This week started off with a bang! Our CK30 mobile teleport was in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday with Zane Michaels, while Nick Ray was set up with a mobile encoding kit at Manhattan Center — the site of the very first WWE Raw show in 1993 — for the 25th anniversary of WWE Raw. Zane and Nick provided our friends at WWE with extensive transmission services for the event, which opened with Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jim Ross at the Manhattan Center before continuing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was a great night of action and reminiscing, and PSSI Global Services is proud to have been such an integral part of WWE’s broadcast history. We are looking forward to many more years to come!
We’re already getting set up for this weekend’s WWE events at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Jim Flowers, Nick Ray and project manager Logan Schinto are joining Zane in the CK30 for Saturday night’s NXT Championship and Sunday night’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Some of the scheduled bouts include Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin facing the Usos; The Bar vs. Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan; the WWE title handicap match between AJ Styles and Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens; and the Universal Championship between Brock Lesnar, Kane and Braun Strowman; the men’s Royal Rumble; and for the first time, the women’s Royal Rumble. What a show!
From there Zane and Nick will press on in Philly with Monday Night Raw and Tuesday night’s SmackDown. PSSI Global Services and WWE are taking over the City of Brotherly Love!
It’s a UFC Fight Night in Charlotte, North Caronlina, on Saturday night, live from the Spectrum Center. Tracy Michaels, John Bright and project manager Garrett Hunt are already on hand to prepare for the big event, with Marty Smitherman lending a hand for the weigh-in show on Friday afternoon. Saturday night features Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza against Derek Brunson in a five-round middleweight rematch. Other matches on the main event card include Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez fighting Andre “Touchy” Fili, Gregor Gillespie vs. Jordan Rinaldi, and Frank Camacho against Drew Dober.
It’s been a busy week for Tracy (as are most weeks for our director of project engineering). He was down in Orlando at the beginning of the week at the Orange County Golf Center for the PGA Demo Day, where manufacturers of all things golf come from far and wide to demonstrate their latest and greatest inventions in the world of golf. Tracy provided a four-service at-home transmission for our friends just up the road at Golf Channel headquarters.
Meanwhile, Justin Roszak was nearby at the Orange County Convention Center this week for the rest of the PGA Merchandise Show, the largest outdoor demo in the world, which included over 1,100 interactive golf exhibits, new releases of any and every product you can think of related to golf, a fashion show, exhibits, guest speakers, educational seminars and certifications. With so much to do, it’s hard to believe they fit it into just four days of nonstop fun — and Justin made sure Golf Channel had extensive coverage of the big event.
Of course, there’s plenty of tournaments going on this week, as well. Craig Henry is back in the Bahamas, this time on Paradise Island for the Pure Silk-Bahamas Classic at the Ocean Club Golf Course at the Atlantis Resort. This LPGA event features 108 of the best female golfers in the world competing for a purse of $1.4 million. Play was suspended on Friday afternoon due to high winds, which means the tournament could extend an extra day. Craig would be heartbroken to spend one more day in paradise!
Wes Hill is beside another ocean altogether this week at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, this week for coverage of the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open. Although four of the top five starting positions are held by golfers from the U.S., including Ted Potter Jr., Tony Finau and Hunter Mahan, the big draw of the event this year is a guy named Tiger Woods. With his first start in a Tour event in almost a year, there are a lot of eyes on Wes’s feeds from the course.
How about some basketball?
Dennis Smith steered the K44 truck to Bender Arena at American University in Washington, D.C. on Monday to start the week off with the Holy Cross Crusaders taking on the American Eagles.
Blake Blomstrom was at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland, with the C41 truck when the Ohio State Buckeyes lost to the Maryland Terrapins in women’s college basketball on Monday as well.
Steve Hagerty and K18 were at Reilly Center at St. Bonaventure University on Wednesday, when the St. Joseph’s Hawks lost to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies in some men’s college basketball action.
Mati Kerpen was in Storrs, Connecticut, with the Junior truck at the Gampel Pavilion at University of Connecticut on Thursday as the Memphis Tigers took on the UConn Huskies.
Dave Buckman and K46 will be at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, on Saturday when the George Mason Patriots face the VCU Rams.
K19 will be at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday with Joe Cox when the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels face the San Diego State Aztecs.
Mike Sheehan will take the C31 truck to WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia, for a weekend full of college basketball. First, on Saturday, the Kentucky Wildcats face the West Virginia Mountaineers in men’s college basketball. Sunday, Mike will cover the women’s basketball team as the Baylor Lady Bears take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Steve Toth and one of our custom encoding kits will be back at Colonial Life Arena for another weekend full of Gamecock hoops. Saturday he will be on-site when Texas Tech faces the University of South Carolina in men’s NCAA action. Then on Sunday he will be back at the Arena when the Lady Gamecocks face the Missouri Tigers.
Ron Ford will be at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas, on Sunday for more men’s college basketball when the SMU Mustangs take on the East Carolina Pirates.
Blake Blomstrom will be at Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia with the C42 truck on Sunday when the UConn Huskies take on the Temple Owls. This is yet another at-home transmission for our friends at ESPN.
Also on Sunday, Rick Varney and the Arizona truck will be at Case Athletic Center in Boston, Massachusetts, for more men’s NCAA basketball as the Boston Terriers face the Bucknell Bison. Rick then makes the short drive to Worcester for Monday’s Lehigh vs. Holy Cross game at the Hart Center.
Might as well throw a little hockey into this busy winter sports mix. Ray Loyko’s at the Tucson Convention Center for AHL action on Friday and Saturday, when the Chicago Wolves take on the Tucson Roadrunners in back-to-back nights on the ice.
Let’s close out with a few big-time events that only PSSI Global Services can pull off.
We have a big HBO fight at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California, on Saturday night. Engineer in charge (EIC) Paul Blomstrom is here in town alongside project managers Eric Hall and Michael Hollander and two of our finest trucks. Larry Sheets is on the CK25 mobile teleport for HBO’s domestic feed of the big night, which culminates with Lucas Matthysse facing Tewa Kiram to see who will fill the vacant WBA welterweight world champion spot. Chris Hovden is handling the international feed for boxing fans around the world, with Mr. Hollander sitting next to him calling all of the international licensees to ensure they have a good signal. Rounding out our team on the ground is Mark Huss and Oscar Zapata, who will be providing extensive audio services for international ringside commentators. It’s quite a crew at the Forum this weekend!
The new NASCAR season is already upon us. C27 is parked at Daytona, and our NASCAR team is running wild with some significant upgrades to what was already one of the finest satellite trucks in the world. The IMSA Rolex 24 will take place at Daytona International Raceway in Florida this Saturday and Sunday. Ben Bradshaw, Jonathan Ayala and Rick Ball are transmitting 28 paths — yes, I said 28 paths — via fiber and satellite to NASCAR’s hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stay tuned for more exciting news from PSSI Global Services as we push our collaboration with NASCAR beyond any previously known thresholds of broadcast transmission technology. With some recent, significant upgrades to our nationwide connectivity network, the PIT teleport will also figure prominently in the services we’ll provide NASCAR and our other top clients.
It’s a great big night in NYC on Sunday, as the 2018 Grammys will be live from Madison Square Garden. Mike Lemieux and Mike Howley have joined vice president of special projects, Jason Land, for the domestic and international live broadcasts of the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Some moments that promise to be worth watching include Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid singing their Grammy-nominated Suicide Prevention Lifeline hit, Kenny Chesney’s possible first Grammy win, Kesha’s comeback performance, and a touching Broadway tribute. The list of presenters and performers is long and eclectic, including Tony Bennett, Nick Jonas, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, U2 and Dave Chappelle. Lemieux has our dual-antenna CK48 truck set up and ready for CBS, while Howley and Land are in the C45 to deliver the show to the millions of music fans around the world.
Earlier this week, Chris Hovden and David Gallardo were at the Academy of Motion Pictures in Beverly Hills, California, for the early morning nominations for the 90th annual Oscar Awards. This year’s nominees, celebrating the best in film for 2017, include Rachel Morrison, the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar. Meanwhile, “The Shape of Water” will be represented in 13 different categories. PSSI Global Services is already preparing for the big night on March 4 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.