SB Nation’s Inhistoric points out that yesterday marked the 14-year anniversary of FoxTrax (/air guitar!!!!), one of the worst sports innovations of all time.
It’s Been 14 Years Since FoxTrax Brought Glowing Pucks With Tails Into Our Living Rooms
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For those who don’t recall, FoxTrax was introducing during the 1996 NHL All-Star game. See, in the age before HDTV, some people found it difficult to see the puck. Fox’s brilliant solution was to add a blue glow around the puck, making it appear to be the size of a basketball on your screen, thus giving you a “general idea” as to where the puck may be. But it got oh-so-much better: When a shot went over 50 mph (in other words, every single shot), the puck sprouted a red tail. And when it went 75 mph, that tail turned green. And when it went 100 mph, your TV burst into flames and the Fox robot emerged from the smoke to wage hand-to-hand combat TO THE DEATH with HOCKEY BEAR.
↵Alright, the last part never came true. But we wish it had:
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↵FoxTrax was a complete and utter failure, and our hockey pucks were left tailless after the idea was dumped in 1999. Jaromír Jágr, however, kept his (hair) tail until well into the 21st century, and to this day it turns a glowing green when he skates over 25 mph.
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