ESPY's Pre-Party Goes Extreme in Hollywood - Pastrana, Sheckler Are There

Jul 11 2007 / Hollywood, CA

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So if anyone is curious, here is the difference between a Hollywood party and your run-of-the-mill action sports event:  As night begins to descend over Hollywood's famed Roosevelt Hotel a line of photographers, most in their 40s (but some older and younger), sit around and discuss the passing of Charlie Lane -- a well-known (by them) character actor who just passed away at 102-years-old.  "I shot him for his 100th birthday party," laments one grizzled vet, leading another to launch into a story about 98-year-old actor who died a few years ago who was blacklisted.  Ahh, memories.

Meanwhile, the photographers are oblivious to the scene behind them, where some of the top BMX riders and skateboarders in the world whiz through the air off a 30-foot mini ramp across a 28-foot gap into a halfpipe as a DJ pumps phat beats through huge speakers...

PHOTO GALLERIES    Check out photos from the ESPY's Extreme Party, including Ryan Sheckler, Travis Pastrana, Rob Dyrdek and many, many more. View Gallery>

Yes, this is definitely Hollywood, where people are classified by letters (no A-listers here, but plenty of C) and athletes battle soap opera stars as the dregs of the celebrity food chain (at least to the paparazzi).  So this was the scene at the start of the ESPY's special pre-launch party, with an extreme theme promoting the X Games that had about a dozen BMXers and skaters (most of which will also be at the X Games) hitting the mini ramp and halfpipe, much to the enjoyment of most of the guests and even hotel works, some of who stood, mouths agape, watching the action (most overheard phrase "That's crazy!" -- followed closely behind by "Who's that?").

While the start of the night may have been a bit strange, things quickly blossomed into a full-on party, as some of the top athletes in the country stopped by, along with power players in the industry.  For just about anyone who was anyone in sports (except for baseball, which had its all-star game the same night), this was the place to be Tuesday night -- and it was a good microcosm of the action that will hit Hollywood and Highland on Wednesday afternoon when the ESPYs -- ESPN's broad-reaching sports awards show -- tapes at the Kodak Theatre -- site of the Academy Awards.

Double ESPY nominee Travis Pastrana was there (fueling speculation that he may have won in at least one of his categories), along with Ryan Sheckler, Rob Dyrdek, and Olympic gold silver-medalist Lindsey Jacobellis.   The NFL was well represented with San Diego super RB LaDanian Tomlinson on hand (funniest moment -- old photographer having to ask LaDanian multiple times who he was...  "How do you spell that?"), WR Braylon Edwards and Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy, who led his team to a Super Bowl win earlier this year, among many who graced the red carpet.  Among some of the other random stars and athletes on hand were Luke Perry, Hillary and Haylie Duff, Eric Mabius, Bai Ling and tennis star Maria Sharapova -- there were more, but that's what the photo gallery is for.

Hitting the ramp and halfpipe were Chad Kagy, Kevin Robinson, Gary Young, Michael Cleveland, Zack Warden, Morgan Wade, Bob Burnquist, Rob Loriface (celebrating his 21st birthday in style), Jake Brown and Pierre Luc Gagnon, among a few others.  In one of the highlights of the night, Travis Pastrana proved he is truly the man in any sport as he grabbed a BMX bike, took off down the ramp and did a backflip over the gap landing in the ramp.  Crazy.

Warden, who learned last week that he won the AST Dew Tour trick of the week $5K prize for landing a new trick (whip-to-whip back) during the BMX Vert Finals at the Panasonic Open in Baltimore, told Lat34 that he was having fun and looking forward to the next AST Dew Tour stop in Cleveland.  Asked whether he would try the trick again, he said it would depend on the weather...

Action on the ramp and halfpipe started in earnest around 9 p.m.and went on through about 10:30 p.m., when Morgan Wade closed out the action with a picture-perfect Scorpion Backflip.

After closing down the ramps (which started to be dismantled immediately), the crowd moved inside, where DJ AM spun music inside around the hotel's pool.  By 11 p.m., the area was too full, and partygoers were hustled to an upstairs area as everyone waited for a concert by rapper TI.  True to Hollywood fashion, the party was scheduled to run long into the night. 

But while the sports industry was partying the night away, this is Hollywood, after all.  There's always something else going on and Tuesday was no exception.  Down the street, a special sold-out screening of the new Harry Potter movie at Grauman's Chinese had costumed fans lined up for hours, and even near midnight, tourists still stopped to look at the footprints in cement (including the newly-cast prints of the cast of Harry Potter).  And what would a tourist's visit to Hollywood be without a picture next to your favorite star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?  Nothing, as evidenced by one smiling woman kneeling down next to Olivia-Newton John's star at that late hour.

As they say, only in L.A.