WINTER IN FOR SOMETHING X-TRA : WINTER X GAMES SNOW SUMMITT, BIG BEAR LAKE.Byline: Dan Lazar Special to the Daily News You can call them barbaric or tasteless taste·less adj. 1. Lacking flavor; insipid. 2. Not having or showing good taste. taste  less·ly adv. or even X-rated, but the folks at sports cable network ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network call the eccentricities behind ``extreme'' sports charmingly cultural. And they're piercing the nipple nipple - Trackpoint of the conventional winter sports winter sports: see bobsledding; curling; hockey, ice; ice dancing; ice skating; skiing; snowshoes; tobogganing. world to prove it. The network today kicks off the first Winter X Games X Games Sports medicine The official Olympics of 'extreme sports' sponsored by ESPN, held annually during the summer. See Extreme sports. in an effort to show the world that the oversized o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. clothing, tattoos and, yes, wonderfully lanced body parts that color the predominantly youthful ``extreme'' sport scene can also appeal to . . . Mom and Dad? ``We've tried to promote these games as a sporting event that's open to the entire family,'' said Dean Stoyer, assistant director of marketing and communications for the games, which will take place at Snow Summit ski resort in San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. County's Big Bear Lake. ``I think part of our responsibility is to give people an idea of the grassroots following behind these sports.'' Billed as the world's only Olympic-style ``extreme'' winter-sport competition, the Winter X Games feature the relatively popular (snowboarding and mountain biking mountain biking Sports medicine A sport in which participants use specialized bicycles to navigate rough, steep trails covered with unforgiving rocks Injury risk Concussions, fractures, death. See Extreme sport, Novelty seeking behavior. ) to the downright obscure (ice climbing ice climbing Sports medicine An 'extreme sport' in which participants climb ice formations with pickaxes, often without ropes Injury risk Hypothermia, death. See Extreme sports, Novelty seeking behavior. and shovel racing), with $200,000 split among the winners. Call it the Winter Olympics with an attitude, with the most visible game being snowboarding. Snowboarders are as known for their baggy clothes, spiked hair and pierced noses, belly buttons, lips and the like as they are for the stunts they pull off on the snow. They even sprinkle the English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. with terms partially borrowed from skateboarding skateboarding Form of recreation, popular among youths, in which a person rides standing balanced on a small board mounted on wheels. The skateboard first appeared in the early 1960s on paved areas along California beaches as a makeshift diversion for surfers when the ocean - ``tweaked See tweak. ,'' ``stale fish'' and ``bone out'' are just a few in the lexicon used to describe maneuvers. Suzy Winton, saleswoman for Borderline snowboard shop in Woodland Hills, said that while the sport belongs to the younger crowd, adults are beginning to catch on - and even they dress the part. ``It's a trend,'' she said. ``I think that's why snowboarding is going crazy.'' Even without their quirks, and without the hype of the Winter X Games, some 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). do stand on their own. Time magazine reported in January 1996 that the number of American snowboarders has quadrupled over the previous four years from 500,000 to 2 million participants. Snowboarding will be featured as a medal sport in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. And mountain biking - at least on dirt, if not on snow - has its own faithful following. ESPN's two previous X Games, held the last two summers in Newport, R.I., attracted wide television audiences, with the 1996 version bringing in 50 viewers per every 100 cable television subscribers. Ron Semiao, director of programming for ESPN2, said that those games deserve some of the credit in boosting the popularity of such summer extreme sports as in-line skating and skateboarding. ``If you noticed the Closing Ceremonies (of the 1996 Summer Olympics), 17 Summer X (Games) athletes were taken to Atlanta (to perform),'' he said. ``I think that almost sanctified sanc·ti·fy tr.v. sanc·ti·fied, sanc·ti·fy·ing, sanc·ti·fies 1. To set apart for sacred use; consecrate. 2. To make holy; purify. 3. what we do.'' Jack Wienert, creator and executive director of the games, realized early on that the personality of extreme sport, if properly marketed, could have audience appeal. ``One of the reasons I thought (the X Games) would work was the incredible amount of mainstream companies using the extreme sports in their advertising,'' said Wienert, who came up with the X Games idea in 1993. ``They were appealing to the lifestyle.'' Extreme athletes and organizers have longed for the big-time publicity ESPN is now giving them. They hope the games will help legitimize le·git·i·mize tr.v. le·git·i·mized, le·git·i·miz·ing, le·git·i·miz·es To legitimate. le·git their sport in the eyes of mainstream athletics. ``I think what's going to be important is that (the Winter X Games) will be the largest televised snowboarding event ever,'' said Don Bostick, chairman of the U.S. Amateur Snowboard Association and snowboarding organizer for the games. ``What they want to do is show the energy and excitement that is snowboarding.'' ESPN feels this trend has moneymaking potential. The company has spent more than $250,000 in giving the event that certain cool, youthful look - hip announcers, huge on-site Sony JumboTRON televisions and even cowbells for audience members who have trouble clapping with their gloves on. ``We try and become a part of the culture and understand the audience we are speaking to,'' Wienert said. ``They can spot a nerd a mile away.'' ESPN has produced an X Games CD for those who want ambience while sliding down the snow on their tush tush canine tooth in a horse. . And the network plans to release a line of X Games clothing. Ron Semiao said that the fashion design will spawn completely from the sports - not from ESPN. ``Part of alternative sport is the alternative look,'' said Semiao, who couldn't predict how baggy the Winter X Games line of pants will be. ``We want to maintain that look.'' The X Games, a creation of ESPN, begins today and runs through Sunday. Here are today's broadcast highlights: Look for Jeff Brushie (Del Mar Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
The ESPN Winter X Games will be broadcast on ESPN2 today from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. A GUIDE TO THE GAMES ESPN'S Winter X Games, hosted by Snow Summit ski resort in Big Bear, start today and end Sunday. Today's ``extreme'' sport competitions run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to all events, every day. For directions to the events and other general information, call (909) 944-1566. Here's a quick look at the events: Snowboarding Men and women compete in four different categories. Slopestyle has boarders negotiate bumps and berms in a run judged on style, execution and originality. Boarders will also perform tricks in the ``half-pipe'' competition, snowboarding's answer to the skateboard park. In ``big air,'' riders launch off a jump and twist themselves into artistic snowboarding poses. Finally, in the ``boarder X'' contest, six riders per heat race down an obstacle-ridden run in this double-elimination contest. Ice climbing Competitors scamper up a 50-foot man-made ice wall using specialized ice climbing tools in both speed and difficulty competitions. Snow mountain bike racing Riders in the dual-downhill competition race head-to-head down a snow-covered slalom slalom Alpine skiing event in which competitors race one at a time down a zigzag or wavy course past a series of flags or markers called gates. The course is carefully designed to test the skier's skill, timing, and judgment. course. In the dual-speed contest, athletes shoot straight down the mountain, without any obstacles. Fastest time wins. Super-modified shovel racing In the days before snow-grooming machines, men and women marched over the mountains patching bare spots with a snow-melting fertilizer and a grain scoop. At the end of the day, they slid down the hill - on the scoop. Now it's a sport, but the shovels have been modified to look like drag-racers and travel in excess of 70 miles-per-hour in a head-to-head competition. Cross-over events Competitors snowboard slopestyle, then go to dry land to skateboard, in-line skate or bicycle stunt ride in a half pipe. ESPN calls it a ``rad'' duathlon. CAPTION(S): 5 Photos, 2 Boxes Photo: (1) Snowboarding Men and women compete in four different categories. Slopestyle has boarders negotiate bumps and berms in a run judged on style, execution and originality. Boarders will also perform tricks in the ``half-pipe'' competition, snowboarding's answer to the skateboard park. In ``big air,'' riders launch off a jump and twist themselves into artistic snowboarding poses. Finally, in the ``boarder X'' contest, six riders per heat race down an obstacle-ridden run in this double-elimination contest. (2) Ice cMlimbing Competitors scamper up a 50-foot man-made ice wall using specialized ice climbing tools in both speed and difficulty competitions. (3) Snow mountain bike racing Riders in the dual-downhill competition race head-to-head down a snow-covered slalom course. In the dual-speed contest, athletes shoot straight down the mountain, without any obstacles. Fastest time wins. (4) Super-modified shovel racing In the days before snow-grooming machines, men and women marched over the mountains patching bare spots with a snow-melting fertilizer and a grain scoop. At the end of the day, they slid down the hill - on the scoop. Now it's a sport, but the shovels have been modified to look like drag-racers and travel in excess of 70 miles-per-hour in a head-to-head competition. (5) Cross-over events Competitors snowboard slopestyle, then go to dry land to skateboard, in-line skate or bicycle stunt ride in a half pipe. ESPN calls it a ``rad'' duathlon. Box: (1) WINTER X GAMES (see text) (2) A GUIDE TO THE GAMES (see text) |
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