It does not sound like they do that. 427 00:16:21,179 --> 00:16:24,159 I think they leave all that management to the agents, 428 00:16:24,179 --> 00:16:26,230 but the financial aspect is 429 00:16:26,250 --> 00:16:28,080 once you make it into the majors, 430 00:16:28,100 --> 00:16:30,129 even if you play for one day, 431 00:16:30,149 --> 00:16:32,029 we get a percentage of what you make. 432 00:16:32,049 --> 00:16:34,149 - They get a percentage of just their salary 433 00:16:34,169 --> 00:16:35,259 or also their endorsement money? 434 00:16:35,279 --> 00:16:37,240 - It looks like not endorsements, just the salary. 435 00:16:37,259 --> 00:16:41,080 - So how does MLB view what BLA is doing? 436 00:16:41,100 --> 00:16:42,279 - Well, they wouldn't talk to us. 437 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,029 - Pretty shocking. 438 00:16:44,049 --> 00:16:45,240 - So it's hard to completely tell you. 439 00:16:45,259 --> 00:16:48,169 But listen, MLB sets the salary. 440 00:16:48,190 --> 00:16:52,129 They could actually solve the problem, to a large degree, 441 00:16:52,149 --> 00:16:53,289 on their own end and they choose not to. 442 00:16:54,009 --> 00:16:55,139 - By paying minor leaguers? - Right. 443 00:16:55,159 --> 00:16:58,259 The union, however, has said that they do not endorse BLA 444 00:16:58,279 --> 00:17:01,149 and also wouldn't talk to us on camera. 445 00:17:01,169 --> 00:17:02,240 - Are you as happy to be back in the studio as I am? 446 00:17:02,259 --> 00:17:04,039 - I am so happy. 447 00:17:04,059 --> 00:17:05,119 - I mean, we're a little distant from where we were. 448 00:17:05,140 --> 00:17:06,210 - That's okay, that's okay. 449 00:17:06,230 --> 00:17:07,289 - This is good, this is good. - I'm so happy. 450 00:17:08,009 --> 00:17:09,000 - Soledad, thanks. 451 00:17:09,019 --> 00:17:10,049 - Nice to see you. - Thank you. 452 00:17:10,069 --> 00:17:11,130 Let's move on. 453 00:17:11,150 --> 00:17:13,190 The Olympic games, after a year-long delay, 454 00:17:13,210 --> 00:17:16,000 are set to open in Tokyo next month. 455 00:17:16,019 --> 00:17:18,140 With the pandemic still raging, many observers 456 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,009 and most Japanese people 457 00:17:20,029 --> 00:17:22,029 believe that the games should be delayed again 458 00:17:22,049 --> 00:17:23,279 or cancelled altogether, 459 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:25,289 but the folks with the International Olympic Committee 460 00:17:26,009 --> 00:17:27,160 don't share that view. 461 00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:30,119 For them, the Summer Games are a multi-billion dollar business 462 00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:33,089 which is why the IOC has moved heaven and earth 463 00:17:33,109 --> 00:17:36,079 to ensure the Tokyo Games go on as planned 464 00:17:36,099 --> 00:17:39,089 even if the cost of doing so is paid in human lives. 465 00:17:39,109 --> 00:17:41,160 Our David Scott explains. 466 00:17:42,259 --> 00:17:46,000 - Here in America, life is returning to normal. 467 00:17:46,019 --> 00:17:49,109 The number of COVID cases now mercifully small 468 00:17:49,130 --> 00:17:53,109 due to a supply of the vaccine that is plentifully large. 469 00:17:53,130 --> 00:17:55,279 But in much of the rest of the world, 470 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,140 a typical day can look less like this 471 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,099 than like this. 472 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,289 Here in India, funeral pyres have burned day and night 473 00:18:04,009 --> 00:18:06,190 and makeshift graves have been dug around the clock 474 00:18:06,210 --> 00:18:09,130 as COVID cases and COVID deaths 475 00:18:09,150 --> 00:18:12,019 have piled up out of control. 476 00:18:12,039 --> 00:18:15,029 Because this nation, like most others on Earth, 477 00:18:15,049 --> 00:18:17,289 has not a healthy supply of the vaccine, 478 00:18:18,009 --> 00:18:20,019 but a devastating shortage. 479 00:18:30,279 --> 00:18:32,269 - Few people are more aware of the shortage 480 00:18:32,289 --> 00:18:36,119 than Raninder Singh, a long-time politician here 481 00:18:36,140 --> 00:18:40,119 who has watched in horror as his country deteriorates. 482 00:18:49,259 --> 00:18:52,140 - The crisis reached its peak on May 6th 483 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,269 when India set a world record for single-day COVID cases. 484 00:18:56,289 --> 00:18:58,130 Yet it was forced to shut down 485 00:18:58,150 --> 00:19:00,160 many of its vaccination centers 486 00:19:00,180 --> 00:19:03,220 because there were no vaccines to give out. 487 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,269 But a far different scene took place that very day 488 00:19:06,289 --> 00:19:10,119 behind closed doors in this hotel ballroom 489 00:19:10,140 --> 00:19:12,140 where amidst the disaster, 490 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,220 a parade of young, healthy, and strong men and women 491 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,160 were being vaccinated. 492 00:19:17,180 --> 00:19:19,170 The man who organized the event 493 00:19:19,190 --> 00:19:21,099 was the politician Raninder Singh 494 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,170 who doubles as a powerful Olympic figure 495 00:19:23,190 --> 00:19:24,230 in the country. 496 00:19:24,250 --> 00:19:27,069 Singh had been given marching orders, he said, 497 00:19:27,089 --> 00:19:31,009 by the International Olympic Committee, the IOC, 498 00:19:31,029 --> 00:19:34,269 to vaccinate his Olympians before this summer's games. 499 00:19:53,210 --> 00:19:56,000 - The same pattern has played out around the world 500 00:19:56,019 --> 00:19:57,119 in recent months. 501 00:19:57,140 --> 00:19:59,019 Even as most of the world's nations 502 00:19:59,039 --> 00:20:01,109 have far too few doses of the vaccines 503 00:20:01,130 --> 00:20:02,210 for their citizens, 504 00:20:02,230 --> 00:20:04,259 the IOC has been imploring them 505 00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:06,150 to vaccinate their Olympians 506 00:20:06,170 --> 00:20:08,009 from Brazil 507 00:20:08,029 --> 00:20:09,140 to Kenya 508 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,059 to Cambodia and beyond. 509 00:20:12,079 --> 00:20:15,259 The IOC president wrote the head of state of Peru 510 00:20:15,279 --> 00:20:19,089 saying, "The global Olympic community 511 00:20:19,109 --> 00:20:22,200 has in its affections the brave Peruvian people." 512 00:20:22,220 --> 00:20:23,230 And he goes on to say, 513 00:20:23,250 --> 00:20:26,069 "The IOC would strongly appreciate 514 00:20:26,089 --> 00:20:29,109 "if Peru's Olympic teams could be vaccinated 515 00:20:29,130 --> 00:20:30,230 before the Games." 516 00:20:30,250 --> 00:20:34,049 - What I hear, a very unethical edict 517 00:20:34,069 --> 00:20:36,150 from the IOC in those words. 518 00:20:36,170 --> 00:20:39,029 - Dr. Michael Baker is the architect 519 00:20:39,049 --> 00:20:42,230 of New Zealand's renowned COVID elimination strategy 520 00:20:42,250 --> 00:20:45,049 which has prevented anyone from dying in that country 521 00:20:45,069 --> 00:20:47,220 from the virus for nearly a year. 522 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,140 He says that the world's priority 523 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,190 in distributing vaccines should be clear. 524 00:20:52,210 --> 00:20:55,180 - It starts with healthcare workers 525 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,210 and then it goes to older populations 526 00:20:57,230 --> 00:20:59,170 and those with long-term conditions 527 00:20:59,190 --> 00:21:00,250 and you gradually work down 528 00:21:00,269 --> 00:21:03,190 through the list's vulnerable groups. 529 00:21:03,210 --> 00:21:05,250 And one of the last groups you would normally get to 530 00:21:05,269 --> 00:21:08,150 would be healthy, young athletes. 531 00:21:08,170 --> 00:21:12,150 - Mexico began vaccinating 532 00:21:12,170 --> 00:21:14,289 its Olympic hopefuls and athletes 533 00:21:15,009 --> 00:21:16,220 ahead of doctors. 534 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:21,190 Lithuania started vaccinating its Olympians 535 00:21:21,210 --> 00:21:26,180 ahead of oncology patients and people over the age of 80. 536 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,059 Uganda and Zambia, Vietnam, 537 00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:32,200 poor countries that had almost no vaccine supply, 538 00:21:32,220 --> 00:21:36,059 started vaccinating athletes and Olympic hopefuls 539 00:21:36,079 --> 00:21:39,130 before 99% of the population 540 00:21:39,150 --> 00:21:42,019 had yet to get a single shot. 541 00:21:42,039 --> 00:21:43,250 - The International Olympic Committee has a huge amount 542 00:21:43,269 --> 00:21:48,089 to answer for if they have promoted this distortion 543 00:21:48,109 --> 00:21:52,220 of vaccine prioritization in countries around the world. 544 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,210 Diverting vaccines away from the high-priority groups 545 00:21:56,230 --> 00:21:59,089 means people get sick and die. 546 00:21:59,109 --> 00:22:00,230 It's very simple. 547 00:22:00,250 --> 00:22:04,069 - It was very clear the IOC were going to push ahead 548 00:22:04,089 --> 00:22:07,000 no matter what challenges got in their way. 549 00:22:07,019 --> 00:22:09,190 - Evan Dunfee is a Canadian race walker 550 00:22:09,210 --> 00:22:11,230 who'll be competing in his second Olympics 551 00:22:11,250 --> 00:22:12,259 next month. 552 00:22:12,279 --> 00:22:15,019 He says that the IOC is so determined 553 00:22:15,039 --> 00:22:16,279 to get athletes vaccinated 554 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,150 because the other option, cancelling the Tokyo Olympics, 555 00:22:20,170 --> 00:22:22,259 would cost them billions of dollars. 556 00:22:22,279 --> 00:22:27,059 - There's countless examples of how they're driven by greed 557 00:22:27,079 --> 00:22:32,079 and I think the steadfast... 558 00:22:32,099 --> 00:22:35,029 view that the show must go on 559 00:22:35,049 --> 00:22:37,130 is just another example of that. 560 00:22:37,150 --> 00:22:41,039 - The IOC's campaign got off to its start in January 561 00:22:41,059 --> 00:22:43,009 when its longest-standing member, 562 00:22:43,029 --> 00:22:44,130 Canada's Dick Pound, 563 00:22:44,150 --> 00:22:46,240 went on television to make the pitch. 564 00:22:46,259 --> 00:22:51,089 - To take 300 or 400 vaccines out of several million 565 00:22:51,109 --> 00:22:53,130 in order to have Canada represented 566 00:22:53,150 --> 00:22:58,140 at an international event of this character and level, 567 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,200 I don't think there'd be any kind of a public outcry 568 00:23:01,220 --> 00:23:02,259 about that. 569 00:23:02,279 --> 00:23:05,039 - Just the idea that 570 00:23:05,059 --> 00:23:07,180 I might be getting vaccinated as a young, 571 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,289 healthy, relatively low-risk individual 572 00:23:12,009 --> 00:23:14,089 ahead of those in my community 573 00:23:14,109 --> 00:23:17,079 that needed it much more greatly than I did, 574 00:23:17,099 --> 00:23:18,099 it angered me. 575 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,069 And I can't see any way in which 576 00:23:21,089 --> 00:23:23,230 some people aren't going to die 577 00:23:23,250 --> 00:23:26,039 because of this diversion of vaccines. 578 00:23:26,059 --> 00:23:27,279 - We first took note of the IOC's 579 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,160 seeming willingness to place 580 00:23:29,180 --> 00:23:31,190 their own interests above public health 581 00:23:31,210 --> 00:23:34,059 in the first days of the pandemic 582 00:23:34,079 --> 00:23:36,220 way back on March 12, 2020, 583 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,160 the day most every sports league 584 00:23:38,180 --> 00:23:40,019 in the world shut down. 585 00:23:40,039 --> 00:23:44,109 - Whether it's football, rugby, golf, or Formula 1, 586 00:23:44,130 --> 00:23:46,279 world sport has come to a standstill. 587 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,210 - But on the same day those sports were going dark, 588 00:23:49,230 --> 00:23:52,220 the IOC was holding a ceremony in Greece 589 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,240 to light the Olympic flame. 590 00:23:54,259 --> 00:23:58,210 - This demonstrates once more 591 00:23:58,230 --> 00:24:02,109 our commitment to the success of the Olympic games, 592 00:24:02,130 --> 00:24:04,119 Tokyo 2020. 593 00:24:04,140 --> 00:24:06,069 - The IOC made it clear 594 00:24:06,089 --> 00:24:09,069 the upcoming games would proceed as planned 595 00:24:09,089 --> 00:24:11,170 and any athlete or coach who hoped to attend 596 00:24:11,190 --> 00:24:12,269 would need to qualify 597 00:24:12,289 --> 00:24:14,279 by competing in upcoming events 598 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,160 around the world, virus or no virus. 599 00:24:23,279 --> 00:24:25,019 - Right. 600 00:24:31,190 --> 00:24:33,049 - Tomo Kadic is a coach 601 00:24:33,069 --> 00:24:35,170 for the Croatian national boxing team. 602 00:24:35,190 --> 00:24:39,240 He and his team and teams from 45 other European nations 603 00:24:39,259 --> 00:24:41,079 were summoned to London 604 00:24:41,099 --> 00:24:43,240 for the IOC's boxing qualifiers. 605 00:24:43,259 --> 00:24:47,220 Kadic says friends and family urged him not to go. 606 00:24:52,190 --> 00:24:55,160 - It's especially dangerous in your sport 607 00:24:55,180 --> 00:24:59,089 because boxers and coaches come into contact 608 00:24:59,109 --> 00:25:02,029 with bodily fluids all the time, right? 609 00:25:02,049 --> 00:25:04,259 Spit, snot, sweat. 610 00:25:07,289 --> 00:25:09,059 - But the real danger came 611 00:25:09,079 --> 00:25:11,109 when the athletes from those 46 countries 612 00:25:11,130 --> 00:25:13,000 were sent back home, 613 00:25:13,019 --> 00:25:17,039 potentially carrying the virus to places all across Europe. 614 00:25:21,079 --> 00:25:23,029 - Did you worry about that? 615 00:25:28,029 --> 00:25:30,289 - But that may have been exactly what happened. 616 00:25:31,009 --> 00:25:34,009 "Real Sports" has learned that at least a dozen boxers 617 00:25:34,029 --> 00:25:36,180 and coaches from four different countries 618 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,170 brought the virus home with them. 619 00:25:38,190 --> 00:25:41,230 Among them, the Croatian boxing coach, 620 00:25:41,250 --> 00:25:43,210 Tomo Kadic. 621 00:25:43,230 --> 00:25:45,079 Before long, countries began 622 00:25:45,099 --> 00:25:47,180 to pull out of last summer's Olympics, 623 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,109 forcing the IOC to postpone the games. 624 00:25:50,130 --> 00:25:53,079 But they seem determined not to be denied again. 625 00:25:53,099 --> 00:25:56,160 This year, the IOC is arguing that the pandemic, 626 00:25:56,180 --> 00:25:59,039 far from being a reason not to hold the games, 627 00:25:59,059 --> 00:26:02,059 is the very reason they should be held. 628 00:26:02,079 --> 00:26:03,289 - These Olympic games 629 00:26:04,009 --> 00:26:07,130 will be the light at the end of the tunnel. 630 00:26:07,150 --> 00:26:11,079 They will be a celebration of solidarity, 631 00:26:11,099 --> 00:26:15,170 of unity of humankind in all our diversity, 632 00:26:15,190 --> 00:26:17,190 and of resilience. 633 00:26:17,210 --> 00:26:19,079 - It's the same message we heard 634 00:26:19,099 --> 00:26:20,079 from Olympic officials 635 00:26:20,099 --> 00:26:23,140 in the COVID-ravaged nation of India 636 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,289 where the Olympic team 637 00:26:25,009 --> 00:26:28,069 is now part of that country's most exclusive club, 638 00:26:28,089 --> 00:26:32,180 the 4% of citizens who've been fully vaccinated. 639 00:26:39,019 --> 00:26:40,230 - Don't you think that there are people 640 00:26:40,250 --> 00:26:43,259 who need that vaccine more than your athletes? 641 00:26:46,259 --> 00:26:50,250 - And you think it's justified to make them a priority 642 00:26:50,269 --> 00:26:52,140 even in a circumstance 643 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:54,289 where so many people are more vulnerable? 644 00:27:07,250 --> 00:27:09,109 - You aren't really thinking about this 645 00:27:09,130 --> 00:27:11,289 as a national problem, 646 00:27:12,009 --> 00:27:16,240 as vaccines as a precious, scarce resource? 647 00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:23,019 - But as national governments 648 00:27:23,039 --> 00:27:25,269 appear to be giving the IOC what they want, 649 00:27:25,289 --> 00:27:29,019 Citizens are dying for lack of vaccination 650 00:27:29,039 --> 00:27:30,140 like in Hungary, 651 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,119 which in January began vaccinating Olympians 652 00:27:33,140 --> 00:27:36,269 while elderly citizens were kept on the waiting lists. 653 00:27:36,289 --> 00:27:39,170 - [speaking Hungarian] 654 00:27:39,190 --> 00:27:42,119 - I was watching out for the phone calls 24 hours a day 655 00:27:42,140 --> 00:27:44,230 to see when my parents would be notified. 656 00:27:44,250 --> 00:27:46,289 We were actually thinking that the solution would be 657 00:27:47,009 --> 00:27:50,180 a vaccine, a vaccine, a vaccine. 658 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,069 - So Tamás Nagy was unsettled to learn that 659 00:27:53,089 --> 00:27:56,160 while his elderly parents were waiting their turn in line, 660 00:27:56,180 --> 00:27:59,170 a select group of much younger Hungarians 661 00:27:59,190 --> 00:28:01,039 were moved to the front. 662 00:28:01,059 --> 00:28:02,190 - I kept reading in the news 663 00:28:02,210 --> 00:28:05,279 that Olympians were receiving early vaccinations, 664 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,160 like the Hungarian kayak-canoe team. 665 00:28:08,180 --> 00:28:11,119 They got vaccinated sooner. 666 00:28:11,140 --> 00:28:14,029 - Weeks later, still waiting for his shot, 667 00:28:14,049 --> 00:28:18,049 Nagy's father contracted COVID and fell severely ill. 668 00:28:18,069 --> 00:28:21,009 Within days, he would be dead. 669 00:28:21,029 --> 00:28:22,200 - The worst thing was that 670 00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:25,119 we had seemed to stumble on the threshold. 671 00:28:25,140 --> 00:28:27,250 We got a phone call on the following Sunday 672 00:28:27,269 --> 00:28:31,079 that my parents could go in for their vaccination the next day. 673 00:28:31,099 --> 00:28:34,009 The solution had been so close. 674 00:28:34,029 --> 00:28:36,019 - Did it occur to you that 675 00:28:36,039 --> 00:28:39,019 that had several hundred vaccines 676 00:28:39,039 --> 00:28:40,230 not been diverted 677 00:28:40,250 --> 00:28:44,289 to young, healthy Olympic athletes and hopefuls 678 00:28:45,009 --> 00:28:48,259 that one of them might have been available to your father? 679 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,160 - Yes, it could've been, and it could've helped. 680 00:28:53,180 --> 00:28:55,059 The lives of hundreds or thousands 681 00:28:55,079 --> 00:28:56,279 could've had a different course 682 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,200 without these changes to the vaccination schedule. 683 00:29:00,220 --> 00:29:02,119 - The behavior of the IOC 684 00:29:02,140 --> 00:29:06,059 seems to go against all public health principles 685 00:29:06,079 --> 00:29:08,220 and also, I think, the own, the principles, 686 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,150 as I understand, the Olympics, 687 00:29:10,170 --> 00:29:12,009 which is that it's a celebration 688 00:29:12,029 --> 00:29:15,250 of global unity and fair play. 689 00:29:15,269 --> 00:29:18,069 So it just seems a sham 690 00:29:18,089 --> 00:29:20,170 to hold the Olympics in these conditions. 691 00:29:20,190 --> 00:29:22,079 - And some athletes who've been 692 00:29:22,099 --> 00:29:24,059 training their lives for this moment 693 00:29:24,079 --> 00:29:25,210 feel the same way, 694 00:29:25,230 --> 00:29:28,180 like Canadian Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee, 695 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,089 who, given his nation's vaccine shortage, 696 00:29:31,109 --> 00:29:35,099 now has to either take a dose arranged for him by the IOC 697 00:29:35,119 --> 00:29:38,079 or go off to the games unprotected. 698 00:29:38,099 --> 00:29:39,200 - At this point in time, 699 00:29:39,220 --> 00:29:44,109 it's looking like I'm gonna be relying on these vaccines 700 00:29:44,130 --> 00:29:46,019 that are available to the athletes in Canada 701 00:29:46,039 --> 00:29:47,140 to get my second dose. 702 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:48,269 - Here you are, right? 703 00:29:48,289 --> 00:29:53,029 Against jumping the line but planning to jump the line. 704 00:29:53,049 --> 00:29:57,069 - What it comes down to is-- is just 705 00:29:57,089 --> 00:30:01,230 narrowing my lens to me and those around me. 706 00:30:01,250 --> 00:30:03,180 And I know it's hypocritical. 707 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:07,140 And I have to be able to accept that 708 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,259 because I'm going to take it because I'm selfish 709 00:30:09,279 --> 00:30:11,069 and I want to protect myself 710 00:30:11,089 --> 00:30:13,130 and I want to protect my community and my family. 711 00:30:13,150 --> 00:30:15,160 And I know that comes with the trade-off 712 00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:19,069 of someone else being less protected 713 00:30:19,089 --> 00:30:21,029 who could, you know, 714 00:30:21,049 --> 00:30:24,039 could get COVID and could die as a result of it. 715 00:30:24,059 --> 00:30:28,200 ♪ ♪ 716 00:30:28,220 --> 00:30:30,019 - David, this is a very disturbing story. 717 00:30:30,039 --> 00:30:31,200 I'm not surprised, but it's disturbing. 718 00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:32,269 Let's make sure I get this quote right. 719 00:30:32,289 --> 00:30:34,039 The Indian official said, 720 00:30:34,059 --> 00:30:36,119 "Worrying about the scarcity of a resource 721 00:30:36,140 --> 00:30:38,250 is not the concern of a sports federation." 722 00:30:38,269 --> 00:30:40,029 Should it be? 723 00:30:40,049 --> 00:30:42,130 - Well, amidst a global pandemic, 724 00:30:42,150 --> 00:30:47,140 amidst the national devastation as is unfolding now in India, 725 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,210 if the Indian National Olympic Committee 726 00:30:49,230 --> 00:30:52,059 doesn't stand for the collective good, 727 00:30:52,079 --> 00:30:54,180 then it seems to me they've all lost the plot. 728 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,069 - Can I assume the IOC ran from this, 729 00:30:58,089 --> 00:31:00,190 doesn't care about this, cares but not enough? 730 00:31:00,210 --> 00:31:02,000 What's the answer? 731 00:31:02,019 --> 00:31:04,099 - Well, you know, the IOC starts from the presumption 732 00:31:04,119 --> 00:31:07,000 that the Games are an essential activity. 733 00:31:07,019 --> 00:31:08,019 - Hm. 734 00:31:08,039 --> 00:31:09,250 - Even in the midst of the pandemic. 735 00:31:09,269 --> 00:31:11,160 And if you buy into that, 736 00:31:11,180 --> 00:31:15,029 then much of what they do has a logic to it. 737 00:31:15,049 --> 00:31:17,190 But as soon as you challenge that first presumption... 738 00:31:17,210 --> 00:31:18,190 - Right. 739 00:31:18,210 --> 00:31:19,210 - Then I think it all falls apart. 740 00:31:19,230 --> 00:31:21,160 - Overall, how many vaccines are we talking about? 741 00:31:21,180 --> 00:31:22,230 - Tens of thousands. 742 00:31:22,250 --> 00:31:24,029 - Yeah, 'cause it's not just the athletes. 743 00:31:24,049 --> 00:31:25,190 - That's right. It's not just the athletes, 744 00:31:25,210 --> 00:31:28,039 it's Olympic hopefuls who are still trying to qualify, 745 00:31:28,059 --> 00:31:30,019 it's coaches and other personnel. 746 00:31:30,039 --> 00:31:32,089 You get into the tens of thousands very quickly. 747 00:31:32,109 --> 00:31:34,069 - And so any vaccine that's used for anybody 748 00:31:34,089 --> 00:31:37,230 who is Olympic-related is one fewer for the rest of society 749 00:31:37,250 --> 00:31:39,180 that desperately needs it? - Exactly. 750 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,059 This is a zero-sum game and at some point, 751 00:31:42,079 --> 00:31:46,190 the Olympic committee procured a stock of donated vaccines 752 00:31:46,210 --> 00:31:49,019 from Pfizer and another manufacturer, 753 00:31:49,039 --> 00:31:52,000 but epidemiologists will say, "No, no, 754 00:31:52,019 --> 00:31:54,000 "a shot that you give to Person A 755 00:31:54,019 --> 00:31:56,269 is one that's not available for Person B." 756 00:31:56,289 --> 00:31:59,279 That is why all public health authorities 757 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,059 issue guidelines 758 00:32:01,079 --> 00:32:04,049 for prioritizing those most vulnerable 759 00:32:04,069 --> 00:32:05,170 and those are not young, healthy, athletes. 760 00:32:05,190 --> 00:32:07,180 - Something to keep in mind when the flame is lit 761 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:08,250 and we're all "Ooh, yeah." 762 00:32:08,269 --> 00:32:10,200 - Exactly. - All right, David. 763 00:32:10,220 --> 00:32:13,099 Among the 11,000 Olympians who are expected to compete 764 00:32:13,119 --> 00:32:17,109 in the Tokyo Games is an American named Alexis Sablone. 765 00:32:17,130 --> 00:32:18,269 Although she's viewed in some circles 766 00:32:18,289 --> 00:32:20,019 as a strong medal favorite, 767 00:32:20,039 --> 00:32:22,000 she would be the first to tell you 768 00:32:22,019 --> 00:32:24,039 that she doesn't really belong at the Olympics 769 00:32:24,059 --> 00:32:25,140 because in so many ways, 770 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,259 the Games represent the kind of buttoned-up structure 771 00:32:27,279 --> 00:32:30,059 that she has railed against her entire life. 772 00:32:30,079 --> 00:32:32,160 The very idea of her fitting into some corporate 773 00:32:32,180 --> 00:32:35,130 or patriotic peg just doesn't work. 774 00:32:35,150 --> 00:32:37,220 You see, Alexis is a skateboarder, 775 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:41,269 and to her, it's as much a lifestyle as it is a pursuit. 776 00:32:41,289 --> 00:32:45,000 Our Mary Carillo explains. 777 00:32:45,019 --> 00:32:47,119 - Yeah, drive it home! Drive it on! Yeah! 778 00:32:47,140 --> 00:32:50,119 - This is how the world's best athletes are preparing 779 00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:52,160 for this summer's Olympic Games. 780 00:32:56,009 --> 00:33:00,079 In the pool, on the mats, and in the gym. 781 00:33:00,099 --> 00:33:02,259 And this... 782 00:33:02,279 --> 00:33:05,089 is how skateboarder Alexis Sablone 783 00:33:05,109 --> 00:33:08,160 is getting ready for her trip to Tokyo. 784 00:33:09,190 --> 00:33:12,079 You see, Sablone's training grounds 785 00:33:12,099 --> 00:33:14,130 are the streets of New York City. 786 00:33:14,150 --> 00:33:16,259 - These are kind of spots right here. 787 00:33:16,279 --> 00:33:19,140 Like, these black ledges. - You've done time on this one? 788 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,019 - A little bit, yeah. 789 00:33:21,039 --> 00:33:24,170 - And if you think she seems an unlikely Olympic athlete, 790 00:33:24,190 --> 00:33:27,079 and skateboarding an unlikely Olympic sport, 791 00:33:27,099 --> 00:33:29,130 she couldn't agree more. 792 00:33:29,150 --> 00:33:31,210 - I never thought skateboarding would be in the Olympics. 793 00:33:31,230 --> 00:33:33,069 I never would've thought. 794 00:33:33,089 --> 00:33:35,190 Like, what are we gonna be wearing? Uniforms? 795 00:33:35,210 --> 00:33:37,160 They're gonna be scoring us? Like, I can't picture it. 796 00:33:37,180 --> 00:33:40,039 I mean, and now, here we are. 797 00:33:40,059 --> 00:33:43,000 - This summer marks the first time skateboarding 798 00:33:43,019 --> 00:33:45,109 will be included in the Olympics, 799 00:33:45,130 --> 00:33:48,000 and Sablone, as one of the best street skateboarders 800 00:33:48,019 --> 00:33:49,000 in the world... 801 00:33:49,019 --> 00:33:50,170 - Oh, my gosh! 802 00:33:50,190 --> 00:33:52,289 - Will be part of Team USA. 803 00:33:53,009 --> 00:33:55,099 She hopes all the tricks she has up her sleeve 804 00:33:55,119 --> 00:33:58,109 will get scores high enough to win gold, 805 00:33:58,130 --> 00:34:00,000 even though she thinks the whole idea 806 00:34:00,019 --> 00:34:04,029 of scoring skateboarding is ludicrous in the first place. 807 00:34:04,049 --> 00:34:05,250 - There is this, like, 808 00:34:05,269 --> 00:34:08,139 "sportification" of skateboarding happening, 809 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:11,010 but skateboarding itself is not a sport. 810 00:34:11,030 --> 00:34:12,199 - It's an Olympic sport. 811 00:34:12,219 --> 00:34:14,150 - It's more... 812 00:34:14,170 --> 00:34:17,030 some people call it, like, I don't know, a lifestyle, 813 00:34:17,050 --> 00:34:20,039 or an art, or--all the words sound really cheesy to me. 814 00:34:20,059 --> 00:34:22,159 Like, dancing. Is, like, dancing a sport? 815 00:34:22,179 --> 00:34:26,000 Like, not--it's physical. 816 00:34:26,019 --> 00:34:27,230 But it's also a kind of expression. 817 00:34:27,250 --> 00:34:29,019 Maybe it's closer to that? 818 00:34:29,039 --> 00:34:30,199 Don't quote me on that, but yeah. 819 00:34:30,219 --> 00:34:31,230 [chuckles] I don't know. 820 00:34:31,250 --> 00:34:33,079 - [chuckling] I think we just did. 821 00:34:33,099 --> 00:34:35,079 - Yeah, I think you just did. Maybe that's on the record. 822 00:34:35,099 --> 00:34:38,139 - But if skateboarding doesn't fit neatly in a box, 823 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:41,159 that may explain why it appealed to Alexis Sablone 824 00:34:41,179 --> 00:34:43,039 to begin with. 825 00:34:43,059 --> 00:34:44,289 As a little girl in Connecticut, 826 00:34:45,010 --> 00:34:48,150 she was constantly defying convention and breaking rules. 827 00:34:48,170 --> 00:34:50,280 While the other girls played with dolls, 828 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,130 Sablone took a different route. 829 00:34:53,150 --> 00:34:56,219 - I was collecting, like, dead bugs and I was gonna, 830 00:34:56,239 --> 00:35:01,250 like, battery power-jump the bug parts back to life. 831 00:35:01,269 --> 00:35:03,070 I don't know where that came from. 832 00:35:03,090 --> 00:35:05,170 - Were you successful? - No. 833 00:35:05,190 --> 00:35:07,000 [chuckles] 834 00:35:07,019 --> 00:35:08,070 Obviously not. No. 835 00:35:08,090 --> 00:35:10,079 - She would take apart our television sets 836 00:35:10,099 --> 00:35:12,070 and take things--our phones. - [laughs] 837 00:35:12,090 --> 00:35:17,159 - And she broke a light bulb to study what was inside it. 838 00:35:17,179 --> 00:35:19,119 - Sablone's mother, Terry Donovan, 839 00:35:19,139 --> 00:35:22,239 says her daughter would also study "Gray's Anatomy" 840 00:35:22,260 --> 00:35:24,119 at age five, 841 00:35:24,139 --> 00:35:27,219 consumed not just by the scientific explanations, 842 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,110 but by the drawings that illustrated them. 843 00:35:30,130 --> 00:35:32,159 - And then at a very young age, 844 00:35:32,179 --> 00:35:36,170 sitting at this table, she began these drawings. 845 00:35:36,190 --> 00:35:38,190 - I was obsessed with drawing. 846 00:35:38,210 --> 00:35:40,110 Like, always loved drawing. 847 00:35:40,130 --> 00:35:41,250 And I would just draw until, like, 848 00:35:41,269 --> 00:35:43,170 you know, like, 2:00 in the morning or something. 849 00:35:43,190 --> 00:35:46,159 Just be working on diagrams and ideas 850 00:35:46,179 --> 00:35:47,250 for whatever I was working on. 851 00:35:47,269 --> 00:35:49,190 - She became more and more enthralled 852 00:35:49,210 --> 00:35:52,090 with understanding the space around her, 853 00:35:52,110 --> 00:35:56,039 and that fascination began to reach new heights. 854 00:35:56,059 --> 00:35:57,210 - I came home from work one night 855 00:35:57,230 --> 00:36:00,030 and Alexis was limping. 856 00:36:00,050 --> 00:36:03,179 And she said, "I always wanted to see what it would feel like 857 00:36:03,199 --> 00:36:06,159 to jump out of the second floor of a house." 858 00:36:06,179 --> 00:36:09,050 - Did you not believe in gravity at the time? Or? 859 00:36:09,070 --> 00:36:10,219 - I think I wanted to test out, like, 860 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:12,030 see if a parachute would work, 861 00:36:12,050 --> 00:36:14,000 like, see if I could, like, hold a sheet and jump, 862 00:36:14,019 --> 00:36:15,219 if it would slow me down at all. 863 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,159 - Then at age nine, 864 00:36:17,179 --> 00:36:21,059 she discovered a new way to test the limits of gravity. 865 00:36:21,079 --> 00:36:25,070 - One night, I saw two kids skating out in a parking lot. 866 00:36:25,090 --> 00:36:29,159 And immediately, I was like, "What are they doing out there? 867 00:36:29,179 --> 00:36:31,159 Like, what are the rules?" 868 00:36:31,179 --> 00:36:34,139 - To Sablone's delight, there weren't any, 869 00:36:34,159 --> 00:36:37,039 and she became obsessed with the endless possibilities 870 00:36:37,059 --> 00:36:38,280 on her skateboard. 871 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:43,030 Too shy to learn in public, she spent hour after hour 872 00:36:43,050 --> 00:36:45,159 here in the family garage 873 00:36:45,179 --> 00:36:48,230 where no one else could watch her or judge her. 874 00:36:48,250 --> 00:36:51,019 - She didn't let me come in while she was skating. 875 00:36:51,039 --> 00:36:52,280 - So what'd you do if you had to call her in for dinner? 876 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:54,019 - If I needed her, 877 00:36:54,039 --> 00:36:55,150 I would knock on the door on the other side 878 00:36:55,170 --> 00:36:58,199 and gain admittance to our garage. 879 00:36:58,219 --> 00:37:00,190 - Skateboarding, it just felt like my thing. 880 00:37:00,210 --> 00:37:03,099 Like, what space can I find to do it in 881 00:37:03,119 --> 00:37:04,159 where no one will see me? 882 00:37:04,179 --> 00:37:06,210 I'll just be practicing on my own. 883 00:37:06,230 --> 00:37:09,250 - But as Sablone had finally found her thing, 884 00:37:09,269 --> 00:37:12,210 she began to realize that even in this world, 885 00:37:12,230 --> 00:37:14,219 she'd still be an outsider. 886 00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:17,079 Like the time she signed up for a skateboarding camp 887 00:37:17,099 --> 00:37:18,260 in Pennsylvania. 888 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,219 - I got a phone call from the camp 889 00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:22,190 and the person said, 890 00:37:22,210 --> 00:37:26,079 "Your daughter is the only girl who's still signed up." 891 00:37:26,099 --> 00:37:29,210 And I said, "Well, how many boys are there?" 892 00:37:29,230 --> 00:37:32,139 And he said, "600." 893 00:37:32,159 --> 00:37:36,050 - Sablone went anyway and kept rolling from there-- 894 00:37:36,070 --> 00:37:38,150 through the ups and the downs. 895 00:37:38,170 --> 00:37:40,289 - [screams] 896 00:37:41,010 --> 00:37:44,039 - Then at age 15, she got her big break 897 00:37:44,059 --> 00:37:45,139 when she was featured 898 00:37:45,159 --> 00:37:47,210 in a hugely popular skateboarding video. 899 00:37:47,230 --> 00:37:49,280 - ♪ Hey, mambo! ♪ 900 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:51,179 ♪ Mambo Italiano! ♪ 901 00:37:51,199 --> 00:37:53,019 ♪ Hey, mambo! ♪ 902 00:37:53,039 --> 00:37:54,179 ♪ Mambo Italiano! ♪ 903 00:37:54,199 --> 00:37:58,050 - I think it was the number one-selling skateboarding video 904 00:37:58,070 --> 00:37:59,199 of the year that year. 905 00:37:59,219 --> 00:38:01,099 - ♪ Mambo like a crazy with a ♪ 906 00:38:01,119 --> 00:38:02,280 ♪ Hey, mambo! ♪ 907 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:04,139 - The appearance made Sablone 908 00:38:04,159 --> 00:38:06,090 one of the most talked about talents 909 00:38:06,110 --> 00:38:08,010 in the skateboarding world. 910 00:38:08,030 --> 00:38:10,280 That was the good news. The bad news? 911 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,070 She was still "just a girl." 912 00:38:13,090 --> 00:38:14,260 So while her male counterparts 913 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,130 began scoring lucrative sponsorships, 914 00:38:17,150 --> 00:38:19,050 she got none. 915 00:38:19,070 --> 00:38:20,219 - Men were paid to just be street skaters 916 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:23,150 and to film parks and women weren't. 917 00:38:23,170 --> 00:38:25,139 You could get free stuff, 918 00:38:25,159 --> 00:38:27,159 but in terms of, like, an actual paycheck, 919 00:38:27,179 --> 00:38:31,010 that was-- it just wasn't happening. 920 00:38:31,030 --> 00:38:32,150 - For girls and women, 921 00:38:32,170 --> 00:38:35,030 there was only way to make money on a skateboard: 922 00:38:35,050 --> 00:38:39,079 by treating skating not as art, but as sport 923 00:38:39,099 --> 00:38:41,230 and entering competitions. 924 00:38:41,250 --> 00:38:45,000 To Sablone, it was a nightmare scenario. 925 00:38:45,019 --> 00:38:47,039 - Contests were never seen as, 926 00:38:47,059 --> 00:38:49,099 like, this cool thing in skateboarding. 927 00:38:49,119 --> 00:38:51,130 Because that is, like, structured, 928 00:38:51,150 --> 00:38:53,059 scored skateboarding. 929 00:38:53,079 --> 00:38:56,030 - It just sounds like it's not the ethos of skateboarding. 930 00:38:56,050 --> 00:38:58,130 - Yeah, and competition for me 931 00:38:58,150 --> 00:39:00,010 is definitely unpleasant. 932 00:39:00,030 --> 00:39:02,119 It is like the most stress you've ever been. 933 00:39:02,139 --> 00:39:04,090 When I think about just the start of a contest, 934 00:39:04,110 --> 00:39:05,219 I can get, like, a-- 935 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,179 like a heart palpitation just thinking about it. 936 00:39:07,199 --> 00:39:09,210 Like someone standing in front of you, counting you down 937 00:39:09,230 --> 00:39:11,119 and then it's, "Go now. Skateboard." 938 00:39:11,139 --> 00:39:12,250 Like, on command. 939 00:39:12,269 --> 00:39:14,230 I remember just being like, "I hate contests." 940 00:39:14,250 --> 00:39:16,239 - [chuckling] - I never wanna do that again. 941 00:39:16,260 --> 00:39:18,269 - Still, the girl who wouldn't 942 00:39:18,289 --> 00:39:21,210 let her own mother watch her skate in the garage 943 00:39:21,230 --> 00:39:25,059 figured out how to wow judges and crowds at competitions. 944 00:39:25,079 --> 00:39:27,010 - Oh! - Oh, my God! 945 00:39:27,030 --> 00:39:28,190 - Are you kidding me? 946 00:39:28,210 --> 00:39:30,260 I haven't even seen that in the men's skateboard street. 947 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:34,239 - Soon, she was winning big events and big money, 948 00:39:34,260 --> 00:39:37,260 enough that she could now support not just her skating, 949 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,239 but a return to her first love... 950 00:39:40,260 --> 00:39:41,289 - My studio's in there. 951 00:39:42,010 --> 00:39:44,090 I've been there for about three years. 952 00:39:44,110 --> 00:39:46,179 - Her love of art and design. 953 00:39:46,199 --> 00:39:50,099 These days, when Sablone's not out on the streets, 954 00:39:50,119 --> 00:39:53,059 you can find her in this little art studio in Brooklyn 955 00:39:53,079 --> 00:39:56,030 where her curious mind can run wild 956 00:39:56,050 --> 00:39:58,119 just like back in the old days. 957 00:39:58,139 --> 00:40:00,150 What kind of imaginings are these? 958 00:40:00,170 --> 00:40:03,280 - Most of those were ideas for these skateable sculptures 959 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,030 in Montclair, New Jersey. 960 00:40:06,050 --> 00:40:08,150 - The sculptures are designed to be skated on 961 00:40:08,170 --> 00:40:10,119 by the town's young riders, 962 00:40:10,139 --> 00:40:13,119 but they double as works of urban art. 963 00:40:13,139 --> 00:40:15,010 She created a similar skate park 964 00:40:15,030 --> 00:40:18,269 for a town square in Sweden which also makes a statement. 965 00:40:18,289 --> 00:40:20,159 When viewed from above, 966 00:40:20,179 --> 00:40:22,219 it reveals the face of a woman. 967 00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:25,110 And if it looks to you like these must have been designed 968 00:40:25,130 --> 00:40:29,090 by an honest-to-god architect, well, you'd be right, 969 00:40:29,110 --> 00:40:31,019 because this skate master 970 00:40:31,039 --> 00:40:34,070 also has a master's degree in architecture 971 00:40:34,090 --> 00:40:37,199 from a school you may have heard of--MIT. 972 00:40:37,219 --> 00:40:41,019 Does the architect you and the skateboarder in you 973 00:40:41,039 --> 00:40:43,099 see space the same way? 974 00:40:43,119 --> 00:40:46,170 - I think that there's this element of creativity 975 00:40:46,190 --> 00:40:49,000 and, like, imagining something beyond what's there 976 00:40:49,019 --> 00:40:52,110 that ties design and skateboarding together. 977 00:40:52,130 --> 00:40:55,170 It's like you're trying to 978 00:40:55,190 --> 00:40:57,250 create something from nothing. 979 00:40:57,269 --> 00:41:00,070 - Sablone's creations all seem to blend 980 00:41:00,090 --> 00:41:03,050 her two passions, skating and design. 981 00:41:03,070 --> 00:41:05,150 There are those skate parks, of course, 982 00:41:05,170 --> 00:41:08,030 but there's also the video she created last year 983 00:41:08,050 --> 00:41:10,190 during the early days of the pandemic. 984 00:41:10,210 --> 00:41:14,050 Sablone worked the camera, scored the music... 985 00:41:14,070 --> 00:41:16,199 [chill techno music] 986 00:41:16,219 --> 00:41:20,199 Edited the video, and created all of the animation. 987 00:41:20,219 --> 00:41:23,059 Oh, and she was also the star. 988 00:41:23,079 --> 00:41:26,059 ♪ ♪ 989 00:41:26,079 --> 00:41:27,260 And then there are these, 990 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:30,090 the shoes that Sablone has designed. 991 00:41:30,110 --> 00:41:33,260 - So these are some of the different designs. 992 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:35,170 - Easy on the eyes 993 00:41:35,190 --> 00:41:37,150 and tough enough for the streets. 994 00:41:40,090 --> 00:41:42,030 The shoes are sold by Converse, 995 00:41:42,050 --> 00:41:43,239 the sportswear giant. 996 00:41:43,260 --> 00:41:48,239 Yes, at age 34, ancient in the world of skateboarding, 997 00:41:48,260 --> 00:41:53,019 Sablone finally has a sponsor paying her a salary. 998 00:41:53,039 --> 00:41:55,070 - After all those years of skateboarding, 999 00:41:55,090 --> 00:41:58,050 to suddenly have a monthly paycheck 1000 00:41:58,070 --> 00:42:02,230 for skateboarding is, you know, in my 30s, um... 1001 00:42:02,250 --> 00:42:04,050 it's pretty crazy how that worked out. 1002 00:42:04,070 --> 00:42:05,239 - But fear not. 1003 00:42:05,260 --> 00:42:08,099 Money hasn't changed Alexis Sablone. 1004 00:42:08,119 --> 00:42:11,030 She's still happiest with just her skateboard 1005 00:42:11,050 --> 00:42:14,090 and a world of obstacles to take on. 1006 00:42:14,110 --> 00:42:16,289 ♪ ♪ 1007 00:42:17,010 --> 00:42:19,050 Across the river from her studio 1008 00:42:19,070 --> 00:42:21,099 on Manhattan's Upper West Side, 1009 00:42:21,119 --> 00:42:22,199 Sablone took us to 1010 00:42:22,219 --> 00:42:25,110 the American Museum of Natural History. 1011 00:42:25,130 --> 00:42:28,269 - And you basically jump over this chain... 1012 00:42:28,289 --> 00:42:30,019 - Uh-huh. 1013 00:42:30,039 --> 00:42:32,190 - And over this and into the sidewalk. 1014 00:42:32,210 --> 00:42:35,199 - It's a structure whose features and materials 1015 00:42:35,219 --> 00:42:39,130 make it beloved by both architects and skaters. 1016 00:42:39,150 --> 00:42:45,019 - This is like just the right texture, basically... 1017 00:42:45,039 --> 00:42:47,130 - Yeah. - So you can feel it grinding. 1018 00:42:47,150 --> 00:42:49,130 - Out here, Sablone is not seen 1019 00:42:49,150 --> 00:42:52,099 as America's next gold medal hope, 1020 00:42:52,119 --> 00:42:54,250 but just a public menace security has to stop 1021 00:42:54,269 --> 00:42:57,050 from terrorizing the neighborhood. 1022 00:42:57,070 --> 00:42:58,219 - Communication with the museum. 1023 00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:00,139 - Okay. We gotta go, guys. 1024 00:43:00,159 --> 00:43:01,280 - Can you just tone it down, please? 1025 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:03,190 [unintelligible] You can't do that. 1026 00:43:03,210 --> 00:43:05,070 That's what's happening. 1027 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:09,110 - And even with no security in sight, 1028 00:43:09,130 --> 00:43:12,079 she sometimes has to pump her own brakes 1029 00:43:12,099 --> 00:43:15,019 when prying eyes throw her off-balance. 1030 00:43:15,039 --> 00:43:16,210 - I get shy when people watch, 1031 00:43:16,230 --> 00:43:18,019 so whenever people are watching, 1032 00:43:18,039 --> 00:43:19,250 I just wait. 1033 00:43:19,269 --> 00:43:21,159 - She knows she can't wait forever. 1034 00:43:21,179 --> 00:43:23,230 After all, what was once underground 1035 00:43:23,250 --> 00:43:27,000 will officially go global next month in Tokyo, 1036 00:43:27,019 --> 00:43:29,260 where a panel of judges and the whole world 1037 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:32,239 will be watching Sablone's every move... 1038 00:43:32,260 --> 00:43:34,239 and keeping score. - Whoo! 1039 00:43:34,260 --> 00:43:37,030 - By competing in the Olympics, 1040 00:43:37,050 --> 00:43:40,010 are there gonna be fellow street skateboarders 1041 00:43:40,030 --> 00:43:42,119 who think, "Ah, she sold out." 1042 00:43:42,139 --> 00:43:43,119 - Probably. 1043 00:43:43,139 --> 00:43:44,170 When I was ten years old, 1044 00:43:44,190 --> 00:43:45,239 I would've thought that about myself, 1045 00:43:45,260 --> 00:43:48,039 but skateboarding's changed a lot, you know? 1046 00:43:48,059 --> 00:43:50,179 And not many people get this opportunity, 1047 00:43:50,199 --> 00:43:52,250 and it's just, you know, it's the Olympics. 1048 00:43:52,269 --> 00:43:54,000 It's an honor. 1049 00:43:54,019 --> 00:43:56,039 - Yeah, this isn't your mama's garage. 1050 00:43:56,059 --> 00:43:58,199 - [chuckling] No. No, definitely not. 1051 00:43:58,219 --> 00:44:01,170 I'm sure everyone will be watching and it's-- 1052 00:44:01,190 --> 00:44:03,250 I'm just gonna try not to think about that part. 1053 00:44:03,269 --> 00:44:08,210 ♪ ♪ 1054 00:44:08,230 --> 00:44:10,079 - Mary, I confess I'm very biased here. 1055 00:44:10,099 --> 00:44:12,119 Alexis, very cool. - Oh, she-- 1056 00:44:12,139 --> 00:44:13,239 this could be recency bias, 1057 00:44:13,260 --> 00:44:15,139 but she's my favorite athlete of all time. 1058 00:44:15,159 --> 00:44:16,219 - Yeah, she's really cool. 1059 00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:17,289 Has she had any serious injuries? 1060 00:44:18,010 --> 00:44:19,110 I mean, the stuff she does is kinda scary. 1061 00:44:19,130 --> 00:44:22,079 - She can go through and explain every scar to you. 1062 00:44:22,099 --> 00:44:25,050 "This was Ohio, this was Rome, this was--" 1063 00:44:25,070 --> 00:44:28,059 but she, oddly enough, she has never been-- 1064 00:44:28,079 --> 00:44:29,250 I mean, she's had broken bones and stuff, 1065 00:44:29,269 --> 00:44:31,250 but that's the deal if you're a skateboarder. 1066 00:44:31,269 --> 00:44:33,179 - You said the boarding industry is male-oriented, 1067 00:44:33,199 --> 00:44:34,179 and I get that. 1068 00:44:34,199 --> 00:44:36,070 Are most boarders guys 1069 00:44:36,090 --> 00:44:39,139 and is she at any physical disadvantage 1070 00:44:39,159 --> 00:44:41,090 by not being a guy? 1071 00:44:41,110 --> 00:44:45,030 - There is a trick that Alexis hopes she can land in Tokyo 1072 00:44:45,050 --> 00:44:48,050 that very few women can do-- guys can do it. 1073 00:44:48,070 --> 00:44:49,269 If she lands it, she gets gold. 1074 00:44:49,289 --> 00:44:52,019 If she doesn't land it, it's not gonna happen. 1075 00:44:52,039 --> 00:44:53,130 So obviously, 1076 00:44:53,150 --> 00:44:55,039 there's always a difference between men and women, 1077 00:44:55,059 --> 00:44:57,210 but she's really good at this. - Yeah. 1078 00:44:57,230 --> 00:44:59,039 Is it fair to say 1079 00:44:59,059 --> 00:45:01,159 or is this just my bias against the IOC saying this... 1080 00:45:01,179 --> 00:45:03,010 - [chuckling] 1081 00:45:03,030 --> 00:45:04,210 - Is it fair to say the IOC's inclusion of skateboarding 1082 00:45:04,230 --> 00:45:06,079 as an event is kind of indicative 1083 00:45:06,099 --> 00:45:08,130 of their desperate attempt to remain relevant 1084 00:45:08,150 --> 00:45:09,230 in today's world? 1085 00:45:09,250 --> 00:45:12,239 - Well, I think it's clear in winter sports as well, 1086 00:45:12,260 --> 00:45:14,250 telegenic sports like aerials, you know? 1087 00:45:14,269 --> 00:45:16,190 - Right. - All that kind of stuff is-- 1088 00:45:16,210 --> 00:45:18,210 They're trying to keep the youth movement going, 1089 00:45:18,230 --> 00:45:20,260 so the fact that Alexis is 34 years old? 1090 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:22,099 - Yeah. - It's kind of cool. 1091 00:45:22,119 --> 00:45:24,030 - I love it. - You and me both. 1092 00:45:24,050 --> 00:45:25,199 - I also love that she said it's not a sport. 1093 00:45:25,219 --> 00:45:26,280 Do you agree? 1094 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:28,260 - I--well, I don't know what it is. 1095 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:30,010 - [imitating stuttering] 1096 00:45:30,030 --> 00:45:31,139 - This is a show called "Real Sports," 1097 00:45:31,159 --> 00:45:33,079 and we've gone through all manner of discussions. 1098 00:45:33,099 --> 00:45:34,139 - I get it. This is a yes or no answer. 1099 00:45:34,159 --> 00:45:35,210 - I'd say yes, 1100 00:45:35,230 --> 00:45:39,130 but in 2024 in Paris, the Summer Games, 1101 00:45:39,150 --> 00:45:41,219 breakdancing is a sport. 1102 00:45:41,239 --> 00:45:44,230 So limber up. - [laughing] 1103 00:45:44,250 --> 00:45:46,190 That myth ends with me. - [laughs] 1104 00:45:46,210 --> 00:45:48,030 - Mary, thanks. - You're welcome. 1105 00:45:48,050 --> 00:45:50,289 - Our final story tonight is an update of a report 1106 00:45:51,010 --> 00:45:53,269 we first aired six years ago about the battle for space 1107 00:45:53,289 --> 00:45:55,239 being waged by cyclists and motorists 1108 00:45:55,260 --> 00:45:57,239 on all of our streets and roads. 1109 00:45:57,260 --> 00:46:00,090 Last year, as virtually everything got upended, 1110 00:46:00,110 --> 00:46:01,289 the pandemic changed the dynamics 1111 00:46:02,010 --> 00:46:04,010 of how Americans get around. 1112 00:46:04,030 --> 00:46:06,139 But those changes, it seems, were merely temporary, 1113 00:46:06,159 --> 00:46:08,190 leaving this country again lagging behind 1114 00:46:08,210 --> 00:46:10,199 the kind of creative transportation outlook 1115 00:46:10,219 --> 00:46:13,139 that Europeans are now enjoying. 1116 00:46:15,250 --> 00:46:17,030 - Hey, watch it! 1117 00:46:17,050 --> 00:46:19,179 What the fuck? Dude! 1118 00:46:19,199 --> 00:46:21,280 You serious, man? - Motherfucker! 1119 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:23,070 The hell's your goddamn problem? 1120 00:46:23,090 --> 00:46:24,219 - You saw me the whole way, bro. 1121 00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:25,219 - Huh? 1122 00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:27,099 - Across the United States, 1123 00:46:27,119 --> 00:46:29,159 a nasty battle has been brewing for years. 1124 00:46:29,179 --> 00:46:32,019 - I have the right of way. I'm going straight. 1125 00:46:32,039 --> 00:46:33,079 - Fucking bike lane. 1126 00:46:33,099 --> 00:46:34,179 - Get the fuck out of here, you asshole. 1127 00:46:34,199 --> 00:46:37,010 - You're in a fucking bike lane. You're the asshole. 1128 00:46:37,030 --> 00:46:41,039 - It's a battle for the space shared by bikers, motorists, 1129 00:46:41,059 --> 00:46:42,190 and pedestrians. 1130 00:46:42,210 --> 00:46:44,090 - [grunts] [onlookers yelp] 1131 00:46:44,110 --> 00:46:46,099 - And it's being waged on roadways 1132 00:46:46,119 --> 00:46:48,039 from coast to coast. 1133 00:46:48,059 --> 00:46:49,239 [metallic clattering] 1134 00:46:49,260 --> 00:46:53,289 America's bike wars are ugly, scary, 1135 00:46:54,010 --> 00:46:55,139 and unforgiving, 1136 00:46:55,159 --> 00:46:57,289 and while cyclists are often the victims... 1137 00:46:58,010 --> 00:46:59,019 [bike tire squeaks] 1138 00:47:03,090 --> 00:47:05,099 They all-too-often victimize others. 1139 00:47:05,119 --> 00:47:06,219 - Whoa! - Whoa! 1140 00:47:08,030 --> 00:47:10,239 - It's a non-stop, unbounded war 1141 00:47:10,260 --> 00:47:13,079 in which there seem to be few rules... 1142 00:47:13,099 --> 00:47:15,190 - Move the fuck over, buddy! 1143 00:47:15,210 --> 00:47:18,059 - And even fewer levels of understanding. 1144 00:47:18,079 --> 00:47:19,269 - The bike lane is over there, dude! 1145 00:47:19,289 --> 00:47:21,139 - That's a bike lane. - That's the bike lane! 1146 00:47:21,159 --> 00:47:24,000 That's the bike lane, dude! 1147 00:47:24,019 --> 00:47:25,110 - Last spring, 1148 00:47:25,130 --> 00:47:27,170 when the pandemic emptied the streets, 1149 00:47:27,190 --> 00:47:30,090 it also triggered a biking boom 1150 00:47:30,110 --> 00:47:32,289 on streets and roads that were suddenly car-free 1151 00:47:33,010 --> 00:47:36,039 and therefore much safer, bicycles took over. 1152 00:47:36,059 --> 00:47:37,170 [bike bells ringing] 1153 00:47:37,190 --> 00:47:40,039 Around the world, people gravitated to biking 1154 00:47:40,059 --> 00:47:42,179 as a safe and socially-distant way 1155 00:47:42,199 --> 00:47:44,199 to commute and exercise. 1156 00:47:44,219 --> 00:47:47,010 Interest in cycling surged 1157 00:47:47,030 --> 00:47:49,059 and record sales actually caused 1158 00:47:49,079 --> 00:47:51,170 an international bike shortage. 1159 00:47:51,190 --> 00:47:54,099 - Whether you're turning to a bike for transportation 1160 00:47:54,119 --> 00:47:56,219 or for exercise, they're a godsend right now. 1161 00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:59,260 But if you're trying to buy one, good luck. 1162 00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:02,250 - John Pitts, an avid cyclist, 1163 00:48:02,269 --> 00:48:05,000 was excited to see his sister, Sarah, 1164 00:48:05,019 --> 00:48:07,289 discover the joys of biking in New York City. 1165 00:48:08,010 --> 00:48:10,210 - She took up biking and found that she loved it. 1166 00:48:10,230 --> 00:48:13,130 She started calling me every weekend going on, like, 1167 00:48:13,150 --> 00:48:17,010 20- or 30-mile bike rides across all five boroughs, 1168 00:48:17,030 --> 00:48:18,199 all across the city. 1169 00:48:18,219 --> 00:48:21,070 - But John's excitement proved short-lived 1170 00:48:21,090 --> 00:48:25,179 when his sister became a bike wars fatality. 1171 00:48:25,199 --> 00:48:29,099 Talk me through September 7th of last year 1172 00:48:29,119 --> 00:48:30,130 and how you found out, 1173 00:48:30,150 --> 00:48:32,050 how you learned what had happened. 1174 00:48:32,070 --> 00:48:35,260 - So I woke up to a phone call from my father 1175 00:48:35,280 --> 00:48:40,190 who could barely even speak. 1176 00:48:40,210 --> 00:48:45,210 He said, "Sarah has been hit by a car. 1177 00:48:45,230 --> 00:48:48,159 They say she has no brain activity." 1178 00:48:48,179 --> 00:48:51,030 - Sarah Pitts had been struck and killed 1179 00:48:51,050 --> 00:48:53,130 by this charter bus while biking through 1180 00:48:53,150 --> 00:48:56,099 a notoriously dangerous intersection in Brooklyn. 1181 00:48:56,119 --> 00:48:58,210 - I am unbelievably sad every day 1182 00:48:58,230 --> 00:49:00,119 to not have her in my life. 1183 00:49:00,139 --> 00:49:03,130 And to not see everything else that she was going to do. 1184 00:49:03,150 --> 00:49:06,260 - Sarah's story is one that is tragically familiar. 1185 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:09,090 On average, two to three cyclists 1186 00:49:09,110 --> 00:49:12,269 are killed every day on America's street and roads, 1187 00:49:12,289 --> 00:49:16,000 and with more cyclists now on the road than ever before, 1188 00:49:16,019 --> 00:49:19,250 the shared spaces are being contested at every turn. 1189 00:49:21,110 --> 00:49:24,150 It's an all-out battle that has only grown worse 1190 00:49:24,170 --> 00:49:27,010 since we first looked at it six years ago. 1191 00:49:28,070 --> 00:49:30,079 - God damn it. 1192 00:49:30,099 --> 00:49:32,280 - There is chaos. There is certainly chaos. 1193 00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:35,280 Megan Hoffman was once celebrated for her biking 1194 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,079 as a national cycling champion. 1195 00:49:38,099 --> 00:49:39,230 But commuting to work 1196 00:49:39,250 --> 00:49:42,050 and biking around her home state of Colorado 1197 00:49:42,070 --> 00:49:45,230 often left her feeling like an object of scorn. 1198 00:49:45,250 --> 00:49:48,039 - I get yelled at quite frequently by motorists 1199 00:49:48,059 --> 00:49:51,000 telling me to get off the roads and get on the sidewalks. 1200 00:49:51,019 --> 00:49:54,179 I've had plenty of people pass very closely to me and buzz me. 1201 00:49:54,199 --> 00:49:57,010 There's a lot of conflict. There's a lot of tension. 1202 00:49:57,030 --> 00:49:59,159 - What is it Americans don't get about bikes? 1203 00:49:59,179 --> 00:50:00,199 - For many, they don't understand 1204 00:50:00,219 --> 00:50:02,010 why we would ever ride a bike 1205 00:50:02,030 --> 00:50:04,039 when you have a perfectly- functional car at home. 1206 00:50:04,059 --> 00:50:05,219 There's a component of frustration. 1207 00:50:05,239 --> 00:50:08,010 "You're getting in my way. I'm trying to get somewhere. 1208 00:50:08,030 --> 00:50:09,059 I'm in a hurry." 1209 00:50:09,079 --> 00:50:10,159 There's a component of, 1210 00:50:10,179 --> 00:50:12,139 "I don't have to share the road with you. 1211 00:50:12,159 --> 00:50:15,179 You're not an equal road user. Bikes belong over there." 1212 00:50:15,199 --> 00:50:18,000 - Hup, hup! - Yeah, boy! 1213 00:50:18,019 --> 00:50:21,090 - In truth, bikers haven't exactly endeared themselves 1214 00:50:21,110 --> 00:50:23,159 to motorists or pedestrians, either. 1215 00:50:23,179 --> 00:50:25,119 Darting in and out of traffic... 1216 00:50:25,139 --> 00:50:26,219 - Stop! 1217 00:50:26,239 --> 00:50:29,139 - Running red lights with reckless abandon... 1218 00:50:30,239 --> 00:50:32,250 And pedaling through crowded places 1219 00:50:32,269 --> 00:50:35,019 at speeds better suited to the Tour de France. 1220 00:50:35,039 --> 00:50:36,190 - Look out! 1221 00:50:36,210 --> 00:50:40,170 - It has created levels of mutual distrust so deep 1222 00:50:40,190 --> 00:50:43,260 between bikers, cars, and pedestrians 1223 00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:45,289 that it makes one wonder if there's any way 1224 00:50:46,010 --> 00:50:48,079 that bicycles can ever have a place 1225 00:50:48,099 --> 00:50:51,170 in our most dense and modern urban centers. 1226 00:50:51,190 --> 00:50:54,030 But it turns out there may be an answer, 1227 00:50:54,050 --> 00:50:56,250 even if it's 4,000 miles away. 1228 00:50:56,269 --> 00:51:00,210 This is Copenhagen, Denmark's largest city. 1229 00:51:00,230 --> 00:51:02,289 On a typical morning in this city 1230 00:51:03,010 --> 00:51:04,159 of 2 million people, 1231 00:51:04,179 --> 00:51:06,210 nearly half of whom commute by bike, 1232 00:51:06,230 --> 00:51:09,079 cyclists do exist in peaceful harmony 1233 00:51:09,099 --> 00:51:11,280 with pedestrians and cars. 1234 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:15,079 They enjoy a vast network of fully-protected lanes 1235 00:51:15,099 --> 00:51:17,119 complete with dedicated stoplights. 1236 00:51:17,139 --> 00:51:19,260 There are special, bike-only highways 1237 00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:22,050 and bridges just for bikes. 1238 00:51:22,070 --> 00:51:25,010 - The bicycle in Copenhagen has become mainstream. 1239 00:51:25,030 --> 00:51:28,119 That's today the majority's choice of transport. 1240 00:51:28,139 --> 00:51:30,019 - So in Copenhagen, 1241 00:51:30,039 --> 00:51:32,289 you'd think bicycle first, car second? 1242 00:51:33,010 --> 00:51:35,260 - I'd say bicycles first, public transport, 1243 00:51:35,280 --> 00:51:38,000 walking, and then the car. 1244 00:51:38,019 --> 00:51:41,210 - Morten Kabell oversaw urban planning for Copenhagen, 1245 00:51:41,230 --> 00:51:46,059 a city that remarkably looked like this 50 years ago-- 1246 00:51:46,079 --> 00:51:49,190 an ugly thicket of exhaust-belching automobiles. 1247 00:51:49,210 --> 00:51:52,250 - In the '70s, Copenhagen was car-oriented, car-dominated. 1248 00:51:52,269 --> 00:51:53,269 - What changed? 1249 00:51:53,289 --> 00:51:56,070 - Copenhageners made a change. 1250 00:51:56,090 --> 00:51:57,230 They took to the streets. 1251 00:51:57,250 --> 00:52:01,010 We had 150,000 people standing outside the city hall, 1252 00:52:01,030 --> 00:52:02,219 and they were tired 1253 00:52:02,239 --> 00:52:06,050 of having their squares used as parking lots, 1254 00:52:06,070 --> 00:52:07,260 they were tired of not being able 1255 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:09,239 to send their kids off to school on their own, 1256 00:52:09,260 --> 00:52:11,150 so they actually wanted to get their city back. 1257 00:52:11,170 --> 00:52:12,280 - You're telling me that simply because 1258 00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:16,150 the traffic had become so terrible 1259 00:52:16,170 --> 00:52:18,139 that people said, "We need something new"? 1260 00:52:18,159 --> 00:52:19,239 - They wanted something else. 1261 00:52:19,260 --> 00:52:21,150 - With Kabell's help, 1262 00:52:21,170 --> 00:52:24,079 Copenhagen made way for the bicycle. 1263 00:52:24,099 --> 00:52:27,099 And as a result, reaped many rewards. 1264 00:52:27,119 --> 00:52:28,250 It has become one of the most 1265 00:52:28,269 --> 00:52:31,119 environmentally-friendly cities in all the world, 1266 00:52:31,139 --> 00:52:35,059 one whose citizens reportedly save more than a $1/4 billion 1267 00:52:35,079 --> 00:52:38,269 a year in health care alone, thanks to bikes. 1268 00:52:38,289 --> 00:52:42,030 And despite the vast number of riders in Copenhagen, 1269 00:52:42,050 --> 00:52:44,070 fatalities are exceedingly rare. 1270 00:52:44,090 --> 00:52:47,079 Safe, healthy, economical. 1271 00:52:47,099 --> 00:52:50,280 Biking's proponents say it's also practical. 1272 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:53,130 - It's simply the fastest way from A to B, you know? 1273 00:52:53,150 --> 00:52:54,210 That's why people ride here. 1274 00:52:54,230 --> 00:52:56,179 They don't ride 'cause they're eco-hippies, man. 1275 00:52:56,199 --> 00:52:57,250 Pinko commies, you know? 1276 00:52:57,269 --> 00:52:59,130 They just ride because it's the fastest way 1277 00:52:59,150 --> 00:53:00,280 to go anywhere in this city. 1278 00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:04,150 - Mikael Colville-Andersen specializes in showing cities 1279 00:53:04,170 --> 00:53:07,230 around the world how to become more bike-friendly. 1280 00:53:07,250 --> 00:53:11,190 His consulting firm is aptly named Copenhagenize. 1281 00:53:11,210 --> 00:53:13,289 What is it that Europeans understand 1282 00:53:14,010 --> 00:53:17,030 and appreciate about the bicycle... 1283 00:53:17,050 --> 00:53:18,079 - Mm-hmm. 1284 00:53:18,099 --> 00:53:20,099 - That Americans in the main don't get? 1285 00:53:20,119 --> 00:53:22,030 - A large number of Americans, they're going, "Oh, bikes. 1286 00:53:22,050 --> 00:53:23,250 "Great on the weekends down by the river 1287 00:53:23,269 --> 00:53:25,110 on that little green trail," you know? 1288 00:53:25,130 --> 00:53:27,110 They don't think of it as transport. 1289 00:53:27,130 --> 00:53:29,000 That's the trick, is that perception 1290 00:53:29,019 --> 00:53:31,239 of the bicycle as sport and recreation and not transport. 1291 00:53:31,260 --> 00:53:34,099 Here, we understand it. 1292 00:53:34,119 --> 00:53:37,219 - Others have recently come to understand it as well. 1293 00:53:37,239 --> 00:53:41,170 Pandemic bike boom provided the perfect opportunity 1294 00:53:41,190 --> 00:53:45,119 for cities to rethink their traffic patterns and habits 1295 00:53:45,139 --> 00:53:48,050 not just to accommodate the new wave of bikers, 1296 00:53:48,070 --> 00:53:49,250 but to radically reimagine 1297 00:53:49,269 --> 00:53:52,159 what was possible for their roads. 1298 00:53:52,179 --> 00:53:56,239 Once again, it was Europe leading the way. 1299 00:53:56,260 --> 00:53:58,059 Paris set the gold standard 1300 00:53:58,079 --> 00:54:00,099 for rethinking their infrastructure 1301 00:54:00,119 --> 00:54:02,219 by producing a network of over 40 miles 1302 00:54:02,239 --> 00:54:05,059 of newly-protected bike lanes. 1303 00:54:05,079 --> 00:54:07,139 While visiting the city this month, 1304 00:54:07,159 --> 00:54:09,130 Mikael Colville-Andersen showed us 1305 00:54:09,150 --> 00:54:11,000 how even the Rue de Rivoli, 1306 00:54:11,019 --> 00:54:13,139 a bustling street in the heart of Paris, 1307 00:54:13,159 --> 00:54:15,119 has been transformed. 1308 00:54:15,139 --> 00:54:17,119 - It's really cool to ride from the Champs-Elysées 1309 00:54:17,139 --> 00:54:19,190 down to where I'm standing today. 1310 00:54:19,210 --> 00:54:21,119 It really is an amazing transformation. 1311 00:54:21,139 --> 00:54:23,070 One of the most exciting ones I've seen. 1312 00:54:23,090 --> 00:54:24,230 - And why have you chosen 1313 00:54:24,250 --> 00:54:27,019 to show us this street in particular? 1314 00:54:27,039 --> 00:54:29,269 - Well, this has really been the showpiece 1315 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:32,000 of corona infrastructure. 1316 00:54:32,019 --> 00:54:34,250 So it is just this ocean of space 1317 00:54:34,269 --> 00:54:36,019 given over to the bikes 1318 00:54:36,039 --> 00:54:37,250 with one car lane left for cars, 1319 00:54:37,269 --> 00:54:39,280 so it's really, you know, an iconic boulevard 1320 00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:43,239 that has just gone all in with bicycle infrastructure. 1321 00:54:43,260 --> 00:54:45,170 - Paris wasn't alone. 1322 00:54:45,190 --> 00:54:48,199 In Europe, London, Berlin, and Milan 1323 00:54:48,219 --> 00:54:51,289 also used the bike boom to rethink their roads, 1324 00:54:52,010 --> 00:54:54,179 install miles of new bicycle lanes, 1325 00:54:54,199 --> 00:54:57,170 and dramatically transform their infrastructures. 1326 00:54:57,190 --> 00:55:00,000 - European cities were the first movers 1327 00:55:00,019 --> 00:55:01,190 and on a scale that I, you know, 1328 00:55:01,210 --> 00:55:03,010 I never dreamed possible. 1329 00:55:03,030 --> 00:55:04,239 We have built in all the different countries 1330 00:55:04,260 --> 00:55:09,000 over 600 miles of protected bicycle infrastructure. 1331 00:55:09,019 --> 00:55:10,079 We've gone all in. 1332 00:55:10,099 --> 00:55:13,099 - American cities made some changes. 1333 00:55:13,119 --> 00:55:16,199 Seattle added 20 miles of bike lanes, 1334 00:55:16,219 --> 00:55:19,139 Washington, D.C. lowered its speed limits, 1335 00:55:19,159 --> 00:55:22,219 and New York created bike-friendly open streets, 1336 00:55:22,239 --> 00:55:24,199 but helpful measures in this country 1337 00:55:24,219 --> 00:55:26,199 have been woefully inconsistent 1338 00:55:26,219 --> 00:55:28,130 and mostly temporary, 1339 00:55:28,150 --> 00:55:31,170 leaving urban design experts like Colville-Andersen 1340 00:55:31,190 --> 00:55:34,280 frustrated about what might have been. 1341 00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:38,019 - I am totally disappointed at this missed opportunity 1342 00:55:38,039 --> 00:55:40,079 in so many American cities, man. 1343 00:55:40,099 --> 00:55:42,179 There's a list of cities that did some cool stuff, 1344 00:55:42,199 --> 00:55:45,119 but it is an incredibly short list. 1345 00:55:45,139 --> 00:55:48,260 - And that missed opportunity comes at a cost. 1346 00:55:48,280 --> 00:55:50,250 Amid the pandemic biking surge, 1347 00:55:50,269 --> 00:55:53,239 despite the reduced auto traffic, last year 1348 00:55:53,260 --> 00:55:58,030 America's roads still saw about 700 cycling fatalities 1349 00:55:58,050 --> 00:56:00,099 including Sarah Pitts. 1350 00:56:00,119 --> 00:56:03,099 Today, other than a memorial that sits 1351 00:56:03,119 --> 00:56:05,070 on the Brooklyn corner where she was hit, 1352 00:56:05,090 --> 00:56:06,210 little has changed. 1353 00:56:06,230 --> 00:56:09,289 That intersection is still riddled with blind corners 1354 00:56:10,010 --> 00:56:14,010 and bike lanes are still often obstructed. 1355 00:56:14,030 --> 00:56:18,119 In three years, there have been 126 crashes in the area, 1356 00:56:18,139 --> 00:56:20,050 and for Sarah's brother, John, 1357 00:56:20,070 --> 00:56:23,119 that's unacceptable, as is the very idea 1358 00:56:23,139 --> 00:56:27,079 that his sister's death was just a tragic accident. 1359 00:56:27,099 --> 00:56:29,099 - I really object to "accident" 1360 00:56:29,119 --> 00:56:33,150 because we often talk about, "it's an accident" 1361 00:56:33,170 --> 00:56:36,190 when a cyclist is killed or when a pedestrian is killed. 1362 00:56:36,210 --> 00:56:37,289 It's not an accident. 1363 00:56:38,010 --> 00:56:39,150 Someone planned that intersection, 1364 00:56:39,170 --> 00:56:43,059 someone made the decision of whether it was safe or not. 1365 00:56:43,079 --> 00:56:47,099 And that means it's never an accident. 1366 00:56:47,119 --> 00:56:49,110 Right? It's a choice. 1367 00:56:49,130 --> 00:56:50,210 You've got cities in Europe 1368 00:56:50,230 --> 00:56:53,239 that are much better for bike infrastructure 1369 00:56:53,260 --> 00:56:56,030 because they've made a choice to be better for that. 1370 00:56:56,050 --> 00:56:59,159 And I think if you have enough demand 1371 00:56:59,179 --> 00:57:01,059 and have the political will, 1372 00:57:01,079 --> 00:57:02,250 it's a choice you could make here. 1373 00:57:02,269 --> 00:57:05,179 ♪ ♪ 1374 00:57:05,199 --> 00:57:06,239 - Quick tag. 1375 00:57:06,260 --> 00:57:08,199 While bike-sharing systems are available 1376 00:57:08,219 --> 00:57:11,219 in over 60 U.S. cities now, studies show that their use 1377 00:57:11,239 --> 00:57:13,239 is heavily dependent on infrastructure, 1378 00:57:13,260 --> 00:57:15,280 with most people claiming they want to ride 1379 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:19,179 only on those streets with protected bike lanes. 1380 00:57:19,199 --> 00:57:21,210 Until political will leads to more of those, 1381 00:57:21,230 --> 00:57:23,130 it is unrealistic to think 1382 00:57:23,150 --> 00:57:25,150 that our heated American bike wars 1383 00:57:25,170 --> 00:57:27,170 will cool anytime soon. 1384 00:57:27,190 --> 00:57:28,289 And that's our show for this evening. 1385 00:57:29,010 --> 00:57:30,260 Boy, it's good to be back among the troops. 1386 00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:32,059 For all the good folks here at "Real Sports," 1387 00:57:32,079 --> 00:57:33,199 I'm Bryant Gumbel. 1388 00:57:33,219 --> 00:57:36,139 Thank you so very much for being with us and good night. 1389 00:57:36,159 --> 00:57:43,170 ♪ ♪