PSSI Global Services is all set to spring forward this weekend with an exciting and diverse lineup of transmission services around the country.
Let’s start with golf, as we are heading back to one of the biggest tournaments of the year. Golf Channel mainstay Chris Golden got at least enough time at home to reset his DOT hours and do his laundry, but he’s already back on the road, en route to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. There he’ll meet Golf Channel EIC Tracy Michaels and Kevin Spangler to begin setting up for a solid 10 days of marathon transmission services at the 2019 Players Championship. The Players currently offers the highest prize fund of any tournament in golf, and all the top players will be walking past our truck next week.
All the way back west, Larry Sheets is rounding out a strong weekend of transmission services for Golf Channel at the Newport Beach Marriott Golf Course here in Southern California. It’s the Hoag Classic, and it looks like the weather’s going to allow for a great final round on Sunday.
We continue our exclusive partnership with Concacaf as the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League tournament heats up. Blake Blomstrom was at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ on Tuesday for the New York Red Bulls loss to Santos Laguna, while John May was back at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, TX, where Tigres UANL defeated the Houston Dynamo. Next week we’re at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City for more quarterfinal soccer action.
It’s the beginning of conference tournament time in NCAA hoops, and we are well-represented at some of the biggest games leading up the Big Dance.
Mike Howley has a couple of big games for Fox coming up. He and the C42 truck will be at the Xfinity Center at the University of Maryland in College Park on Friday when the Minnesota Golden Gophers face the Maryland Terrapins. From there he heads to the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, PA, where the Illinois Fighting Illini battle the Penn State Nittany Lions on Sunday.
Steve Hagerty and the K18 truck will be at Memorial Athletic and Convention Center in Kent, OH on Friday for MAC Wildcard game between the Kent State Golden Flashes and the Buffalo Bulls on CBS Sports Network.
Dave Mitchell and the Wolfcoach truck will be at AJ Palumbo Center at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday for the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinals.
Dennis Smith and the NT21 were at Hagan Arena at St Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA on Tuesday when the Rhode Island Rams beat the St Joseph’s Hawks in another wildcard playoff game. Next up for Dennis is the Patriot League semifinals at Bucknell on Sunday.
Dave Buckman is also getting in on the Patriot League semifinal action. He’ll be at Colgate University’s Cotterell Court on Sunday to cover the #1 seeded Colgate Raiders taking on the Navy Midshipmen.
Blake Blomstrom and the CK25 will be working another Big East game for Fox at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, where the Villanova Wildcats face the Seton Hall Pirates on Saturday.
And Rick Varney’s getting into the action, as well, as he and the C45 will be at Times Union Center in Albany, NY on Sunday and Monday for the MAAC Conference tourney on the ESPN networks.
Joe Cox and the C49 truck will be at McKale Center in Tucson, AZ on Saturday for a huge rivalry game, as the #2 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils take on the Arizona Wildcats on CBS. From there Joe heads right back to Las Vegas where he will be our man for the Mountain West Championship tournament on CBS, as well.
Sacramento-based Dave Brin is in the Midwest for some Big 10 and Big East action on Fox. He was at the State Farm Center at the University of Illinois in Champaign on Thursday, when Indiana Hoosiers beat the Fighting Illini. This weekend Dave will continue on to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI, where the Georgetown Hoyas take on the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday.
Steve Toth and the K38 truck were at Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, VA, where the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles beat the Old Dominion Monarchs earlier this week. Steve now has the K38 in his hometown of Charleston, SC, where he will cover the CAA Men’s semifinals at North Charleston Coliseum on Monday and Tuesday.
Our newly upgraded NT22 truck has had a good stretch of hoops. Nick Ray took it to Conte Forum at Boston College on Tuesday when the North Carolina Tar Heels beat the BC Eagles. Then he was at UConn’s Gampel Pavilion on Thursday when the Temple Owls beat the Huskies on CBS Sports Net. And this Saturday Mike Lemieux will take the wheel of the NT22 back at Conte Forum, where the NC State Wolfpack are in town to take on the Eagles. Nice run!
Still more hoops on an upgraded PSSI News Group truck: Gary O’Donovan and the NT29 will be at Bartow Center at the University of Alabama in Birmingham on Saturday, when UAB hosts Old Dominion on CBS Sports Net.
More spring training baseball in sunny climates this weekend, plus a hockey game where’s it not quite warm yet.
Rick Kolinek and the K22 truck will be at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Panther Arena, where the Chicago Wolves take on the Milwaukee Admirals in AHL action Friday night.
Todd Harvey and the NT25 will be at the Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, AZ on Sunday for more MLB action when the Chicago Cubs face the Milwaukee Brewers.
Let’s stay in the busy state of Arizona, where we kick off yet another busy weekend of AAF football.
This week Brian Blomstrom’s at the helm of the CK35 mobile teleport at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, where he will be providing a multiplexed at-home transmission of the game between the Arizona Hot Shots and the San Antonio Commanders as well as data over satellite for the production crew. Brian’s brother, Paul, will ultimately receive Brian’s transmission over at Sneaky Big Studios in Scottsdale, but in the middle we have our team at the PSSI International Teleport providing the link via satellite and AT&T GVS fiber between the remote production crew and the broadcast team at Sneaky Big.
John Bright’s back at Sneaky Big Studios, as well, providing EIC services on the K34 production/uplink hybrid truck, where the pre-game and halftime studio shows for all AAF games are produced. He will also be uplinking backup feeds of a few of the games out of K34’s antenna.
Steve Chaisson is back at SDCCU Stadium in San Diego for more AAF. Here the San Diego Fleet will host the Salt Lake Stallions on Sunday.
And Rick Ball is back in his hometown of Birmingham, AL, where he’ll be doing yet another one of his patented at-home transmissions plus data over satellite for Saturday’s game between the Birmingham Iron and the Orlando Apollos. Here again PIT is the critical link between Rick’s work in Birmingham and the production crew in Scottsdale.
PIT is also busy providing multiple teleport services for our friends at NASCAR this weekend and every weekend throughout the season. On the remote side, Jonathan Ayala and Kyle Meyer are in the C27 mobile teleport at the ISM Raceway for a weekend full of racing that will culminate in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500. Jonathan and Kyle will manage multiple inbound and outbound signals via satellite and AT&T GVS fiber, with PIT as the hub for NASCAR headquarters and racing fans around the world.
And we’re back at Daytona International Speedway again this weekend, but this time it’s for AMA Supercross action. Justin Roszak’s there in C12 providing multi-path transmission services for the production crew.
You’d better believe we have a lot of fighting on our schedule this weekend, as we always do. Let’s start with another big DAZN fight, this time at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY. Rick Varney is getting all set with multi-path transmission services for our friends at Aldea. Rick will be transmitting big-time boxing all afternoon and evening on Saturday, finishing up with the co-main events. Dmitry Bivol will take on Joe Smith, Jr. for the WBA Light Heavyweight title, while Maurice Hooker will defend his WBO Junior Welterweight title against undefeated challenger Mikkel LesPierre. Production specialist Marc Sarazin will also be at the fight providing ringside commentary services for a Latin American unilateral production.
Back in Southern California, Mark Huss and the K19 truck will be at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA on Saturday for Premier Boxing Champions, as Shawn Porter battles Yordenis Ugas for the WBC Welterweight title. Working alongside project manager Michael Hollander, Mark will providing the origination feed for the international distribution of the big night, with PIT playing an integral role in this transmission scheme.
We’re going to Wichita! Jim Flowers and Ron Ford are all set up in the C21 and K26 trucks at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, KS for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ event. Here Derrick Lewis faces Junior Dos Santos in a middleweight battle, and Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos faces Curtis Millender in the co-main event. Project manager Keith Valeri is also there to work with our friends at Concom to ensure these fights – as well as the weigh-in, undercards, and post-fight pressers – get to MMA fans here in the States and around the world.
Zane Michaels and the CK30 mobile teleport started their week on Monday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA for WWE Monday Night Raw. On Tuesday, driver Joe Kelderhouse moved over to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA for WWE Smackdown. From there Joe advanced the truck to the Quicken Loan Arena in Cleveland, OH where Zane and project manager Logan Schinto will convene for this weekend’s WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view on Sunday. It’s an action-packed PPV that will include the WWE Championship, Smackdown Tag Team Championship, Women’s Tag Team Championship, Smackdown Women’s Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, the Six Man Match, and much more. Zane and Logan, again with some help from our team at PIT in Pittsburgh, will deliver all of the action to WWE fans around the world. Then the train keeps on rolling, as Joe and Zane will move forward to Pittsburgh and Dayton for next week’s Raw and Smackdown shows.