It’s another all-hands-on-deck weekend for PSSI Global Services. When it rains, it pours!
And boy is it pouring in Manhattan, where we have a quite a collection of trucks, project managers and engineers.
Rick Varney and Rick Ball have been in the C45 truck at Madison Square Garden all week for the 2018 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament. In spite of the nasty weather, Rick and Rick have been delivering long days of flawless 4K transmissions of the hoops action for our friends at the Big Ten Network.
Around the corner at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, engineers Mike Howley and Blake Blomstrom are getting set for Saturday night’s HBO and HBO international fight. Sergey Kovalev defends his WBO light heavyweight title against Igor Mikhalkin. The co-main event has WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol of Russia defending his title against Sullivan Barrera of Cuba, the mandatory challenger. Engineer in charge Paul Blomstrom is working alongside project manager Eric Hall to oversee fiber and satellite paths for HBO. Project manager Tommy Lopez is managing the international feed, making calls around the world to ensure our signal is being received.
Around a few more corners we have Mati Kerpen at a boxing match of his own. Mati will be at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, with the Junior truck and project manager Victor Verno on Saturday for Showtime boxing, when WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder defends his title for a seventh time, this time against fellow unbeaten contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz. The co-main event is the IBF interim 168-pound world title bout between Andre Dirrell and Jose Uzcategui.
The rest of our guys in the northeast have been booked solid for basketball all week and through the weekend.
Mike Howley was at the Ryan Center in Providence, Rhode Island, with the Arizona truck on Tuesday when the St. Joseph’s Hawks took on the Rhode Island Rams. Then he headed to Conte Forum at Boston College when the Syracuse Orange took on the Boston College Eagles.
Dennis Smith was at McGonigle Hall at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the Columbia truck on Monday when the Memphis Tigers took on the Temple Owls in women’s NCAA action. From there Dennis went to Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, on Wednesday when the Temple Owls men’s basketball team took on the UConn Huskies. Dennis took a moment to have some dinner and do some laundry before hitting the road to the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday for a doubleheader in 2018 Atlantic 10 women’s basketball semifinals.
Dave Buckman’s not too far away in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Virginia Cavaliers.
Steve Hagerty’s staying cool (to say the least) in Syracuse, where the Orange host the Clemson Tigers. Steve just got word Thursday night that he will be heading just up the road to Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, for the Patriot League semifinals, as the Holy Cross Crusaders take on the Colgate Raiders.
Pittsburgh-based Dave Mitchell’s getting himself involved with the Patriot League this weekend, as well. He’s making his way to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where Bucknell hosts the Terriers of Boston University.
Further down south, Andy Kehn also has some college hoops on his schedule. Andy will be at the Belk Arena in Davidson, North Carolina, on Friday when the Rhode Island Rams visit the Davidson Wildcats. He then heads down to Charleston, South Carolina, for the Colonial Athletic Association’s tournament at the College of Charleston.
It is most definitely March, and all of these conference tournaments have us thirsting for the Big Dance.
All the way out west, Ray Loyko will be at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the Midwest truck on Friday and Saturday for the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament. Friday is the first round of the men’s tournament where LMU faces Portland and Santa Clara faces Pepperdine. Then on Saturday it’s the quarterfinals between BYU and San Diego, and San Francisco takes on Pacific. Gonzaga and St Mary’s will also play in the quarterfinals. Ray will be back at the Orleans Arena on Monday for the men’s semifinals and on Tuesday for the finals.
And it’s not just NCAA basketball we’re working on; we’re also working some Canadian college basketball this weekend. We have two engineers braving the Great White North!
Mike Sheehan will be at Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport in Regina, Saskatchewan, with DC9 on Friday when the Regina Cougars host the Saskatchewan Huskies for the women’s Canada West championship.
Then on Saturday, David Meyer will be in Edmonton, Alberta, at the Saville Community Sports Centre for the men’s Canada West championship when the Alberta Golden Bears host the Calgary Dinos.
We are also well represented south of the border this weekend. Engineers Craig Henry, Jose Sanchez, Joe Cox and Mike Lemieux have converged on Mexico City at the Club de Golf Chapultepec for the WGC-Mexico Championship this week. Jose and Joe are both fluent in Spanish, and they’re making sure Craig and Mike are well-fed in between transmission windows.
There’s no doubt Wes Hill has found himself some good tacos a little bit further north in Tucson, Arizona. Wes has the C36 truck at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort for the Cologuard Classic this week.
It is a huge weekend in three of our home cities. Let’s start in Pittsburgh, where PIT Studio manager Shelby Schmidt and her counterparts at PSSI International Teleport (PIT) have had a busy Friday. Shelby has lined up back-to-back-to-back-to-back live shots for Fox Business News, CNBC, Fox News and CBC Toronto this afternoon, and a couple more on Saturday for Fox News and CNN.
Ray Loyko’s work at the Orleans is just the tip of the iceberg for Vegas events this weekend. There are FOUR major sporting events in town, including NASCAR, USA Sevens Series Rugby, UFC and NCAA basketball WCC tournaments, all keeping PSSI Global Services very busy!
Todd Harvey is at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas with C21 for the fourth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series this weekend.
Ben Bradshaw and Jonathan Ayala are in the C27 mobile teleport at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday, the Boyd Gaming 300 NASCAR XFinity Series race on Saturday and the Pennzoil 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday.
It’s another pay-per-view weekend at the T-Mobile Arena. John Bright, Jim Flowers and Matt Huennekens join engineer in charge Tracy Michaels and project manager Keith Valeri for UFC 222. Our team is testing all day Friday for the big show on Saturday night, which will include transmissions to UFC fans here in the U.S. and around the world.
There may be plenty of sports in Vegas, but we’re just as loaded with entertainment events here in Los Angeles. John Jennings and the Atlas truck and Larry Sheets in the Starlight truck will spend Saturday on Santa Monica Beach for the 33rd Independent Spirit Awards. Project manager Garrett Hunt will also be on hand to ensure our signals get to international film fans as well as those of us in the States.
John doesn’t have much of a break before he heads to Studio City, California, on Sunday for ABC’s “The Bachelor Finale: The Final Rose,” which airs live next week. With Becca Kufrin and Lauren Burnham as Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s final two potential wives, it’s anyone’s guess who will receive the “Final Rose.” While there’s no international distribution for this show, project manager and Bachelor superfan Garrett Hunt may just show up to “help” John transmit the finale and the “After the Final Rose” special that follows. He’s so excited, and it’s going to be an exciting transmission for us!
It’s Oscars weekend, and PSSI Global Services is proud to be an integral part of this enormous event for yet another year. We’re kicking things off as we always do with a live satellite media tour from the red carpet. Mark Huss and project manager Eric Storlie woke up very early on Friday morning to prepare for hundreds of live interviews for film fans in Latin America. It’s a little rainy, but the show will go on!
Project manager Logan Schinto has yet again lined up a series of fiber and satellite transmission routings for the Academy’s “pool feeds” of the red carpet fashion cam and after-party cameras. These live feeds are ingested by affiliates around the world so that they can be incorporated into their news reports. It’s not quite as glamorous as the big show, but nonetheless, it’s an integral part of the services we offer to the Academy and networks nationwide.
Brian Blomstrom is our man (yet again) for the main show, and he will be in the CK35 mobile teleport all weekend for ABC’s broadcast of the 90th Academy Awards, live from Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Sunday. Brian will also hang around for Kelly and Ryan’s live broadcast from the red carpet in the wee hours of Monday morning before he heads home to Vegas for some well-deserved rest.
Mark Huss will also be staying up late, as he will be on hand at Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills on Sunday evening for the BBC’s coverage of Vanity Fair’s exclusive Oscars after party. Larry Sheets and Nathan Holsey will be there early on Sunday to set up the truck before all the stars come out.
Rain or shine, the PSSI Global Services team is ready to take on any transmission challenge!