| Fast-paced, danger-filled, adrenaline-inducing, and | | | | example - they never could have reached a wider |
| endlessly exhilarating, extreme sports have | | | | audience if some very extreme cameramen hadn't |
| developed into a vast field of activities, drawing in | | | | been following them through every adventure, |
| ever increasing numbers of participants and | | | | capturing their wild stunts on film. The sports were |
| spectators alike. There is no hard and fast definition | | | | transported from the cutting edge to the average |
| of what qualifies as an extreme sport, but we all | | | | living room. |
| know one when we see one. They take place in | | | | Another great boon to the field of extreme sports is |
| some of the most rugged and spectacular places on | | | | the annual X Games. Again, this is proof of how |
| Earth - the massive waves off the shores of Hawaii, | | | | much extreme sports owe to television; the X |
| remote mountain peaks in the Himalayas, or in the | | | | Games are actually the creation of ESPN. TV has |
| skies thousands of feet overhead. Given the | | | | elevated some of the most thrilling sports from the |
| inaccessibility of their locations, the only way to see | | | | margins of legitimacy into a major event, with both |
| these sports is on satellite TV. | | | | annual Summer and Winter Games. They broadcast |
| The origins of the concept of extreme sport were | | | | the jaw-dropping action in high definition, and draw in |
| born in the context of extreme counter-culture, with | | | | millions of fans. The media presence at these events |
| the rise of surfing and, especially, skateboarding, in | | | | certainly affects their image, but ESPN has made an |
| the 1970s. For a little history check out some of the | | | | effort to keep this image consistent with the young, |
| great movies on satellite TV that have been made | | | | counter-culture, nature-loving aura already embodied |
| about these extreme pioneers; on skateboarding | | | | by many of the athletes and fans. They have made |
| there is the documentary Dogtown and Z-boys, or | | | | successful "green" campaigns, encouraging recycling |
| another fictional retelling of the same story in Lords | | | | and smart waste management. At this rate, maybe |
| of Dogtown; for surfing, be sure to see the epic | | | | satellite TV will save the world after all! |
| documentary, Riding Giants. | | | | If you can't actually be on a tropical beach carving |
| While on the one hand it seems that extreme sports | | | | waves and hanging ten, at least you can feel like you |
| have developed as far as possible from things like | | | | are practically there with HD and a big screen. Check |
| technology, flat screens, and HD, the truth is that the | | | | out the X Games - usually in August for the summer |
| growing popularity of these sports owes a great | | | | games or January for the winter games. They have |
| debt to television. Because extreme sports tend to | | | | grown to broadcast on three channels, and have |
| be more solitary, more individual, and take place far | | | | some exquisite high definition shots. The rest of the |
| away from where the general public could ever get a | | | | year, tune into satellite TV to see the fastest and |
| glimpse - skydiving, rock climbing, kite surfing, for | | | | most furious in extreme sports. |