“The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” is already underway in Jacksonville, Florida. This Saturday afternoon at EverBank Field the Georgia Bulldogs face the Florida Gators for the SEC Game of the Week on CBS. Steve Toth and Marty Smitherman are kicking things off for the SEC Nation show on the SEC Network. Justin Roszak in C12 will be on hand to make sure fans across the nation don’t miss a second of the action. Even though Georgia is ranked No. 3 and has a 7-0 record this season, the Gators always give the Bulldogs all they can handle.
This week’s 4K/UHD transmission for Fox is live from Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa, where the Hawkeyes host the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Boston-based engineers Rick Varney and Mike Howley are enjoying the many flavors of the Midwest while providing transmission services for both the 4K/UHD feed and the HD feed from the stadium.
Another northeast-based engineer, Nick Ray, is spending his weekend in the South, as he travels to Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with our REMI kit to cover the Tar Heels vs. the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday. This is a 10-path multiplexed transmission via fiber that will be produced back at ESPN headquarters in Connecticut. This is UNC’s homecoming game, so the fans there are hoping for a miracle!
We’ll be transmitting another big rivalry game on Saturday: John May and CK48 are setting up at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas, where the Kansas State Wildcats face the Kansas Jayhawks. John makes the long drive back to Texas on Sunday, where we’ll also be next week for some Texas Tech football in 4K.
Hughes Stadium in Baltimore is a little smaller than most of the other venues we’re at this weekend, but there will be plenty of action on the field Saturday as the Florida A&M Rattlers take on the Morgan State Bears. Dennis Smith will be on hand with the Columbia truck for the game. From there Dennis heads to FedEx Field in Hyattsville, Maryland, for some pregame live shots before the Dallas Cowboys take on the Washington Redskins.
Not too far up the road, Dave Buckman is at John Farrell Stadium in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It’s homecoming weekend at West Chester University as the Golden Rams host the East Stroudsburg Warriors in their “Haunted Halloween” themed game Saturday night. It promises to be a night full of fun, tricks and treats!
Also in Pennsylvania, Dave Mitchell’s at North Allegheny High School as the Tigers host their rivals, the Pine-Richland Rams. With the Rams ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania and No. 21 nationally, they will need to keep their wits about them on the road to beat the Tigers.
Blake Blomstrom’s not too far down the road in Columbus, Ohio, where the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Penn State Nittany Lions live on Fox Saturday. This may be the game of the weekend, and Blake has been there for a few days already for FS1’s First Things First show as the whole town of Columbus gets ready for a huge weekend of football.
A few time zones to the west of Columbus, Rick Ball and Todd Harvey are setting up our big antenna and equipment in Hawaii as the Rainbow Warriors host the San Diego State Aztecs at Aloha Stadium. Rick and Todd have been doing uplinks in Hawaii for more years than they can count, but they surely remember where to find the best malasadas on the island! Aloha!
The next stop on the world tour this weekend is at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, where Derek Brunson of the U.S. takes on former light-heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida of Brazil in the Middleweight Main Event. Engineer in charge (EIC) Tracy Michaels and project manager Garrett Hunt are alongside our good friend Pepe Gallegos from Casablanca Online to provide total transmission services around the world for this big fight.
A little closer to home, we have two trucks and two engineers in Canada this weekend.
On Saturday, David Meyer and K20 will be at the Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds host the Regina Rams in some Canadian college football action. Both teams are already destined for the Hardy Cup semifinals next week, but this Saturday’s game will determine who gets the home-field advantage.
A good ways east from David Meyer is Joe Cox, who is in Regina, Saskatchewan, for the Skate Canada International, live from the Brandt Centre and transmitted around the world. This event is the second of six in the 2017-2018 Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational series. It looks like Joe’s going to make it out there before the snow falls next week!
Plenty of winter sports to keep us busy, as well. Hockey season is in full swing, and Rick Kolinek and K22 are headed to Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the Grand Rapids Griffins take on the Chicago Wolves on Friday. Rick will be back the following week with the Program Productions crew, and will spend quite a few evenings making television with the same folks throughout the hockey season.
Steve Chaisson was at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on Thursday for some hoops. The New Orleans Pelicans took on the Sacramento Kings in one of many games for which we are providing transmission services for the Turner networks.
Winter is coming, but we’ve still got some golf on our hands.
Craig Henry and C24 are at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi this week for the Sanderson Farms Championship. This is the second week in a row on the road for Craig, who will soon be taking some much-deserved PTO before getting back into the golf swing for the rest of the year.
Kevin Spangler will be setting up CK25 for the East Lake Cup at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. This is a complicated show, with multiplexed transmissions and extensive comms services. Nothing Kevin isn’t accustomed to doing, as our Golf Channel transmission team is the best in the world.
Back in California, we have Larry Sheets in the Atlas truck at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, for the PowerShares Championship — a second-round playoff event as part of the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, featuring the best of the PGA Tour champions — through Sunday. Early next week, John Jennings takes the Atlas over to Vegas for the Shriners Hospital for Children Open.
Only a few more tournaments left after that in what has been a great year of golf for Golf Channel and PSSI Global Services!
With only a few more NASCAR races this season, the competition heats up in Ridgeway, Virginia, at Martinsville Speedway, with Ben Bradshaw and Jonathan Ayala on C27 for the Texas Roadhouse 200 Presented by Alpha Energy Solutions and the First Data 500. From Martinsville, our NASCAR team heads to the Texas Motor Speedway in Justin, Texas. We’re in the home stretch!
In Los Angeles, California, Brian Blomstrom was at the Dolby Theatre for the Latin Music Awards on Thursday night. Brian’s been working this show since it began in 2015 as an annual awards ceremony recognizing and honoring outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. Our friends at Telemundo love working with Brian, and the feeling is mutual!
Also in Southern California, we have Chris Hovden working the 2017 WCS Global Finals, which is the culmination of the 2017 StarCraft II World Championship Series. These gaming events are worldwide interactive phenomena, and there’s more to come for us next week at BlizzCon 2017 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Chris and Brian will be working that event together, which will include a 14-channel multiplexed transmission via C-band and Ku-band satellite.
We are honored to be a part of the celebration of life in honor of Chester Bennington at the famous Hollywood Bowl on Friday night. Bennington, vocalist for the band Linkin Park, was only 41 when he took his own life on the 53rd birthday of his late friend Chris Cornell. Fellow band members, special guests and fans will celebrate Chester’s life and music at the Hollywood Bowl, where Wes Hill will be providing transmission services that include a hop to viewers in Australia.
Plenty more excitement to come next weekend, so stay tuned!