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Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
Don't say you never learned anything from this board. It appears we have famed BBC (and PBS) broadcaster Sir David Attenborough to partially thank for the colour of tennis balls. As the linked article outlines, he was in an upper management position at the BBC, when the national broadcaster first went colour in 1968 - and he decided tennis fans needed to get a better look at the balls during tennis matches.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Tennis Balls Are Bright Yellow Thanks, in Part, to Sir David Attenborough — Here's Why
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Re: Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
In hockey there have been various experiments over the years with orange pucks for similar reasons.
Weird but true — The NHL has considered switching to orange pucks multiple times in its history
Last edited by Hansa (January 21, 2024 10:08 pm)
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Re: Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
And then there was that unfortunate experiment with the glowing hockey pucks created by Fox, when it had the rights to the NHL in the U.S. It was supposed to be the next big thing, but wound up being anything but. It involved a lot of research, expense and specially-made pucks. And it was gone inside of two years, when Fox lost the rights to hockey and the technology they created stayed with them.
"The glow puck has become a punch line, an oft-cited example of lowest-common-denominator TV stupidity. But the biggest problem with Fox’s glowing puck wasn’t the concept. It’s that it was born too soon. Now, 18 years after its ignominious debut, we have the glow puck to thank for the yellow first-down line, baseball pitch tracking, and every other on-screen doodad we’ve come to love."
The Story Of The Rise & Fall Of The Fox "Glow Puck"
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Thread Starter- RadioActive
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Re: Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
Maybo wrote:
And Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley pushed for orange baseballs for night games. Never caught on.
I'm not surprised. It would have clashed with the green and yellow.
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Thread Starter- dieter
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Re: Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
And Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley pushed for orange baseballs for night games. Never caught on.
Neither did the Seals' white skates.
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Re: Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
In hockey there have been various experiments over the years with orange pucks for similar reasons.
Weird but true — The NHL has considered switching to orange pucks multiple times in its history
The world hockey association had them too. They were probably the first.
- SpinningWheel
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Re: Famed Broadcaster Is One Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
And then there was that unfortunate experiment with the glowing hockey pucks created by Fox, when it had the rights to the NHL in the U.S. It was supposed to be the next big thing, but wound up being anything but. It involved a lot of research, expense and specially-made pucks. And it was gone inside of two years, when Fox lost the rights to hockey and the technology they created stayed with them.
"The glow puck has become a punch line, an oft-cited example of lowest-common-denominator TV stupidity. But the biggest problem with Fox’s glowing puck wasn’t the concept. It’s that it was born too soon.
They were especially bad when the puck wasn't visible by the near boards. You couldn't see the puck, all you could see was the glowing through the boards. It was laughable.
Last edited by SpinningWheel (January 23, 2024 12:19 pm)