Paul Rodriguez will return to defend his Maloof Money Cup title and make another big cash grab: He's on the initial list of 36 confirmed skaters for the Costa Mesa, CA event July 10-12. Should be a hell of a contest, judging by this list, via allisports.com:

Mark Appleyard
Brian Anderson
Zered Bassett
Silas Baxter Neal
Brandon Biebel
Dennis Busenitz
Mike Mo Capaldi
Mike Carroll
Chris Cole
Nick Dompierre
Corey Duffel
Jake Duncombe
Erik Ellington
Chris Haslam
Bryan Herman
Nyjah Huston
Stefan Janoski
Marc Johnson
Josh Kalis
Terry Kennedy
Heath Kirchart
Eric Koston
Greg Lutzka
Sean Malto
Alex Olson
Chaz Ortiz
Peter Ramondetta
Andrew Reynolds
Paul Rodriguez
Jereme Rogers
Leo Romero
Geoff Rowley
Omar Salazar
Ryan Sheckler
Darrell Stanton
Braydon Szafranski

*12 additional Wild Card skaters TBA

SELECTION COMMITTEE

The 2009 skater selection committee included some of the industry’s
most widely respected experts and pro skaters: Chris Cole, Jeremy
Rogers, Geoff Rowley, Erik Ellington, Paul Rodriguez, Adam Sullivan,
Jim Astleford, Jim Thiebaud, Ryan Kingman, Remy Stratton, Dave Duncan,
Don Bostick, Heath Brinkley, Rob Brink, Tim Gavin, Mike Sinclair,
Seamus Deegan, Eric Stricker, Sam Smyth and Mark Waters.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements including the 2009 Vert Skaters and the 2009 Course Design.