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CARL AZUZ: A long time ago, when Friday meant awesome,
the two became inseparable.
The end.
But no more time for short stories.
It's time for the news, y'all.
I'm Carl Azuz.
It's great to have you watching.
These are some of the sights and sounds from America's Veterans
Day events on November 11, from a parade in Washington, DC
to star-spangled events nationwide,
to a military flyover at Arlington National Cemetery,
where US President Joe Biden participated
in the traditional wreath-laying ceremony
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
He said, to be a veteran is to have
endured and survived challenges most Americans will never know.
Veterans Day is sometimes confused with Memorial Day.
Both are marked by wreath-laying ceremonies and events
honoring members of the US armed forces.
But Memorial Day is held in May, and focused on those who
lost their lives while serving in the military, while Veterans
Day was designated for everyone who's served
or is serving in the armed forces.
As part of that, some businesses,
schools, and government offices were closed yesterday.
Many that were open offered free goods and services
for veterans, from breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert,
and coffee, to free haircuts.
As we mentioned yesterday, Veterans Day in the US
was originally named Armistice Day,
marking the date in 1918 when fighting ended in World War I.
And across the Atlantic, France held a somber ceremony
in honor of its service members from the First
and Second World Wars.
Events were also held in Britain, which will mark
Remembrance Sunday on the 14th.
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10 second trivia-- which of these sportswriters
coined the term "sabermetrics" for detailed
baseball statistics?
Zander Hollander, Mary Garber, Wendell Smith, or Bill James?
In 1980, Bill James came up with the acronym
for Society of American Baseball Research Metrics.
OPS, exit velocity, WAR, wOBA--
baseball statistics have come a long way since win-loss ratios,
batting average, and earned run average were all
you saw in a televised game.
Critics of sabermetrics, computer statistics,
say there's more to the game that can't be measured--
the eye test, the intangibles, going with the gut,
the keen observations of an attentive manager
who wants the best for the players
and their chances of winning.
So some won't agree that the technology you're about to see
could make the game better.
But as that tech continues to develop,
so do the unique measurements it offers about the organized
games we play.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: On this soccer field in Hong Kong,
it's another day of training for Kitchee SC,
a professional team that competes in the Hong
Kong Premier League.
For two seasons now, the team has been using a tracking
system developed in South Korea called Fitogether, which
gathers data on each player during practices,
as well as matches.
With their GPS-enabled vests, these soccer players
can get a robust picture of their athletic performance,
with metrics on endurance, positioning, and maximum speed.
Recently, I spoke to an entrepreneur in Taiwan
who is also trying to leverage data and analytics
to transform the game of baseball.
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It's arguably the most popular spectator sport in Taiwan--
baseball.
At the end of the 1800s, the game was brought to the island
by Japanese colonists, who had picked up the sport
from American expatriates.
Taiwan has been described as baseball crazy.
Why is Taiwan obsessed with baseball?
LIN CHING LUN: [speaking mandarin]
INTERPRETER: Taiwanese people are crazy about baseball
because it's a sport with strategy.
And our players are quite good at it.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: I'm touching base with Lin Ching Lun,
the CEO of Jingletek, a sports tech company
that earlier this year unveiled Strike, billed as the world's
first smart baseball.
Based in the Taiwanese city of Tainan,
Lin says that his technology can empower
coaches and athletes with data to optimize their training.
Ching Lun, could you pick up the Strike baseball
and show it to me?
It looks like a normal baseball.
But what kind of technology is inside the Strike baseball?
LIN CHING LUN: [speaking mandarin]
INTERPRETER: We inserted a chip into the baseball.
And we wanted it to be used consistently.
So we also installed wireless charging.
This ball can be pitched 3,000 times at 130 kilometers
an hour, and it will be fine.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: The baseball is outfitted with precision
sensors that can detect a split-second throw,
with information including the ball's spin rate,
velocity, and trajectory.
You're collecting a lot of data from baseball players.
But how does more data help baseball players take
the game to the next level?
LIN CHING LUN: [speaking mandarin]
INTERPRETER: Pitching takes a lot of energy.
And there's a limit to how many pitches one can make.
So we can check how tired a player is from this technology.
We can also help a pitcher get better
by giving them details, like the rotational axis of the pitch.
Coaches can monitor the progress of the players
and check if the player's condition
stays the same before a game and during practices.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: This year, Jingletek announced that it was
moving into mass production.
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Lin says that his company has sold 10,000 Strike baseballs
so far in markets like Japan, South
Korea, and the United States.
How do you hope your technology will transform baseball?
LIN CHING LUN: [speaking mandarin]
INTERPRETER: We think these technologies
will start gaining popularity.
Everyone should have the ability to access data.
When you have such data, you can make more changes
to the way you play the sport.
MAIK BURLAGE: We always want to find a solution that really
works for the mass market.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: Launched in 2019 by former tennis
professionals, the Wingfield Box is another high tech
bid on the future of sports.
MAIK BURLAGE: As soon as you've transformed your court
into smart and connected tennis court,
the players could get access to all of the same data
that currently, only the professional players
have access to.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: Data like stroke speed, shot types,
and ball impact location are collected
by the internet-connected net post.
MAIK BURLAGE: In tennis, compared to other sports,
it's quite difficult to see improvement
and make improvement visible.
We make these little steps of improvement trackable, which
at the end of the day gives a huge motivation
boost for the players.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: Wingfield's CEO Maik Burlage
says the company is operating in 10 countries,
with more than 200 connected courts
in its home country, Germany.
MAIK BURLAGE: Tennis and sport as it is, per se,
is already for the good of society.
And we're trying to enable more people in the world
to enjoy the thing that we at Wingfield
love the most, which is tennis.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: Beyond baseball,
do you plan to introduce this technology to other sports?
LIN CHING LUN: [speaking mandarin]
INTERPRETER: The tech is transferable,
so it can be used in other sports.
We are doing research on the Japanese baseball market,
and also softball in the US.
We've also tested the sensors on rugby balls and cricket.
KRISTIE LU STOUT: Whether it's on a tennis court or a baseball
field, Lin believes that data and analytics can
be leveraged to help make an athlete's
performance pitch perfect.
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CARL AZUZ: Julia Hawkins recently made headlines
for running the 100-meter dash in just
under 1 minute 3 seconds.
If that math doesn't sound quite right to you, add in the fact
that she's 105 years old.
Last Saturday, the woman nicknamed "Hurricane"
crossed the finish line and set a world record at the 2021
Louisiana Senior Games.
She started racing and setting records after she turned 100.
At her most recent race, Ms. Hawkins
said she felt wonderful.
We'd say she's hit her stride.
What a way to take life one step at a time,
seemingly staying a step ahead of time
to cross the finish line at a time that no one else
has stepped to.
She's put her best foot forward, taking challenge
after challenge, step by step, to beat the clock
while clocking victory.
Today's shoutout takes us to Mounds View, Minnesota,
where we would like to recognize the students and teachers
of Area Learning Center.
I'm Carl Azuz, and we've crossed the finish line on CNN.
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