X GAMES JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER WITH AGE EXTREME SPORTS CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF ACTION.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

All eyes will be on Athens in two weeks to watch the world's top traditional sports events in the Olympics.

But this week, Los Angeles will host the Olympics of action sports - the X Games.

The X Games turn 10 on Thursday, which is when the annual event returns to Los Angeles for the second consecutive year. The X Games idea was born in a Connecticut bookstore as special programming for fledgling cable television channel ESPN2. X Games X, as it is being billed, is a four-day event featuring freestyle motocross, skateboarding, BMX, in-line skating, wakeboarding and surfing. Events will be held primarily at Staples Center and Home Depot Center.

``These sports weren't getting very much attention,'' recalled X Games founder Ron Semiao, who is now the senior vice president of original entertainment at ESPN. ``But these sports are out of this world.''

Well, action sports were getting some attention of sorts. They were emerging on a new mass media forum: the Internet. They were being used as tools for major marketing campaigns. They were also influencing clothing styles - baggy shorts were used to hide knee pads.

But mainstream media? Not a chance in those days.

``ESPN primarily showcased mainstream sports, while ESPN2 would focus on sports that appeal to a younger demographic, including what was called - at the time - extreme sports,'' Semiao said of the new television network's pursuit of an Olympic-style event.

Skateboarder Tony Hawk remembers what it was like.

``People would ask what I do and I would tell them that I was a skateboarder,'' said Hawk, who will not compete in this year's games.

``They would say, `Oh, you're in one of the those extreme sports.' I'd say, `No, I'm a skateboarder.' It's like comparing a football player and basketball player. They are not the same.''

What Semiao, executive director Jack Weinert and general manager Chris Stiepock created is a hot sports product. In the X Games' first year, 1995, the event (staged in Rhode Island) averaged 22,000 fans per day and an average television viewership of 307,138 households.

Last year in Southern California, the event averaged 46,786 fans and had doubled its viewership to 676,357 households. X Games IX drew the largest single-day crowd (67,000) and largest single-event crowd (41,700 for freestyle motocross at the Coliseum). Nearly 2 million have attended the X Games.

Semiao knew he had hit upon something big.

``Two things stick out,'' he recalled. ``We saw that first year in Rhode Island that the crowds were large, and that it was as much a family crowd as anything else. Kids brought their parents to the event, which was unique. The second was the first year in San Francisco. We were concerned if the X Games would get noticed in a city that size, where people have so many options of things to do. Then on the first day, there were lines for blocks waiting outside the venue two hours before we opened. We were stunned.''

The games have been held two years each in Newport, San Diego, San Francisco, Philadelphia and L.A.

``It's been a great platform for pulling out crazy things and seeing if you could do them,'' said BMX stunt rider Mat Hoffman, who has won six medals, including two gold. ``It's also expanded our level of competition and enhanced our sport.'

The games have had their highs. Hoffman remembers his no-handed 900 spin - 2 1/2 twists - a discipline first, in Philadelphia in 2002. ``Either I was pulling it off or going to the hospital,'' he said.

Semiao remembers Hawk's 900, also a discipline first, in San Francisco. Since then, three other skateboarders have done it.

``It's really exciting to see where skateboard is going,'' Hawk said. ``Nothing surprises me anymore.''

It's had its downs, too. Also in 1999, freestyle motocross rookie Travis Patrana wowed the San Francisco crowd by scoring an amazing 99.0 run on his first run. But on run No. 2 at Pier 30, he jumped his bike nearly 100 feet into the bay. He forfeited his $10,000 first-place prize and was scorned by environmentalists, city officials and event officials. The incident has never been shown by the cable network.

The games have also been about experimentation. Skateboarding, in-line skating and bike stunt events have always been a part of the games. Wakeboarding debuted in the second year of the event and has since been a constant. Motocross came aboard in 1999. Windsurfing, kiteskiing and mountain biking only lasted one year.

Barefoot ski jumping, snowboarding, bungy jumping, skysurfing, downhill BMX and in-line, sport climbing, street luge and eco-challenge have come and gone. Surfing was added last year and will return to Huntington Beach. Supermoto X and Big Air skateboard have been added to this year's lineup.

``We would like to see sports in which there is growing popularity,'' Semiao said of the changing disciplines.

By trial and error, X Games executive director Weinert says it has been relatively easy to get each sport's sanctioning body to buy into the event.

``I know the athletes are happy,'' he said. ``It's been a good marriage.''

It's been an experiment in arenas, too. The first six games were all outdoor venues. Semiao had another favorite memory.

``In Philly, it was seeing a packed First Union Center, the place where NBA championships have been played,'' Semiao said. ``We moved into a real arena for the first time.''

Keith Lair, [phone]

keith.lair(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Tony Hawk is mobbed after he nailed a `900' in the 1999 X Games, which have blossomed every year.

Associated Press

(2) CHRIS SENN KICK-FLIPS A GAP IN 2001 SKATEBOARD STREET COMPETITION

(3) EXTREME GAMES DEBUT IN 1995

(4) MOUNTAIN BIKING IN 1996

(5) TRAVIS PASTRANA BACKFLIP AT X GAME IX IN LOS ANGELES

Photos by ESPN/SHAZAAM

Box:

(1) X GAMES X

(2) 10 YEARS OF X

By Staff Writer Keith Lair

(3) X GAMES FINALS SCHEDULE