X-Fest a must check out at XG XIII

When I was a young, rebellious child growing up in Tijuana, there were two big events that occurred in San Diego. First, the 1992 All-Star game and Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. I didn't go to either game, but I did go to the Fan Fest and the NFL Experience.

And, if you haven't gone to any of thiese events, this is how it breaks down. You get to run around and do stuff like the pro's do -- sort of. I pitched to Tony Gwynn. Hit a foul ball off Dennis Eckersley. Kicked a 15-yard filed goal.

But my favorite, being the geeky journalist that I am, was the play-by-play booth. On baseball, my brother and I butchered Kirk Gibson's 1998 World Series home run (nobody but Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin should be allowed to call that play). On football, a high school classmate and I did play by play for the Immaculate Reception. I was taking it seriously, my friend was sarcastically shocked when Franco Harris caught the ball.

Well, if I was into skating and was 12 or 17 again, the X-Fest at the X Games is where I would want to be. You get the same X-perience as baseball fans would get at Fan Fest or football fans would get at the NFL Experience.

There's a mini-ramp, mini-skate park course, dirt-bike course, rock climbing, a graffiti wall and Playstation 3 booth -- each looks like lots of fun. You can't help but notice the amount of coorporate sponsorhsip (one of the ramps is sponsored by Schick Quattro, as if 13-year-olds really need a razor). The Navy and NASA are also here recruiting, I mean, showing their support for the X-Games.

Oh, and remember that band I said I heard playing when I got my registration, we'll it wasn't a band at all. There's a concert stage set up, with drum set and guitars included, for people that want to jam to either The Ramones or Green Day. Band Karaoke they call it. Karaoke for the "Guitar Hero" generation is probably a more-accurate term.

I'm no longer 13, in fact, the other day I made the mistake of telling someone I was 23 and that's not true either. I'm 26. But X-Fest is a lot of fun, I can't stress that enough.

And today was a light day, not many people were there, so it was the best day to just walk around and take it all in. I'm sure the crowds are going to be bigger tomorrow and on Saturday as events begin to take place.

If you are into skating and you can't be here, man, that sucks. I'm not into skating and I love it. Can you imagine how much fun those that are into skating are having?

Sorry to tease you like that, but someone had to do it.

I'll bring my digital camera tomorrow and show you what I'm talking about.

-- Jaime Cárdenas