Gnarly! The 5 Things You Need To Know About The Summer X Games
Grab your helmet because it's about to get dangerous.
These athletes are conquering feats that so many wouldn’t even dare to attempt.
Total domination,
The Last Night’s Game Team
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
Wednesday Wisdom
Let’s talk about what’s blowing up your phone today including a big change for the two-time World Cup Champion U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, why LeBron is being dad shamed and would you get a head tattoo in exchange for game tickets? READ
Buy You A Drink?
Forget the small talk about the weather, let’s get right down to it this Friday.
Forget the small talk about the weather, let’s get right down to it this Friday.
Come here often?
The Last Night’s Game Team
MLB (Major League Baseball)
When your plan backfires. On Monday, the Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper won the home run derby. The fans weren’t simply excited for his win but also for the fact that the Nationals promised $1 off of tickets for every home run Harper hit. Let’s just say the accounting department is not happy with the marketing department right now as some tickets are going as low as $1. CHEAP THRILLS
Overtime
Can you believe that Discovery Channel’s Shark Week is turning 30 this year? To celebrate 30 years of surfers losing limbs and other stories that scare you out of putting a toe in the ocean, a plethora of celebrities will be making cameos during the week. None of them hold a candle to Shaq’s Shark Week promo. (Say that five times fast). WATCH
Sideline stat
It’s going to be tough to find someone who is having a better week than Liz Cambage of the Dallas Wings (WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association). This week she set the WNBA record for points in a game, followed it up in the next game with the highest ever points total for a two-game span AND was named a WNBA all-star. PINCH ME
Coaches’ corner
People freaked out when Tiger Woods showed up to play in the first round of the British Open yesterday with KT Tape on his neck to relieve his neck discomfort. Clearly people were curious because the KT Tape website saw a 300% increase in web traffic. Woods not only started a new trend but went on to have a great round. Although he probably didn’t think about how bad it was going to hurt to take the tape off. WAX ON, WAX OFF
What to watch
If high flying action with a few broken bones is how you like to spend your weekend, then you’re in luck. The Summer X Games started yesterday in Minneapolis and will run through the weekend. Even cooler than a rad cast that all your friends can sign is the Shred Hate campaign. The X Games are continuing their in-school program to reduce bullying by 90% through education and 24/7 support via text for anyone who is being bullied or encountering a crisis. LEARN MORE
The Rundown: 5 Things to Know About the Winter X Games and Other News
Today, alongside the trending topics in sports, we’re talking about some incredible women who you’ll undoubtedly be talking about at the water cooler this morning.
Strong is sexy,
The Last Night's Game Team
Five Things to Know About the Winter X Games
- The X Games were created in 1995 by ESPN (the sports network). They recognized that there was a huge segment of the population that were bored with traditional sports. There are two X Games a year – winter and summer. This year’s Winter Games will take place for the 15th year in a row at Snowmass Mountain in Aspen, CO. (January 26 – 29th).
- There are 18 different disciplines that take place on skis, snowboards or snowmobiles/bikes. There are new disciplines this year including the snow bike (a dirt bike with a ski for front tire and snowmobile track on the back) and women’s ski big air (skiers go down a hill and perform tricks after launching off very large jumps. It is an extreme version of what you see in the Olympics).
- Unlike the Olympics, the X Games are more of an individual competition, not a team sport.
- Ones to watch: Chloe Kim – a 16-year-old snowboarding prodigy who has won two consecutive half pipe gold medals. Shaun White – the “Flying Tomato” will return to compete in this year’s X Games in snowboarding. Colten Moore – who will attempt a double backflip on a snowmobile. Wait what? Hombre loco.
- What does the ‘X’ in X Games stand for? Well it stands for a few different things – X for extreme, for the unknown factor or for generation X, who were some of the first competitors.
Overtime
- Yesterday we heard stories of two extraordinary women – sports reporter Erin Andrews and Katie Levitre, wife of Atlanta Falcons left guard Andy Levitre.
Andrews revealed that last year she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had surgery which eliminated the disease and she was back on the field two days later. Andrews embodied the toughness of her NHL (National Hockey League) player fiancée Jarret Stoll telling him, “You’d play through any injury, do whatever it takes to get back out there. That’s going to be me.”
Levitre received the game ball from the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) for portraying “ultimate toughness.” She went into labor during Sunday’s playoff game but waited it out until the end of the game. Luckily the Falcons won.
Sideline stat
- The all-star game for the NFL (National Football League), The Pro Bowl, is this Sunday. Only 57% of the players originally selected will be playing in the game. Most players don’t want to risk injury by playing and players on teams that are in the Super Bowl are not eligible. Don’t forget to tune in Thursday night to see your favorite NFL players participate in a skills competition that includes dodgeball. We wonder if Patches O’Houlihan will be coaching?
Coaches’ corner
- Recruiting is everything in college football and what better way to appeal to recruits than with a trip to Italy? University of Michigan football announced it will be holding three spring football practices in Rome. The NCAA (governing body for college sports) banned off-campus workouts but international travel is not covered in the ban. Kudos to Michigan for finding a loophole that involves pasta and red wine.