Volume 3, No. 14. July 25, 2003
X-rated
Dolly
At first when they emerged on stage to perform their BMX bike, in-line skate
and skateboard routines at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, this summer,
the athletes of Extreme Sports Show opened their demonstrations with rad beach
music or the heavy metal strains of Ozzie Osborne. Now, they open with “Islands
in the Stream,” “9 to 5” and other Dolly Parton staples. They
weren’t forced to conform; it's their way of showing their appreciation
for their surroundings.
“They’re
hanging out here, they’ve got a bunch of souvenirs of the park,” Pete
Owens, the park’s public relations manager, said of the group whose Extreme
Sports Show is part of the park’s first KidsFest which began June 20 and
runs through August 10. “You’re doing four shows a day without a day
off since the 20th of June, you’d think they’d be burned out by now.
But they’re more energized now than they ever have been.”
The unlikely marriage of extreme sports stars and wholesome family theme park set in the Southern hills makes sense when you see the mutual respect that has evolved between the two camps; not so much evolved, actually, as impressed upon from the very start.
Dollywood,
which as part of KidsFest also is hosting the Purina Dog Chow Incredible Dog
Team and staging live shows VeggieTales and Garfield’s Happy Birthday To
Me, put the ASA Events-produced Extreme Sports Show in its 600-seat amphitheater.
“When they got here the guys thought they’d be performing to a couple
hundred seats,” Owens said. “We said 600. They said, ‘You’re
kidding me!’ We’ve had standing-room-only for all of their shows.
They’re really jazzed about it.”
ASA
Events brought some of the best to Dollywood, too. The in-line skaters include
Shane Yost and Sam Fogerty, both of whom are featured in Playstation video games.
Richie Lopez is one of only two skateboarders—the legendary Tony Hawk being
the other—to do a 900 on a skateboard (two 360-degree and one 180-degree
turns while airborne). BMX biker Jimmy Walker is headed for this year’s
X-Games, and the show’s emcee, Jimmy Coleman, will be one of the two broadcasters
for ABC’s live coverage of the X-Games.
“Walker
has been using Dollywood as a training facility for the X-Games,” Owens
said. “He’s treated almost every one of the exhibitions as a competition.”
Meanwhile, Lopez “has been trying to throw a 900 on the ramp. These guys
are professionals. There’s no concern at all getting them here on time
and that sort of thing.”
That
didn’t waylay the park’s own concern that it wouldn’t measure
up to whatever standards these extreme athletes might hold high. “There’s
always a degree of uncertainty, a lot of unknowns,” Owens said. “They
also had some unknowns. Dollywood is a family theme park, these guys look like
typical skater boys. How are we going to be received?”
Well,
as it turns out. Between shows the athletes hang out in the park, participate
in the other KidsFest activities and greet park guests. “We were doing
a commercial production with them which lasted all day yesterday, and they did
40 minutes of autographing for guests,” Owens said.
Thus,
as a tribute to their summer home-cum-training camp, the athletes of Extreme
Sports Show now open their demonstrations with a Dolly tune. They still crank
up the metal when actually doing their stunts, but, really, you wouldn’t
expect them to play “Wildflowers” while throwing a 900, would you?
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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