INSIDE FREEDOM HALL, Astephen sits rampside to watch the skate-vert competition, the tour's final event in Louisville, featuring Burnquist and Lasek. The crowds are sparse tonight, but Kevin Monahan, vice president of NBC Sports, isn't concerned. "The tour's about providing programming for the network and Universal, USA, NBC Wireless, Internet broadband, Universal DVD, and Telemundo," says Monahan. All those channels can replay parts of the tour, edit highlight shows, or sell DVDs of the gnarliest tricks.

By the end of the summer, the tour will have attracted a total of 230,000 spectators, spread over stops in Louisville; Denver; Portland, Oregon; San Jose; and Orlando. TV ratings will be solid among the teenagers targeted.

As for Astephen's clients, after a slow start in Louisville, they will end up dominating. Bucky Lasek will win the overall vert title; Nyquist will rebound to take third in dirt jumping; Cranmer will barely miss claiming the overall BMX title; and Travis Pastrana, who will win the Louisville event, won't enter any more freestyle motocross contests, due to injuries. Meanwhile, Astephen will sign the tour's breakout star: 22-year-old Australian BMX rider Ryan Guettler, who will nab the Dew Cup in both dirt jumping and park. Mirra will take the park event in San Jose.

In 2006, NBC and the tour will do it again, making the year another busy one for Astephen's clients, starting with late January's Winter X Games in Aspen, where Dakides and Pastrana, among others, will compete.

But here, rampside in Louisville, Mirra sits quietly, watching Shaun White soar 30 feet over his head. Where action sports go next, he can't predict. But, he says, "the progress has been amazing. I mean, I wish I had this to watch when I was growing up. I'd rather watch skateboarding than baseball any day."