I just got off the phone with Parks Bonifay and it looks like he might be off the water for a month or so. When he was in the Dominican Republic doing some wakeboarding he tore some cartilage and bruised the bone. Then he recently aggravated the injury when he crashed on his XR50. He's not having surgery, but he's got to stay off of it for a while until it gets better, so he's most likely going to miss the first tour stop or two. <BR> <BR>That's a major bummer because he obviously was the man to beat in 2005. It will be interesting to see who steps up to fill the void until he gets back. Who do you think it will be?

Me. Ummmmmmmmmmmmm i'm going to go ahead and go with his brutha. Its all fixed. <BR>*jist play'n* <BR> <BR>Sucks hes out. Sucks Todds out for a bit too.

yeah he did it on the opening night of the 50 track at OWC.

thats what happens when you get all liqoured up and ride dirt bikes!!!

his roomate jack blodgett blew his knee out too at the same time and i had to have surgery though. not sure if it was acl or not but I believe hes out for the whole season.

Daniel Watkins= the man to beat in 2005

i don't know, after seeing philip soven ride a few days ago, i'm pretty sure he's going to have a good season. I think he could quite possibly be the man to beat.

Chad Sharpe or Danny Harf

The sleeper is Rusty Mulinowski. Watch for him.

rusty or harf i would say.... <BR>parks felt a pain in his knee while he was here but nothing major !! for sure got much worst after the crash on the mini dirt bike

I don't think Rusty is a contender for the top 5 yet. Not saying he won't be eventually. <BR> <BR>I agree with Kristian. Froggy steps it up every year. With a couple of big wins under his belt, he has the confidence. I'll be expecting to see Harf, Watkins, Watson, and Andrew fighting for number 1 also.

Wouldn't Adkinson be "the man to beat" since he is defending last year's title? Nothing against Parks or anything, I do like his riding. And I don't think it could have been on the opening of the track. I was there that weekend after and he was riding the track on Sunday. <BR> <BR>

Phillip Soven will be da man

There are certainly a lot of top riders out there this season, probably more Title contenders than in years past. Phillip has come back each of his pro seasons better than the year before, and since he started making his mark in a serious way in 2004, the former Frogster may be the one to gun for. <BR>I've also heard a lot of good things about how Rusty's riding is looking these days. Rusty is tenascious when it comes to riding, getting more pulls in than virtually any other rider. He also has some unique style, something that always translates to strong scores when he rides well. Whether he can put together a Tour title campaign, that's yet to been seen. But I would expect Rusty to make the biggest move upwards on the rankings by season's end.

I think Rusty's style is like a Parks. Muscles and hucks everything. Riders that flow and make it look effortless are the ones I enjoy to watch.. Shane, Lyman, Adkison, Hansen

Between Parks' knee and the head-to-head format maybe we will see some different results in this pro tour!

How can anyone rule out Hansen. He killed it all year last year.

SHAPIRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Malinoski will be the guy this year- Reading his interview in the new alliance he claims he'll win at least one event this year and i don't doubt it. The kids got drive...

Just read wakeboard magazine....who ever they publisize the most (aka flavor of the month) is who is going to win.

When Murray broke his wrist a few years ago he missed 2 of the tour stops and still came back and placed 3rd overall(and he had a chance to win it). If anyone can do something like that again, it's Parks. But if Parks doesn't do so hot then my money would be on Watkins or Danny.

Fox, <BR> <BR>Adkison won Worlds last year not the Pro Tour. Parks is the Pro Tour Title holder.

I say its going to be Keith Lidberg. Hes up there.

Hey Thanks for the correction Steve. Do you think that is a bit of a problem...too many "titles"? It seems like pro-wrestling of the eighties where there were many different titles. <BR> <BR>Anyhoo...I also think Tino Santori may be a rider to watch. <BR> <BR>Eric

Come on now.....Can I have another vote for Santori?????????? he's an up and comer! He's gonna be @ my home lake next weekend so I'll get to see what shape he's in so far this year. He may be a slight underdog but I still gotta give him my vote!!!!!! GO TINO <BR> <BR>(Message edited by sylv2080 on April 15, 2005)