Dallas vs. Nikola

I am super impressed with Nikola. Killing it but haven't seen her ride in person. Dallas was always heads and heals above the other ladies before her accident. She killed it. No one ever really gave her a threat. If the tour was opened to females back then I am sure she would have won like 20 in a row.

If Dallas was completely healthy how would the two stack up against each other. I think it would be close and really good for the sport. As far as I can tell no one is pushing Nikola like Rusty and JD and a few others push Phil.

Both ladies are great for the sport.

I never got to see Dallas ride in person before her accident but from what i saw on videos she didn't fall. So was always so consistent in her runs. And i saw Nikola ride up in the Twin Cities and she is the same way now, she is very consistent in her runs. She is able to do it without falling. Both of them are good for the sport and im glad women get to ride at every stop now.

I have always been a Dallas Friday fan,She has always been my favorite rider. Cant wait to see you back on top Dallas!

I've seen Dallas ride in person twice, and i was EXTREMELY impressed. The amplitude and consistency she rode with was something else. Every trick she did was HUGE!! Below is a picture from Nationals last year i snapped from shore. HUGE OA 3

I've seen Dallas Ride up close and personal she kills it, but as with any sport there will always be up and comers that took what the pioneers taught them and then take it to the next level! Nicola is the next gen of female ripper!

I wish Dallas was riding. Nicola has always lifted the level of her riding when she is pushed.This weekend was an example.Not blinding, but so much better than Portland.Otherwise she just does enough to win. Which infuriates me. And others.

Yep- must be tough always winning.

its always nice to have people pushing you otherwise its gets lonely on top and you tend to stop pushing yourself.

it'll be dope when the women start consistantly pushing eachother like the men have been. a lof of girls are steppin it up and have been for the past few years.

I've got to hand it to Nicola. I've never been a big Dallas fan myself. She does go big but I never thought anything looked very fluid. Between the OHH tap, inverted backside batwing, and off-axis 3 that looks like a backroll - didnt like the style. But she does go big to her credit .

Nicola is the only girl in the sport I can recall doing a mobe at every stop (text book moby dick at that). She does a 911, and heelside 5's in comps (which I've never seen other girls do). The whirly is also a staple in her run, but to be honest I have no idea how many of the chicks are doing them now. I know a few years ago I think Dallas was the only one. And she does a real ts off-axis 5! I've seen a few of the chicks do, what looks like, handlepass backroll and handle pass scarecrows - oh god those look horrendous!

I don't mean anything by that Roger. I think competition is healthy and I think people need to be pushed.I think Melissa has really stepped it up this year and Amber rode well in Phoenix.Once Raimi gets more experience she is going to be a real contender as well.It will also be nice to have Dallas back. I want Nicola having to land handle pass Kgb's, whirlys, 5's and moby dicks in order to win. Not tantrums and backrolls. That's all I am trying to say.
As jr says otherwise you stop pushing yourself.

Nikola has a long way to go before she can be compared to Dallas sorry guys. Two different people in my book. One who has been World Champion for how many years, and who is possibly recovering from possibly one of the worst accidents in the sport's history an then some (knee). Against one who is having a stellar first year as a Womens Pro. They dont match up in my book. Good luck to Nicola's future, she can only hope that it will be as bright as Dallas' was. Dallas Friday = LEGEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Message edited by slipknot on July 02, 2008)

(Message edited by slipknot on July 02, 2008)

Well put! ^^^^^^^^^

Dallas is hot.

If you guys are speaking credentials, I totally agree. You're right, Nicola is young and has yet to accomplish all that Dallas has done in the past.

BUT, if were talking who's going to win if you put Dallas in her prime vs. Nicola right now? I'm sorry but I think Dallas gets smoked. If someone can post a run Dallas stood up in the past that could touch Nicola's run she's currently doing on the tour, I'd like to know it. I didn't go there earlier, but Dallas never exactly tore it up on the rails either from what I remember. Nicola looks pretty dern good on the rails from what I've seen.

I'm not an expert on women's pro wakeboarding but if I remember correctly Dallas' two bombshell tricks she was doing, that no other female rider was doing at the time was a batwing and a whirly, right? Nicola's doing both of those, plus 911's, heel 5's and Moby Dicks.

Edit - I think they both do tootsies too..

Dallas is hot! i agree

Nicola is a machine... by next year she will be untouchable.

To me, it is like comparing Jimmy Lariche to Byerly. BOTH are awesome riders and have pushed and are pushing the sport. If there wern't riders like Dallas, Amber, Melissa and Emily, there would not be a Queen of Wake for Nicola to be winning. The elder riders open the door and it is the responsibility of the younger riders to hold it open. Dallas is like a daughter and I have spent a bit of time with Nicola as well.We have watched Melissa grow up and Amber is now apart of the family. And Emily? she is the sweetest girl ever!! All are great people, great riders and I want them all to throw down their best runs. There is room for more than one great rider in this sport and it is awesome to have the priviledge to watch them all progress.

(Message edited by teamvaldez on July 02, 2008)

Wow! Sounds like some Dallas hating on this thread. I give Nicola props, but it takes a lot to last as long as Dallas has in this sport, which is very physically demanding. Let's just wait and see for Nicola. Keep a level head now that she has become a star in the sport, pushing yourself like Dallas did when no one was around her and coming back strong from major injuries.

I think everyone has forgotten that it's amazing Dallas is even back riding at the level she is at right now, given last years scare.

Given last years scare? that was more of a nightmare for her........

I don't really remember how dallas rides, all I know is that I was watching the orlando wake games on Fuel yesterday, and the pro women came on, Nikola was shown riding first, throwing atleast two different mobes and just riding quite well, then the other pro women started riding, only one other rider threw a mobe. It just seemed to me that it wasn't necesarily a competition for Nikola, yes they are all great riders, but Nikola seemed untouchable. I look forward to seeing Nikola compete angainst Friday.

Wow! Sounds like some Dallas hating on this thread.
I'm not seeing that.Nicola cannot be compared to Dallas. Nicola tuned 16 5 weeks ago.Dallas has been around for a long time and has achieved plenty. As Robyn pointed out earlier, Melissa, Emily and Amber have also been around for a while.
I think the problem in womens wakeboarding has been that there have been no youngsters coming thru to push the established riders. That is changing now and I think it will be really good for the sport. Hopefully the women are going to be landing tricks that they have never attempted before.Like Amber on Sunday.

"I'm not seeing that."

Me neither. Any sport gets harder as the boundaries get pushed. If the new pros are doing the same stuff as the old pros did in their day, then they aren't going to be competitive at the top.

Nicola just kills it, I love to watch her ride!!

Chris- I know what you were saying. You seem to be pretty cool as the parent of a wakeboard thing. I was just having fun. Both riders deserve respect. I am not sure I agree with the Lariche comparison since he has yet to win anything outside of Jr Men. I am sure he will do fine but has has a very long way to go before he's compared to anyone. Jr Men and Pro men is really a big difference.

My point was only that these two have no peers when they compete and I wish Dallas was healthy still to ride against her. I think Dallas would have stepped up to the challenge and learned whatever she needed if there had been a Nicola pushing her. There are lot's of ladies doing good stuff but come on, no one can compare to these two in comps for now.

What I do find interesting is that Mike Ferarro coached both of these a long with Phil, Adam E, Darin and many, many more. Makes you think coaching plays a big part.

I put jimmy out there with Byerly, because there is no comparison. Jimmy is going to be a huge factor in wakeboarding and so is Nicola, it doesn't take anything away from Dallas or Byerly now does it? You know I like you Roger, no flaming!

coaching is for football.

nikola rips. im glad she is making the other girls step up and learn new moves. a winning run from 07 should not win in 08 imo. progression

No flaming. I guess I am just a big ladies fan and glad to see them getting the exposure this year.

"coaching is for football"

Tell that to Rusty, Andrew, Phillip and Dallas

Coaching is not only having the rider behind the boat, it is also crawling inside of the athletes head. I have seen it for myself with Glen Fletcher at Otown, if there is something going on inside the head, it can hurt you worse than not sticking your pass...that goes away.

Wow! Sounds like some Dallas hating on this thread."

That's what happens when one rider dominates. Unfortunately, once Nicola has become the new Dallas (or in other words, the rider that dominates for years) she too will have haters that you'll feel like slapping down.

As mentioned above, when one rider dominates, they tend to ride smart and do just enough to win, like Dallas has been doing for years. It will be cool to see Dallas at 100%, battling it out with Nicola. Both girls will have to rider harder. I'm looking forward to it.

Anyway, congrats to you and Nicola for your success. Killin it!

No doubt it helps. Its just odd for me when i see kids getting into wakeboarding as a competitive sport instead of joining soccer or little league. But thats just my opinion because I got into wakeskating to get as an alternative to competitive sports. Differnet strokes

Mitch-????

"Its just odd for me when i see kids getting into wakeboarding as a competitive sport instead of joining soccer or little league"

Strange post

Roger, what i mean is that when i was little (not that im old, haha) kids joined little leage and soccer as a competitive sport, but now i see kids getting into skateboarding and wakeboarding right away for the competitive aspect joining the beginner level comps doing one wake 180s and such.
I wish I wakeboarded in comps when i was little instead of tee ball.

Im not trying to be negative with my posts, but I see how they might come off that way.

Just for the record, Jimmy destroyed everybody at brostock (against pro mens riders) and collected $20,000 because of it. Not trying to dispute the Jimmy vs. Byerly, but Jimmy commands respect with his riding.

I agree with you re Jimmy's riding but it also needs to be mentioned that Brostock is a double up event.

coaching is for football? wow, mitch. you didn't really type that, did you?

joe, actually it was ghost magic. but joe, do you ever take me seriously?

"I agree with you re Jimmy's riding but it also needs to be mentioned that Brostock is a double up event."

.....where Pro men riders normally dominate. I believe the article used the word "Upset."

I hope my daughter doesn't go towards team sports. If she does, I guess I'll be hanging up the wake, snow, and moto for a while to be a soccer dad, or something.

Jimmys riding is something to be reckoned with. You will find me sitting next to his mom during his ride and screaming.If we are not there, we are texting. Without fail, he is always on the dock with Eddie when Jacob goes off the dock. He is forever one of my boys.

I think what mitch is saying is that traditionally, boardsports were outlets for individuals, which is quite the opposite of team sports with coaches telling what you what to do. with skating or what have you, you could do what you wanted, when you wanted and however you wanted to do it (style, personal interpretations and expression, etc). Now that boardsports have more promise in terms of a potential career or earning money, things change. Darin was definitely a guy who was into coaching, others (like byerly) pretty much figured things out for themselves. Some find that aspect to be very rewarding, others dig the competitive scene and to them, training and winning is one aspect that's rewarding to them.

Similarly, former professional riders or some who just couldn't quite make it as a pro are finding a new outlet through coaching other riders.

ANYWAY...

you know i'm not one to disagree w/ the famous electricsnow, but i highly doubt that's what mitch was saying.

The thing I noticed about Nicola's riding is she rides like a guy. She has a style and strength no one else in her field can touch. Most girls (in my opinion) don't ride like the guys everything is wrapped maybe with an extra 180 added on. It seems most women ride conservatively. Nicola passes the handle on a LOT more of her tricks. She rides rails like a dude too her presses don't have her a$$ poked out 2 miles like most other women do and her transfers are big compared to the other women. It seems like she has had strength training comparable to what the men do. The other women seem like they wrap or throw whirlys and do the "pass" over their heads a lot. Granted this is not 100% true just seems to be the trend. Also you gotta give some credit to Amber Wing. She takes some hard spills and gets back up and goes for more. Just about every film I own that has any LF riders has a clip of her taking a faceplant F*$#ing hard. Amber Wing's king of wake butt check to toeside faceplant was likely one of the hardest hits I've ever seen a rider take aside from the obvious raley based trick gone wrong.

Aside from style I think Dallas' good looks have brought a lot of attention to the women's circuit. Like it or not she's their diplomat partially from how attractive she is. Her winning pushed it that much further with the added exposure of a pretty girl winning the comps. Let's face it guys drive most of the industry and guys are sold on sex appeal. A girl who you respect her riding as well as find attractive commands respect and influence and has the potential to do good things for the industry and she has. She kills it but that injury was pretty traumatic. She's still making her comeback.

Aside from style I think Dallas' good looks have brought a lot of attention to the women's circuit. Like it or not she's their diplomat partially from how attractive she is. Her winning pushed it that much further with the added exposure of a pretty girl winning the comps. Let's face it guys drive most of the industry and guys are sold on sex appeal. A girl who you respect her riding as well as find attractive commands respect and influence and has the potential to do good things for the industry and she has. She kills it but that injury was pretty traumatic. She's still making her comeback.

Are you saying that all the other female riders are "unattractive"?
Emily drew a lot of attention several years ago with her ability to ride and what mother nature blessed her with.
So Dallas can ride and got her implants is that the reason she's brought a lot more attention to the woman's circuit?

Dallas is "cute" not attractive.
Attractive consists of personality, talent and intelligence that represents your sport/craft.

I bet you guys are very good at keeping females off this site. I'd say the sexist comments I have read here are the results of too many concussions.

Every time there is something about or with females riders it draws out the pervs. I don't know what your mothers did to you to have such a poor attitude toward the female gender. Hopefully you are 13 year old boys and just haven't grown up yet.

Roger - I have read some interesting comments from guys on here and I think a lot of the stuff is bang on. David F's post on the off axis spins for example.Also the fact that it is too early to compare Nicola to Dallas.All interesting posts. This continual "Dallas is hot" stuff all the time is stupid and irrelevant. When I was in the UK and Nicola first started wakeboarding Dallas's name was legend. What did it matter what she looked like?? Do you think Dallas wants to be known as "that hot chick that wakeboards"?

I agree with Roger and Chris. Recently on WW, I have read some of the most pathetic comments. Personally if you take offense to this comment, it is most likely you who it is directed to.

"Every time there is something about or with females riders it draws out the pervs. I don't know what your mothers did to you to have such a poor attitude toward the female gender. Hopefully you are 13 year old boys and just haven't grown up yet."

You started the thread, what did you expect?

"The thing I noticed about Nicola's riding is she rides like a guy."

Try aggressive or some other adjectives. Or Say maybe she is as good some jr riders, or has a similar bag of tricks. I dont think you meant any harm, but its along the terms of "He rides like a girl". People take offense to it.

And maybe keep this thread on the water, not off the water.

(Message edited by azpowerhouse on July 04, 2008)

It is like comparing a legend to a future legend.

You started the thread, what did you expect?

I think he expected people to compare their riding.Not what they look like. When there is a discussion bout pro men riders do you suddenly get a whole lot of female riders climbing all over it with comments about how good looking they are??

Nicola rides great, but I wouldn't say like a guy. Watched her at the Tige' Pro Am and she did great, but I have to say I have also seen Dallas ride and NOBODY rips like Dallas when shes healthy. I really don't see anybody taking it to that level yet, not to say it can't be done. And yes I am partial to Dallas she's my girl!! Love ya Dallas, Get healthy girl we miss you!!!

Just for the record, Nicola was awful at Portland. Everybody was from what I have seen and heard. Girls were all complaining about the rollers?? Nicola landed a moby dick and the rest were just basic inverts. I wasn't there but I saw the vid. Awful!!

I'm not trying to defend a sexist post or whatever, but I can understand where it may have come from. Strictly in numbers, pro men have more tricks than pro women, while a 720 may be a very popular trick just thrown into a jr mens run, a 720 in pro women would be huge. I mean no disrespect as these female riders are way better than myself and riding of that caliber demands attention and respect. However, also in numbers, there aren't as many pro female riders, and I think that very soon Dallas, Nikola, Amber, Mellisa, Raquel, will all be throwing nines. You shouldn't look down on female riders only doing 7's for almost the same reason you shouldn't look down on wakeskaters for throwing 3's.

electricsnow, exactly!

the tables have turned--now I'm YOUR translator!

In my own defense. I feel quite insulted of the implications of my opinion on the role of Dallas as a key personality in women's wakeboarding. I read the pathetic thread about the chick looking for a pull in LA. I thought many of the posts were classless. I didn't dog on Dallas' riding. And to be completely honest I don't find her attractive at all. There were many posts above mine and I have heard time and time again about how cute, hot, blah blah blah blah. Look around gents. When was the last time you saw a boat full of women on the lake??? Now the same thing for men.. Point made. I am not a sexist person I am just saying look at other sports and the attractive women who become a "face of the sport" Danica Patrick, Daisey Fuentes, Gabriella Reese, Anna Kournikova... I could go on. They bring people who know nothing about the sport to the sport and pump money into it which is good for all of us. I am happily married and you can ask any of the women who have been on my boat if they would come back and I am 100% sure every single one would. I did not imply that the other riders were more/less attractive than Dallas all I know is when my buddies who saw push process who knew nothing about wakeboarding saw Dallas' face they watched intently contrasting the "I need another beer" comments when I show them the Vandall's section at the end of Transgression. I am not a sexist I see the necessary sex appeal to bring money to the market. Who here has seen the monster tower calendars?

Thanks for the backing trev appreciated. My post was in no way intended as sexist. Simply opinions backed by facts. Lets see a pro woman throw an indy pete of the d-up or a 10.

I never thought your first post was sexist at all. You made a few interesting observations how you saw some of the female riders with which I mostly agree with.It's the posts that do not refer to the riding at all. "Dallas is hot". "Yeah, I agree" What's that about? The post was meant to be comparing two female wakeboarders. Then somebody comes on and asks Roger what he expected when he started the post? Uuuh, to discuss their riding maybe.
Think you might have to wait awhile on that pete or 10.

I guess phantom's webster's definition of what attractive is what got to me. Pulling apart the improper wording on my part (oops) and pulling a statement out of context then slaughtering my original intentions. Obviously he has something else going on which biases his opinion (either for Emily or against Dallas?). I never once said any one rider was NOT attractive or NOT skilled. Nothing in my original post is negative about anyone just my humble opinions.

I will quote you as a gut shot right back at ya though.

---

quote:

Dallas is "cute" not attractive.
Attractive consists of personality, talent and intelligence that represents your sport/craft."

---

So what you're saying here is she's not attractive? Is not intelligent about her sport/craft? Has no personality? Let's see what dictionary.com says cute actually means just for sport.

cute /kyut/ adjective, cut·er, cut·est, adverb, noun

–adjective

1. attractive, esp. in a dainty way; pleasingly pretty: a cute child; a cute little apartment.


Interesting. The definition uses "attractive" as an adjective for the word cute.

I personally like nikola a bit more. Her riding is insane for the girls. I saw this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGYAerKmLA0
And she throws that first raley huge. She just seems to be stomping all those tricks clean.

How do I always miss out on the controversial threads!!?? First the lost drop-ski thread, now the L.A. Thirds thread? what was it about?

The sad truth is that if these female riders were male riders they would be either loosing in Outlaw or placing high in Expert at local grassroot events.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/1/595480.html?1215023336

enjoy trevor lol.

The sad truth is that if these female riders were male riders they would be either loosing in Outlaw or placing high in Expert at local grassroot events.

Huh?? But they are not males. You are so far off the thread. If your aunt was male she would be your uncle. Ever sit and wonder about that??

My comments & definition ( which are NOT based upon a dictionary definition) are based upon personal & professional experience with wakeboarders.



(Message edited by phantom5815 on July 06, 2008)

Actually yes I have chris.

Sorry, I mean no disrespect to you or your daughter [my spelling needs work...] What I'm tryin to say is the same tricks in a male division would not win. Again, I mean no disrespect. And you are right, I said Nicola would win, and that I look forward to seeing what does happen, so I will leave with that.

That's fine Trevor. I agree with you on that anyway. The women are miles behind even the junior men. You cannot even begin to compare them. I would love to see them make strides to close that gap. But.................

I'm just glad to see that the effort is finally being made (again). There were about 4-5 years in a row where the women's runs seriously were all the same, or atleast 90% of them. A lot of folks familiar with the passes being done could almost telegraph what the girls were going to throw everytime coming into the wake. You could expect a wrapped kgb, 3's from both sides and/or possibly a toe 5 attempt (on axis), front roll, hs and ts backrolls, and a ts backroll to revert. Dallas would do her whirly and batwing, throw a raley in there for Dallas and Tara and one other girl was doing a wrapped ts backroll to blind and you pretty much sum up 99% of the passes the women were doing. Nothing was grabbed and it looked like the majority of the women were doing their best just to make an attempt at hitting any of the rails.

It got stale for the most part and up until the last couple of years women's wakeboarding seemed to be largely ignored. I think it's awesome that riders like Amber Wing, the Hoffman's and Nicola have broken that mold. I think Nicola has taken women's competitive wakeboarding off cruise control, and now were starting to see some of this progression show up in the contests which is great. Even though some of these girls started learning stuff while freeriding, when it came to the "competition pass", a lot of the time it was play it safe and stand up. Nicola consistently puts on a show week in and week out. I don't know how consistent the Hoffman girls are but I know I've seen them throw down on a few vids posted on here and they definitely have the potential to make an impact if they show up on the tour.

If Nicola keeps learning and doing what shes doing, the Hoffman girls get on tour, Amber gets toe 7's reasonably consistent and Dallas shows back up healthy - the future of women's competitive wakeboarding is looking much more promising and hopefully will get more deserved exposure.

I know Dallas somewhat and really like her and have never met Nikola though Austin has told me she is the real deal. I like it that the ladies have this much dialogue. While I agree I thought it was suppose to be about the riding the old adage that "any press is good press" is true here. I can't remember the last time people really cared about women's riding. It wasn't that long ago that some board companies had no females on their team. So thank you Nikola , Dallas, Emily, Hoffmans and all the rest for bringing the women back into a place where people care.

As far as the women not being able to compete with the guys. You lost me there. I really can't think of one sport where the ladies can compete with the men. I think that is why they have a women's division and a men's division. It doesn't mean it can't be as interesting or entertaining to the fans. To the purist maybe, but to the average fan what the ladies do is inspiring. I have met several people over the years that came out to the event to watch the women and when Dallas would ride people went to the shoreline to watch her.

As far as some of the comments about some of the women: Ouch. I know these riders are public figures and they have to be prepared to take some shots both personally and professionally. But many of these are as young as 15 or 16. Maybe it's because I know most of the riders that it pains me when I see personal attacks. I don't care how old your kid is when people say cruel or mean things it hurts the rider and the parents. I guess I felt this site was kind of like wakeboard family and not some huge "ESPN" like public forum for sports superstars. Chris, Nikola is going to go from young phenom to the Queen of wakeboarding. You will have to prepare yourself and her for the time when people start taking shots at her in one form or another. I guess it comes with the territory. But it will be worth it.

Good post David.

Unfortunately, this won't be the last time we see comparisons like this. It goes back to the days of Andrea vs. Tara, then Tara vs. Dallas, Meagan & Emily vs. well, you get the point.

Through the years (going back 10 years), we've seen some women really up the level, but I think the technical tricks weren't as consistent as they're becoming. Christy Smith first through a HS mobe back in 1998, then added a crow mobe the year after. Tara was doing huge front flips when that was really an uncommon trick for a female to do. The Leslie upped the ante with a Slob Front to Fakie. Wrapped KGB's became a staple in a tournament run, Emily & Dallas began doing roll to blinds, Meagan with a Tootsie Roll, and now Amber with a 720. The list goes on and on.

Maybe it's not that the women haven't stepped up, but we just haven't seen the more tech tricks consistently as we seen in the men's field. At least, that's the way I see it.

Enough of my rambling.