The average person always thinks soccer, football and basketball players are the toughest athletes. But man, I think the guys that come to the X Games are probably some of the most gnarly and talented athletes in the world.” – James “Bubba” Stewart (via the Los Angeles Times)

Summer’s here! For extreme sports heads, that used to mean sneaking into abandoned pools to rip ‘em up, but in the aughts it’s all about the X Games when it comes to ollies and jumps and half pipes. Starting today (July 30) and going through August 3, the best of the best in skateboarding, bmx, motocross, rally racing and surfing will be defying gravity at Los Angeles’ Home Depot Center and Staples Center for the fifteenth edition of this landmark event.

From the “Moto X Big Whip” to the “BMX Freestyle Big Air” and  the “Skateboard Park Legends” challenge, there’s something for everyone who likes watch top athletes flex their skills somewhere a little more radical than the Olympics. Expect skater superstars like Christian Hosoi and Bucky Lasek, motocross masters like Ronnie Renner and Ricky Carmichael, and bmx badasses like Corey Martinez at the height of their game, getting some serious vert. New for 2009: ESPN will put viewers literally at the wheel by putting commentators in the rally cars as they race. And while uber-extreme champion and X Games mainstay Shaun White is sitting out this edition, two-time winner Bob Burnquist is back to try to pull off a hat-trick win in Skateboard Big Air, and elite motocross maven Jamie Stewart will be attempting the supermoto competition for the first time; meanwhile, retired moto champ Travis Pastrana gets back in the game for his first time in three years. Pastrana wowed us with his legendary double flip back in ‘06, and is back to try the impossible again: a no-hands-ma backflip 360 of his own invention! Pastrana’s not the only one going where no man has gone before: in the same event, Charlie Pages will attempt a front flip – which no one has ever landed while competing. As such, expect surprises and upsets galore; after all, if you get big thrills from watching the best go big, X definitely marks the spot…