SOTY 2022 Wrap Up
SOTY was really great this year. I don’t remember the last time we had 4 really solid candidates that are all great for their own reasons. I know this is late but I am going to break down what I thought about the race. 🏎️
For the non-skaters
For those of you not in the know, SOTY stands for “skater of the year”. It is an award that has been given out by Thrasher magazine since 1990. The winner is selected based on an arbitrary set of criteria. You gotta have good skate videos, you gotta be cool, you gotta be marketable to skaters, etc.
But this years SOTY felt different, part of it has to do with how close all the top contenders were and part of it is how much hype there was around the award this year.
The contenders
T-Funk
Clearly was not trying to grab the SOTY title
Tristan Funkhouser was personally who I wanted to win SOTY this year. His video parts this year were creative, grungy, and just freaking cool. He also did, in my opinion, the most iconic trick this year when he gaped over the big bench at the china banks in San Fransisco.
And here is the apparently age restricted video of it 😆
Nyjah Houston
It seems like he was trying hard to get the SOTY title but I think deep down knew it wouldn’t happen given the clips were not all from this year.
Nyjah has become skateboardings new whipping boy. That being said he is insanely good and he put out an unbelievable amount of banger footage this year. The tricks he was doing down the rails he was skating were stunt man shit, literally risking his life on most of the clips he put out there.
But to me the obvious reason he wasn’t SOTY was that most of his clips were not from this year. To be fair the clips he was getting were so crazy I am not sure it would be safe to get them in one year. At the end of the day it is called skater of the year for a reason. 😎
Tyshawn Jones
Openly trying to grab the skater of the year title
Tyshawn is hype beast central. Personally it is not a style I connect with but I totally get the appeal. His trick selection and skating is really fun to watch and I audibly gasped when he switch ollied over the bench long ways in his “The General” part.
Not to mention much like T-Funk he did have a very iconic kickflip over the subway line. This was followed up with a backside flip shortly after he was announced as SOTY.
Ultimately he did win SOTY 2022 and I am not mad about it. 🔥
Louie Lopez
I don’t think he was trying to nab the SOTY title. I get the idea he was just thinking if it happens it happens.
If you look up the GOAT in the dictionary you will find a picture of Louie. He has been around since he was a child and has become and continues to be the best skater of all time and this year for him was no exception.
However, I think Louie being so good works against him sometimes. He makes things look so effortless I think it is easy for him to get over looked because every year for Louie is SOTY level.
I almost feel like SOTY is beneath him lol we need a new award like skater of the decade or something.
To be honest I am not sure why Louie didn’t win SOTY. He had stellar parts, he skated a huge variety of spots and locations, and put out the most tasteful skating all year long. Maybe he just needed an iconic trick to bring it all together 🤷♂️
Overall
I have to admit it was really fun to follow the race and you could feel the anticipation building as video parts were dropping at the end of the year. I actually hope this kind of SOTY battle continues going forward.
That being said it is still funny to see the ways skateboarding is becoming more like traditional sports. We have are Sports Center commentary via Gifted Hater, Dumb Data, etc. where even the core community is looking to quantify what makes skating good or bad.
