ESPN KEEPS ITS ADRENALINE RUSH.Byline: TOM HOFFARTH MEDIA One of these days, Alice -- bang, zoom -- an X Games X Games Sports medicine The official Olympics of 'extreme sports' sponsored by ESPN, held annually during the summer. See Extreme sports. hoverboarder on an ethenol-fueled version of the thing Michael J. Fox used in ``Back to the Future'' will go halfway to the moon after launching herself (yup yup adv. Slang Yes. [Alteration of yep.] , it'll probably be a girl) off a 125-story vert ramp A vert ramp is a form of half-pipe used in "extreme sports" such as skateboarding. Another form of half-pipe is the mini ramp. Vert ramps are so named because they transition from a horizontal plane (known as the flat-bottom) to a vertical wall. attached to the side of a downtown L.A. office building. And ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network will have already figured out a way to get the best camera angle of the achievement. As it covers the 12th edition of this extreme sports extreme sports Sports events characterized by high speed or high risk. Such sports include aggressive inline skating, wakeboarding, street luge, skateboarding, and freestyle bicycle events (wherein tricks such as back flips are performed on a bicycle). carnival, the fourth in a row in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , ESPN has managed to keep pace with the athletes' annual rasing of the bar to go faster, higher, farther and wilder. Jamie Reynolds, the producer who oversees the entire X Games schedule for the 20-plus hours that air live and on slight delay on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. between Thursday and Sunday, isn't afraid of heights when it comes to putting more cameras into more bizarre places to capture the insanity for the La-Z-Boy athlete. ``From a technical standpoint, with what we have in Fly Cams and other cable cameras, virtually any trick these athletes pull off, we'll have it covered from multiple angles and be able to break it down,'' said Reynolds, part of the ESPN coverage since the first X Games in Providence, R.I., in 1995. ``If this was just a 2-D world, we might have a problem (keeping up), but we put a premium on mounting cameras onto boards and cars and whatever else is above the competition field to give a perspective you don't get for a conventional sport. ``At the end of the day, since we rent out Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. and the Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box Center and are allowed to do more with these sports than if it was a league sport (like the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga ), we can take more liberties.'' Pushing the technology itself to another level, ESPN has for the first time a window Sunday (3 p.m.) for a 75-minute pay-per-view special to cover BMX BMX abbr. bicycle motocross BMX Noun 1. bicycle motocross: stunt riding over an obstacle course on a bicycle 2. Big Air competition -- bikes flying down a ramp and over a 70-foot gap -- in addition to a ``Moto Madness'' freestyle exhibition featuring Travis Pastrana and friends doing more crazy stuff. For $19.95 a pop, ESPN is simply trying to test the market for an interest level that goes beyond the usual spleen-rupturing fare. ``It's something our marketing people and our affiliates are trying in collaboration with the cable operators to add some interesting elements and something completely unique,'' said Ron Semiao, the senior vice president of production for ESPN. Madden will lean on Michaels Saturday morning, John Madden's bronzed bust will bust its way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, where he'll finally be honored for his 10-year run as the Oakland Raiders' coach. The next night, NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. will hope he has pulled together what's left of his emotions to be part of the network's first NFL telecast since Super Bowl XXXII Super Bowl XXXII was the 32nd championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game was played on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California following the 1997 regular season. in January 1998 when it carries the Hall of Fame exhibition game between Oakland and Philadelphia (Ch. 4, 5p.m. Sunday). ``I am going to have plenty of time before the telecast to prepare,'' Madden said before boarding his bus Monday for the cross-country ride. ``I went to the Raiders' training camp last week to watch them practice. I'm going to talk to the Eagles later this week and get ready for the game as much as I can with what I am going through before the game. ``But that is where you have to have a great partner, and we all know I have a great partner in Al Michaels. He has always been a clean-up guy, and I will probably need a clean-up Sunday more than I ever have.'' Michaels and Madden first became a broadcast team at the 2002 Hall of Fame Game, doing it for ABC. Both ventured off to NBC when this package opened up and ``Monday Night Football'' went to ESPN. ``John is going to be running on a lot of adrenaline on Sunday, and even if he did zero preparation, he could still go into the booth and be the best analyst that ever lived,'' Michaels said. Saturday's 11 a.m. Hall ceremony goes live on both ESPN and the NFL Network, and if it's anything like how the NFL draft went, go with the latter. Trey Wingo and Tom Jackson go on the air at 10 a.m. for ESPN -- with the caveat that Chris Berman will again emcee the proceedings. Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci and Adam Schefter are on camera for the NFL Network's coverage that begins at 8 a.m. and includes a one-hour wrapup show. Unfortunately, the ceremony doesn't include the induction of CBS' Lesley Visser, the first female recipient of the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award The Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, created in 1989 and named for the longtime NFL commissioner, is bestowed annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame "for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football". . She'll receive that during tonight's dinner in Canton. Visser, covering the NFL for the past 34years as either a newspaper reporter or TV person, says her induction is ``staggering to me. It might seem like not a big deal, but for those of us who started when we didn't even have access to a ladies room (in the stadium press box), this is quite a distance traveled in 30 years.'' CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1) The Moto X Freestyle event is one of many that provide creative ways for X Games athletes to show off for ESPN's cameras. Paul Roa/Staff Photographer (2) no caption (John Madden) (3) PARSONS Box: (1) WHAT SMOKES (2) WHAT CHOKES |
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