FoxTrax

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FoxTrax (colloquially called the glow puck, smart puck, or super puck) was a specialized ice hockey puck with internal electronics that allowed its position to be tracked designed for NHL telecasts on the Fox television network. Primarily, it was used to visually highlight the puck on-screen and display a trail when the puck was moving rapidly.

In 1994, Fox won a contract to broadcast NHL games in the United States. A common complaint among American fans was that the puck was difficult to follow on the ice. Thus, FoxTrax was created to remedy this problem. The FoxTrax puck was first used during the 1996 NHL All-Star Game. It was last used during the first game of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals. FOX was scheduled to televise Games 5 and 7, but the series ended in four games. In August of 1998, the NHL broadcast rights went to ABC, and FoxTrax was not brought back for the final season.

1 Construction and operation
2 Public response
- 2.1 NASCAR on FOX
3 External links

[edit] Construction and operation

To create the FoxTrax puck, a standard NHL puck was cut in half, and a tiny circuit board with a battery was placed inside. The circuit board contained motion detectors and infrared emitters that were located on the flat surfaces and sides of the puck. These additional enhancements added less than one-hundredth of a gram to the original puck's mass. The two halves were sealed with epoxy and the puck could be used for gameplay. However, the battery only had a 10 minute lifespan, so at least 50 FoxTrax pucks were produced before each game. The puck was activated when it was struck by a hockey stick.

During a Fox NHL broadcast, the puck emitted infrared pulses to motion sensors located along the boards of the rink. These sensors were synchronized to the pulses. Next, infrared cameras along the rafters detected these pulses and transmitted their coordinates to a television van (also called the Puck Truck). The truck contained computers that superimposed computer graphics on the puck coordinates, which could be seen by viewers at home.

The visual result was a bluish glow around the puck. Passes were indicated with the bluish glow plus a comet tail indicating its path. When the puck moved faster than 70 miles per hour, there would be a red comet tail following the path of the puck.

[edit] Public response

There was a divided response to the implementation of the FoxTrax puck. Newcomers enjoyed the feature, since they could follow the game more easily. In fact, a Fox Sports survey found that 7 out of 10 respondents liked the new puck.

However, there was a strong backlash among hockey purists. They argued that the video graphics were a distraction and turned hockey into a video game. Others said that it really shouldn't be that hard to see a black puck on white ice. The glow puck was ranked as the No. 6 "worst idea" overall in the book "Glow Pucks & 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History" by author Greg Wyshynski. (Taylor Trade 2006)

The concept was later parodied in a Molson Canadian beer advertisement where an American marketer is attempting to sell the idea to a boardroom full of Canadian executives. As he is forcibly ejected from the room, a blue comet trail follows him (i.e. "they passed").

Canadian news satire program This Hour Has 22 Minutes parodied the concept, promoting a glow that recognized when Americans would appear on screen (including Canadian conservative politician Stockwell Day).

[edit] NASCAR on FOX

For its NASCAR coverage, FOX uses a graphic that points to a selected driver and displays his name, photo, number, speed, and other information. This has also been called FoxTrax. The information is collected using computerized telemetry and GPS transponders located in the respective cars. A demonstration of the graphic appeared during the 2001 Daytona 500, FOX's first NASCAR broadcast. The graphic, however, was not used regularly until it was perfected later in the season.