ELECTRONIC TRACKING
Puck speed is terrific; likewise the path of a slapshot goat. But the National Hockey League may finally unveil what stat-hungry, bloodthirsty fans have long awaited: technology that can actually measure the sport's violence. If negotiations between the NHL and Medford, Massachusetts-based Trakus (www.trakus.com) go smoothly, puckheads tuning in this season will see the Hit Gauge, a g-force meter that measures the intensity of bone-crunching collisions between players. "Trakus quantifies aspects of the game that currently can only be estimated," says president Gary Jacobus, who hopes to have his gear in place for the All-Star game in February.
Trakus' local area positioning system consists of eight antenna-like sensors set up around the rink, with a paper-thin transmitter attached to the inside of each player's helmet. The sensors continuously track the location and movement of the transmitters, feeding the information to a central processor. The system then measures a player's speed and acceleration, and with that data, calculates the force with which a player levels an opponent. Other Trakus-sourced stats will be generated by the data, ranging from a player's skating speed to the amount of time he spends lurking around the opposition's goal. The company hopes to hawk the aggregated info to coaches looking for that extra edge.
But, for Trakus, the ice is only the beginning. The company plans to expand the coverage to other pro sports, such as baseball, football, and auto racing, and port its information to the Net. "When you're watching a baseball game, you'll be able to call up a chart showing the typical trajectories of balls hit by the guy up at bat," says Jay Amos, a VP at SportsLine.com, which is a minority investor in Trakus. "You'll be able to see if those trajectories are enough for him to hit one out of the park he's playing in." (Better yet: how soon after a brushback he'll charge the mound.)
Trakus has to leap some hurdles before its stats become as indispensable as instant replay. The Hit Gauge is prone to occasional hiccups when its tracking system runs into electronic interference. There's also an army of TV producers who have to be sold on the value of providing more numbers. "I'm not sure the viewer wants to be inundated with more statistics," says Ben Harvey, a producer at Monday Night Football. "There are a lot of diehards that, as they say in the industry, just want to watch the fucking game."
Of course, there are also plenty who want to be beaten over the head with every stat possible. "If it's meaningful, every fan wants more analysis," says Trackus' Jacobus. "People always want to dive deeper into a good story."
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