As we approach the middle of summer, sports are heating up all over the country.
Rick Varney, back from some well-earned time off, has C42 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, this weekend for the Dell Technologies Open. Every year after Wimbledon, the top ATP World Tour players head to Rhode Island for this tournament on the grass courts of Newport. A week of special events surround the tournament, including kids’ clinics, Hall of Fame museum tours and the annual Induction Ceremony.
Dennis Smith will have the Columbia truck at the Kastles Stadium at the Smith Center in Washington, D.C., on Saturday for World TeamTennis when the New York Empire take on the Washington Kastles.
It’s an extra busy week for NASCAR this week, with two standalone events in addition to the Cup Series over the weekend.
Justin Roszak and C47 were in New Weston, Ohio, at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday for NASCAR’s sixth annual Eldora Dirt Derby. This 75-mile race, part of the Camping World Truck Series, also featured a Mod/Stock Invitational. What a great way to break up the mid-week monotony!
Rick Ball and C12 are in Lakeville, Connecticut, at Lime Rock Park for the IMSA Northeast Grand Prix this weekend. Some of the featured events include the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, autographs, a charity auction and so much more.
Mike Lemieux is joining Jonathan Ayala on the C27 mobile teleport at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for more Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series action. This week’s events include the Hauler Parade to get things started on Thursday. Friday and early Saturday will be practice and qualifying before the big races start with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Eastern Propane & Oil 100, followed by the NASCAR Xfinity Series Lakes Region 200 and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East United Site Services 70. Then on Sunday, the action culminates with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. Mike and Jonathan will be managing the AT&T Global Video transmit path along with diverse paths out of C27’s two antennas.
It’s a somewhat quieter week on our golf schedule due to the British Open in Scotland this weekend. But we do still have two exciting events to take on.
Chris Golden has the Frontline truck at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky, for the Barbasol Championship. This is the first time many of the pros are getting to see and play this course, as the last few years this tournament was in Opelika, Alabama. With a prize purse of $3.5 million, and no one having an advantage, this promises to be an exciting event from start to finish!
Mike Howley and C31 then head to Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, this weekend for Fox’s coverage of the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. This is the 71st Junior Amateur, and the third time it has been held in New Jersey. The tournament is open to any male player who has not reached his 19th birthday by July 21.
John Poss and K17 were at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas, this week for the first ever American Flag Football League Championship, the “Super Bowl of the AFFL” if you will. On Thursday, the best of the best meet on the field to compete for a prize of $1 million.
Rick Kolinek has a busy week with K22. On Wednesday he was at TCF Bank Stadium for Major League Soccer when the New England Revolution took on Minnesota United FC. Then on Friday, Rick and K22 will be at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, for more soccer with coverage of the start of International Champions Cup as Manchester City takes on Borussia Dortmund. In its sixth year, this friendly association football series takes place all over the country, and we’ll be there for every exciting match. On Sunday Rick heads back to TCF Bank Stadium for more MLS when the LAFC takes on Minnesota United FC. A big thanks to Rick for making this run!
Benny Griffis and NT29 will be at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday for more coverage of the International Champions Cup when Liverpool takes on Borussia Dortmund — yet another in our series of international friendlies.
Brian Blomstrom was at University of Phoenix Stadium on Thursday for more soccer coverage when Manchester United FC took on Club America. Brian transmitted 10 multiplexed paths over satellite for an “at-home” production at Sneaky Big Studios just up the road in Scottsdale, where Nathan Holsey and Paul Blomstrom were on-site to hand off the signals to the studio’s production suite. We are looking forward to future collaborations with Sneaky Big.
And how about some world-class rugby? Dave Brin is headed to AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, with the Starlight truck for the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Sixteen women’s teams and 24 men’s teams from all over the world will compete in the tournament this weekend.
Rick Ball and C31 put in some long hours in Washington, D.C., at Nationals Park for the Major League Baseball All-Star Week. Rick was there for all the action, which finished up on Tuesday night with the American League beating the National League.
As always, we’ve also got a lot of boxing, wrestling and MMA on our schedules.
Tracy Michaels and Keith Valeri are in Hamburg, Germany, this weekend for UFC Fight Night on Saturday when Mauricio “Shogun” Rua takes on Anthony “Lionheart” Smith. We’re working there with our friends at Betamobil, a top-shelf production and transmission vendor we collaborate with whenever we’re in Germany. You might remember that Tracy spent last weekend in Malaysia working the Pacquiao fight in Kuala Lumpur. He’s racking up a couple of air miles! He and Keith will ensure a flawless broadcast to UFC fans in Germany and around the world.
We also have more fighting closer to home.
John May and CK48 are at the WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan, Iowa, for Showtime boxing as Jaron Ennis takes on Armando Alvarez. Then lightweight Thomas Mattice takes on Zhora Hamazaryan in 10 rounds, and for the final match of the tripleheader, undefeated super lightweight prospect Montana Love takes on former national amateur champion Kenneth Sims Jr. in eight rounds.
Zane Michaels and CK30 were at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, on Monday for WWE Raw, where highlights from the evening included two triple-threat matches, a decision on Brock Lesnar’s WWE future and the return of Ronda Rousey. Then on Tuesday, Zane and the truck were at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for WWE SmackDown.
Brian Blomstrom with CK35, Joe Cox with K33 and Ray Loyko in DC9 will all be at The Joint at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday for boxing. The main event is Jaime Munguia defending his WBO junior middleweight title against Liam “Beefy” Smith. The co-main event will be Alberto “Explosivo” Machado defending his WBA super featherweight title against undefeated contender Rafael “Sweet Pea” Mensah in a 12-round battle. Project manager Eric Hall is on hand to ensure solid broadcasts for HBO and international licensees, and senior engineer Mark Huss will be ringside to provide commentary services for international broadcasters. Quite the team effort!
Our Vegas team will have earned a break after this week. It was Microsoft Ignite, and all hands were on deck for our friends at Microsoft as we provided local transmission services for all of the events and keynotes. Joe Cox put in a week’s worth of uplinks at T-Mobile Arena, while Ray Loyko, John Jennings, David Meyer and Mike Sheehan were scattered across multiple remote sites across the city.
And we have another big convention in San Diego — Comic-Con! Wes Hill is down there for several days of live Conan O’Brien shows, as he is every year.
With all of the sports and fighting on our schedule, it’s great to have a few laughs, as well!