‘Professor Lou’ Explains Science Behind the Puck on Washington Capitals TV
If you’ve ever been to a Washington Capitals hockey game, you’ve probably seen University of Virginia physics professor Lou Bloomfield on the Verizon Center’s Jumbotron explaining the physics of hockey.
“Professor Lou,” as he is called on TV, is science central on a feature segment called “Forces of Hockey,” which is produced by the Capitals and aired on the team’s associated cable networks, on the NHL Network, and shown during breaks between play at Caps games.
The show, now in its fifth season, has won three regional Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Sports Program/Series,” the most recent this spring.
“I’m probably the only professor just about anywhere who has won three Emmys,” said Bloomfield, who sometimes jokes that he’s not an actor, “I just play one on TV.”
He has been on TV plenty. Bloomfield has over the years explained physics to general audiences on a variety of shows that have appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, The Learning Channel and other cable channels. So many, he can’t remember them all.
“Any science that I can get on TV is a triumph,” he said. “And combining science with sports is a good way to get people’s attention. There has to be a high entertainment level or you lose the audience.”