X MARKS THE SPOT FOR L.A. CITY NAMED HOST FOR '03-'04 GAMES.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

Speaking from his cell phone outside San Diego on Thursday afternoon, eight-time X Games gold medalist skateboarder Andy MacDonald tried to put in perspective the news that the games will be moving to the sport's birthplace in Los Angeles for the next two years.

``This is the center of the whole industry,'' MacDonald said. ``All the companies are out here. All the magazines are out here, everything. If you're an actor, you're in Hollywood. If you a pro skateboarder, you're in Southern California.''

That was the prime reason why ESPN officials announced Thursday that Los Angeles had been selected as the X Games' host city for 2003 and 2004. The city beat out Miami for the rights to the eighth-annual extreme-sports competition, which drew more than 220,000 fans this year in Philadelphia.

As a result, for five days beginning Aug. 14, skateboarders like MacDonald will try to land their signature moves on the half-pipe at Staples Center while pro motocross racers bounce across the Coliseum floor under the lights. All in front of their hometown fans and ESPN cameras.

``Los Angeles has hosted two Olympic Games and championships in virtually every major sport and is the epicenter for action sports,'' Mayor James Hahn said in a statement. ``We are eager to join with ESPN to build on the already tremendous success of the X Games.''

Councilman Eric Garcetti added: ``This is totally radical. As a former skater, (I think) the games are bigger than the Olympics to a younger generation.''

Now area sports fans figure to get an education about their children's extreme-sports heroes, many of whom live right next door. One of them is MacDonald, an eight-year pro and East Coast transplant, who has his own video game, his own line of clothing and his own brand of shoes (made by Airwalk) at Payless.

In addition, he has his own move, the ``Benihana,'' which starts with one front-side tail-grab. And MacDonald is eager to display it in front of a capacity crowd new to the X Games. In fact, there was only one downside that MacDonald could find in Los Angeles hosting the event.

``Southern California fans are pretty jaded when it comes to skating,'' MacDonald said. ``They're more educated about it. They know it's not just like there's some guys flying through the air. They're not as impressed by things.''

The X Games will feature competitions in skateboarding, BMX biking, motocross, wakeboarding, in-line skating and speed climbing. The events primarily will be at Staples Center, with the Moto X freestyle set for Aug. 15 or 16 at the Coliseum. Locations for the wakeboarding and street-skating events have not been determined.

X Games official Melissa Gullotti added Thursday that though no events have been scheduled for the San Fernando Valley, the games will be marketed across the area. And at the Northridge Skatepark, 15-year-old BMXer George Casillas said he would be in attendance come August.

``It definitely will be a good experience for kids who have never tried riding to get them into it,'' said Casillas, who added he not only watched this year's X Games live on ESPN but also the replays that have followed sporadically since.

The move to Los Angeles will represent another step forward for the games, which began in 1995 in Newport, R.I. They left for San Diego in 1997, then to a converted pier in San Francisco in 1999 and on to the First Union Center in Philadelphia in 2001. More than 20 hours of coverage will be provided on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, Gullotti said.

Most importantly, Gullotti said ESPN got an enthusiastic response from both athletes and fans about returning the games to the West Coast.

``We anticipate that attendance will be strong, especially because the area is the birthplace for so many of these action sports,'' Gullotti said. ``The feedback that we got when we let people know that L.A. was one of the final cities in the bidding process, everyone was very excited.''

The competition will feature many big names for the under-18 crowd, including BMX Vert medalist Mat Hoffman and Moto X Big Air winner Mike Metzger. But the biggest name of all, San Diego skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, has not committed to returning to the games.

An aide to Hawk said Thursday it was ``too soon to tell'' whether the 34-year-old would compete in Los Angeles. Hawk officially retired from competition in 1999 but has returned for the X Games, where he teamed with MacDonald to win the doubles competition for the sixth time in Philadelphia.

The X Games qualification schedule has not yet been set, Gullotti added, although she said international qualifying will take place in Malaysia, Brazil and Spain.

The games also promise to bring big business to Los Angeles, with organizers crediting the X Games with having an economic impact of more than $42 million in Philadelphia. Los Angeles landed the games in part because of its successful hosting of the ESPY awards this year and because of its status as the country's second-largest TV market, Gullotti said.

But ESPN's Josh Krulewitz added that the greatest impact might be felt in the demographics of the crowd that descends on Staples Center. It will be loud and it will be young, Krulewitz said.

``This is something that kids bring their parents to,'' Krulewitz said. ``And not the other way around.''

Staff Writer Mariel Garza contributed to this report.