When the curtain fell on the X Games last summer, the city of San Diego said goodbye after two years of hosting the festival. But San Diego's loss is San Francisco's gain, as the City by the Bay prepares to play host to the fifth Summer X Games.SAN FRANCISCO -- With the final street luge permit secured, the Summer X Games in San Francisco are just about ready to go. The main site for the Games will be Piers 30 and 32 on the Embarcadero, featuring aggressive in-line skating, bicycle stunt riding, skateboarding, sportclimbing and big-air snowboarding. Additional competitions will be held in Treasure Island's Clipper Cove and Point Lobos Avenue near the Cliff House Restaurant. The skysurfing competition will take place the week prior to the Games in Monterey, Calif.. "Because we don't have ballparks or stadiums, we must create places for these athletes to compete, and we must prevail upon a city to help us create these venues," said Executive Director Jack Wienert. "I think San Francisco is going to love the X Games." The X Games will bring more than 400 of the world's best alternative sport athletes to the Bay area, competing in nine different sport categories and 24 sport disciplines for nearly $1 million in prize money. ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC will combine to televise 28.5 hours of original programming.
