It is explains 686 snowboarding the fundamental snow boarding conclude emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. "timothy. rutten. The poster boy for the X Games etched his name in extreme-sports lore seven years ago. After winning the freestyle motocross title, Travis Pastrana launched his Suzuki into the San Francisco Bay, prompting organizers to withhold his $10,000 purse to pay for the cleanup. He was only 15 at the time, but wise enough to realize a good investment. Since then, Pastrana has maintained his cult-hero status among extreme-sports fans and broadened his marketing appeal by rolling out a variety of new and improved aerial tricks. In the motocross best-trick competition Friday night at Staples Center, he sent a chill through the nearly sold-out crowd when it was announced he would try the first-ever double back flip in competition, then thrilled the fans when he pulled it off without a hitch. "I promised myself after the first time I did it that I would never do it again," Pastrana said afterward. "It shouldn't have worked and I'll never try it again. "And to think freestyle motocross is just a hobby for him. Lesser known to the casual fan was Pastrana's decorated career as a motocross racer He won the American Motocross Assn. 125cc national championship in 2000 and the AMA 125cc East Coast supercross title a year later. However, after 19 knee surgeries, numerous concussions and a particular terrifying accident that caused his spinal column to be separated from his pelvis, Pastrana decided it was time to leave the profession. "Injuries would keep me down for months at a time," he said. "So I decided, 'You know what, let's do something fun that might be a little safer. ' "As a teenager, Pastrana often sped around the back roads near his home in Annapolis, Md. , driving whatever vehicle he and his friends could afford at the time. Often, it was nothing more than a $400 used Volkswagen Beetle.

Typically, the car wouldn't last through the weekend. Three years ago, he made headlines when he was ejected from his Corvette after crashing during a high-speed midnight thrill ride near his home abc snowboarding . Amazingly, he suffered only minor injuries. While Pastrana was on the mend from motocross mishaps, he often raced shifter karts to feed his competitive urge snow board . He soon developed an interest in rally cars and began splitting time between motocross and rally. Rally cars are street legal and house a driver and co-driver snowbaord . They race on closed roads called "stages," with the goal of accumulating the lowest elapsed driving time snowbording . The co-driver navigates the course and communicates upcoming road conditions and obstacles, such as crests, jumps and turns, so the driver can maintain a high rate of speed. In 2005, Pastrana took aim at the Rally America National Championships, a domestic tour that draws the top drivers from the U. S. After finishing second in his inaugural race, Pastrana went on to finish fourth in his class and fifth overall. "He's obviously a very natural athlete when it comes to motor sports," said Colin McRae of Scotland, one of the top drivers in the World Rally Championships. In typical Pastrana fashion, however, he was behind the wheel for one of the most terrifying crashes of the season, rolling his car 9 3/4 times during a race in Colorado, then walking away from the wreckage. Impressive showings last season convinced Subaru of America to sign Pastrana to a multiyear deal. The carmaker also signed Ken Block, founder of DC Shoes in Vista and the 2005 Rally America rookie of the year. Their involvement in the sport quickly caught the attention of X Games executives, who were interested in adding a four-wheel racing event that would attract the attention of the extreme-sports crowd. "When Travis got into rally, it worked out perfect for them," Block said. Pastrana said Block's ties to the X Games -- his company's brand is a favorite among the athletes and their followers -- deserves just as much credit for helping rally car racing reach the national stage. "DC shoes is one of the top skateboard companies in the world," Pastrana said.

"When the owner gets involved in rally, that really turned some heads. "Pastrana scored his first rally car victory in late April at the Rim of the World Rally in the Angeles National Forest about snowboarding . The event was not part of the Rally America National Championships, but it provided Pastrana with a boost of confidence. He finished second in his most recent Rally America race last month in Maine, moving his car, No snowbord . 199, to the top of the season standings. "I've been very fortunate to have been able to jump right into the top level and have the support to do it," he said ski resorts . "Everyone kind of made fun of us when we jumped in, but now we're battling for the championship. "Pastrana said his biggest adjustment to rally cars has been the mental side sking . Not knowing what's around the next corner can be intimidating. "It can be nighttime in the falling snow and you're going 100 mph around a blind corner with a cliff on one side," he said. Snowboard tickets "It can get ugly. "The X Games added its unique wrinkles to the rally race, scheduled to begin at 2 p. m today. The most obvious are the 150-foot ramps that lead in and out of the Home Depot Center, and a double jump inside the stadium that gave some drivers fits during practice Thursday.

The quirks play right into the hands of Pastrana and his motocross background. "Rally cars usually don't do double jumps," he said with a chuckle alpine snowboarding. "It should be interesting to see how some people respond to it Snowboarding - burton . "Eight of the race's first nine stages were completed earlier this week and, heading into today's "Super Special" stage, which will determine the winner, Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom of New York trail McRae and his partner, Nicky Grist, by one-tenth of a second. "Not too comfortable," McRae said of his lead after a practice session Thursday ski resort . "You couldn't have written a script any better than that. "After the rally car race, Pastrana will compete in the first of two motocross freestyle heats at the Home Depot Center tonight, then return Sunday for the supermoto race and the remainder of the freestyle competition. "I've been given a chance with rally and don't want to mess that up," he said skiing . "I say that now, but if the crowd is going off, I've been known to do some crazy things. ''*(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)X Games eventsSKATEBOARDING* What happened Friday: Chris Cole, 24, said he felt out of place as the oldest competitor in the street final at the Home Depot Center, but he earned an average score of 90. 68 in the four-round competition, easily defeating runner-up Ryan Sheckler, 16, of San Clemente, who averaged 85. 31 Andrew Reynolds of Winter Haven, Fla. , was third with 85. 06 bindings . Paul Rodriguez Jr. , the two-time defending champion, never got going and finished seventh. Bucky Lasek nailed a front-side cab varial heel flip to take home the gold medal in the vert best trick competition at Staples Center. Canadian Max Dufour stuck a back-side kickflip 360 tail grind to take the silver, and defending champion Bob Burnquist took the bronze, completing a front-side tail slide 360 out. Shaun White failed to land his much-hyped 1080 despite making 21 attempts, though he came close several times but couldn't stick his landing. * Today's finals: Set to return are all three medalists from last season's women's street finals, led by champion Elissa Steamer, 30, who fended off 16-year-olds Evelien Bouilliart and Marissa Del Santo. BMX* What happened Friday: Chad Kagy became only the fourth rider to win X Games gold in the vert competition, scoring a 93-point first run at Staples Center.

Kagy edged defending champion Jamie Bestwick, who scored a 91. 66 on his first run, and Simon Tabron, who scored 90 beginner snowboard . Before Friday, Bestwick and Dave Mirra had won the last nine BMX vert gold medals Mat Hoffman is the only other rider to win the event slopes . Afterward, Bestwick, 35, announced his retirement from the X Games event but said he would continue to compete on the Dew Tour and in Europe ski club . He had surgery in May to fuse to vertebrae in his neck. Kevin Robinson won the gold medal in the vert best trick finals at Staples Center, where he performed a double flair --the first time the trick had ever been landed A flair is a back flip with a 180-degree twist passes . Robinson did that twice to edge Kagy, who was second with a flatspin double tailwhip -- another trick landed for the first time. Tabron finished third. * Today's finals: The freestyle park competition took a hit when defending champion Dave Mirra was injured, opening the door for Ryan Nyquist, who took silver Thursday in the freestyle dirt, and Scotty Cranmer, who many thought outperformed Mirra in the event last year. MOTO X* What happened Friday: Travis Pastrana landed the first double back flip in competition history to win the best trick finals at Staples Center Snowboarding - snowboarding . The only imperfection seemed to be in the judging, as Pastrana scored only 98 Snowboarding . 6 points on what was his second and final jump of the night to beat Mat Rebeaud's 93 . 80. * Today's finals: Last year's easy victory by four-time champion Tommy Clowers in the step-up was a disappointment on the heels of 2004's dramatic, three-round jump-off between gold medalist Jeremy McGrath and 2003 champion Matt Buyten.

All three return, along with Mike Metzger, who in May did a back flip over the Caesars Palace fountains. RALLY CAR* Today's finals: Times for the first eight stages of rally competition, completed Wednesday in Gorman, were averaged together to set up a "Super Special" ninth stage best snowboard brands . Scotsman Colin McRae and navigator Nicky Grist lead by one-tenth of a second over the entry driven by Pastrana and Christian Edstrom. Staff writers Dan Arritt, Michael Becker, Martin Henderson, Pete Thomas and Peter Yoon contributed to this report. areas . Bertrand Cantat, the French rock star convicted of manslaughter in the 2003 beating death of his actress girlfriend, left prison in Toulouse, France, Tuesday after serving four years of an eight-year sentence. Cantat, 43, lead singer of Noir Desir (Black Desire), was released early for good behavior. A Lithuanian court convicted him in 2004 in the death of 41-year-old French actress Marie Trintignant in a Vilnius hotel room Cantat was transferred to France after his trial. report . Georgia O'Keeffe's most famous painting, "Radiator Building -- Night, New York," and 100 other works won't be going to Arkansas if the museum that represents the late artist's estate has its way. Lawyers for the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum returned to a Nashville court this week to try to prevent Fisk University from selling a stake in the collection that O'Keeffe donated to the historically black university. The cash-strapped school wants to sell a 50% share of the collection to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. , for $30 million. The Santa Fe, N. M. -based O'Keeffe museum had filed an earlier lawsuit against the university's plan to sell two works, including the "Radiator Building," on the open market conditions . The school and the museum then reached a settlement in which the museum would get the "Radiator Building" painting for $7. 5 million and allowed the school to sell the other painting, one done by Modernist Marsden Hartley. A judge rejected that settlement, saying the terms of the Crystal Bridges deal were better The O'Keeffe museum then dropped its lawsuit. But it returned to court Monday, saying the new deal would violate the artist's condition that the collection not be sold. . DEL MAR — As jockey Juan Ochoa asked the 3-year-old colt Chobigme to give his best on the final turn of a recent race, something went terribly wrong. "It was like a flat tire," Ochoa said "I pulled with all my strength on the reins.

I could see he was in pain. "Chobigme broke the sesamoid bone in his right front leg July 23 and was euthanized, one of seven horses in the first eight days of the summer race season here to be put down because of a catastrophic injury. Up to that point, Ochoa said, "The horse was 100% sound. "And that's the mystery spreading throughout thoroughbred racing . Scores of supposedly fit, seemingly healthy horses are suffering severe injuries without warning. "Something is amiss," said Rick Arthur, incoming equine medical director of the California Horse Racing Board shaun white . Exactly what, though, is unclear. Industry experts have theories -- track surfaces aren't forgiving enough, horses are being raced too often or while on pain medication that masks injuries -- but there are few concrete reasons or solutions. Statistics confirm some kind of problem mountain . There were 154 racing fatalities during the 2004-05 racing season in California, an increase of 50% in a two-year period, according to the racing board . Including training, there were 320 deaths last season. In the first 15 days at Del Mar, nine horses have been euthanized. Of those, three were injured in morning workouts and six during afternoon races. Last year, seven were euthanized because of racing injuries over the entire 43-day calendar. But injuries are not limited to Del Mar.