Grab your helmet because it's about to get dangerous.
Sports Curious presented by Last Night's Game, is here to help you join the sports conversation, even if you don't know the first thing about sports. We breakdown what's happening in sports in an easy to understand, fun way without all of the statistics and jargon so you never have to exit stage left when the chatter at the office, dinner table or a networking event switches to sports.
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[Transcript]
1. The first Extreme Games were started by ESPN in 1995 with the idea that they would be every two years. But the fans loved it and the games evolved into to an annual contest. In 1996, the X Games as we know it, became a reality with the first Winter Games taking place in 1997. This year’s Summer Games take place on August 1 - 4 in Minneapolis, MN. LET’S GET CRAZY
2. At the heart of the X Games is the Shred Hate campaign. The campaign talks about how sports can provide a safe harbor from bullying or create it; that many of their athletes didn’t fit into traditional sports. So they created a campaign that takes a stand against bullying through partnerships with innovative bullying prevention programs in the country. TAKE A STAND
3. The popularity of the sport of skateboarding skyrocketed partly because of the X Games. Now skateboarding will make its Summer Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2020. Watch for the “Flying Tomato” himself, Shaun White, who is the first athlete to win in both the summer and winter X Games. It may be a long road as skateboarding Olympians will compete in street and park events and White’s expertise is the vert. Also look out for Brighton Zeuner. At age 13, she became the youngest athlete in the X Games’ 21-year history to take home gold and is hoping to qualify for Tokyo. GET IT GIRL
4. We all remember the man, the myth and the legend, Tony Hawk. Well, these games mark the 20th anniversary of his famed 900 (two-and-a-half rotations = 900 degrees) on a skateboard, something that had never been done before. It took him 10 years of practice, a broken rib, lost teeth and several concussions but in 1999, he landed the iconic trick. (Now the 1080 is the trick to land). PERSISTENCE IS EVERYTHING
5. Skateboarding isn’t the only soon-to-be global sport, BMX freestyle is coming to the 2020 Summer Olympics as well. BMX has grown faster than the CBD craze, with the first World Cup taking place in 2016. What is BMX freestyle? In two one-minute runs each, riders will be judged on the difficulty, originality, style, flow, risk, height and execution of their tricks and jumps. THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
