SOTY observations over the years

[assvogel]

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Does anyone know why Senn won it in ‘95? Penny destroyed the world that year with Hi-5 and Flip Industry section in 411. Total whiff on that one

[close]

Contests. Which haven’t seemed to count for much in recent years for SOTY. If Yuto wins that would be a step back in that direction.

[close]

Not that it's completely based on photos but they definately used to be the main part of getting soty.
I just looked thru all the 95 thrashers and penny has one quarter page photo of a frontside flip a hip at a contest and a shorty's ad. That's it. Chris Senn has a fair amount of stuff but I think Matt reason and Cardiel have the most memorable stuff

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/imagesV2/Burnout/2013/Magazine_1995/July_1995/TH0795Jul1995p124-125_800t.jpg

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/imagesV2/Burnout/2013/Magazine_1995/November_1995/TH1195Nov1995p56-57_800t.jpg

BK:s intro in the Senn Soty issue (with Ron Whaley on the cover) states the reasons as:

"Hawk won it for achievement, Way won it for ability, Cardiel won it for sessions, Agah won it by video, MC won it for the finesse and Chris Senn won it by destroying everything in sight. In any situation, what ever the terrain, vert, pools, curbs or contests, he is out there charging it. After winning three big contests, ESPN, Munster and the Battle on the Bay, Chriss Senn stopped pushing long enough to set the record straight".

So those contest, constant coverage and being ATV and having the right attitude.

[AnotherOldSkater]

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Does anyone know why Senn won it in ‘95? Penny destroyed the world that year with Hi-5 and Flip Industry section in 411. Total whiff on that one

[close]

Contests. Which haven’t seemed to count for much in recent years for SOTY. If Yuto wins that would be a step back in that direction.

[close]

Not that it's completely based on photos but they definately used to be the main part of getting soty.
I just looked thru all the 95 thrashers and penny has one quarter page photo of a frontside flip a hip at a contest and a shorty's ad. That's it. Chris Senn has a fair amount of stuff but I think Matt reason and Cardiel have the most memorable stuff

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/imagesV2/Burnout/2013/Magazine_1995/July_1995/TH0795Jul1995p124-125_800t.jpg

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/imagesV2/Burnout/2013/Magazine_1995/November_1995/TH1195Nov1995p56-57_800t.jpg

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BK:s intro in the Senn Soty issue (with Ron Whaley on the cover) states the reasons as:

"Hawk won it for achievement, Way won it for ability, Cardiel won it for sessions, Agah won it by video, MC won it for the finesse and Chris Senn won it by destroying everything in sight. In any situation, what ever the terrain, vert, pools, curbs or contests, he is out there charging it. After winning three big contests, ESPN, Munster and the Battle on the Bay, Chriss Senn stopped pushing long enough to set the record straight".

So those contest, constant coverage and being ATV and having the right attitude.

Fair. Being everywhere and doing everything makes sense. That how Mason won it last year... Penny probably had a combined total of 3 minutes of footage in '95.... but what glorious footage it was

[Lowcalcium]

Loving the nerddom direction this is going. Some other stats that would be interesting to see:

Number of video parts released

Total amount of footage released (minutes)  - This could get wonky with what really counts as "footage". for the later internet years, how much of that footage was released via Thrasher?

Contest wins - I know people say this isn't supposed to count but I do feel like it does at least a little bit... especially back in the day when dudes like Tony Hawk and Bob Burnquist were winning it, they must have won with a much higher value placed on contest wins

Times in the mag that year - interviews/etc

Number of times seen in photos/videos wearing Thrasher gear - (cuz lol)

Other notable achievements in that year - did they go pro? release a signature shoe? experience some sort of mainstream crossover (appearance in a Hollywood film, etc.)?

Has any SOTY actually had a Bachelors degree before they won?

Would Suciu be the first?

[bradtheraddad]

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Thanks and gnarred.

Tracker is mentioned twice in the truck breakdown list.

If you have some time, it would be interesting to break down:

Age
Country
Thrasher Cover in the year they got SOTY

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Thanks, man, much appreciated! I fixed the Tracker dupe, I did make a list of countries but I left it out due to not seeing the importance really but a few people have mentioned it so I can easily add it. I did find where someone else put together everyone's SOTY cover (IF they got one), should be easy enough to add. I'm definitely interested in the "age at time of SOTY", will take some time/research but should be possible, stay tuned!

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Great man, thanks again.

Most SOTY's have a wiki with DOB. F.i. Arto was born November 9 1981, is now 40 and won in 2001 so he was probably 20. Will still take some time tho. If you need some help PM me, if I can find time glad to help out.

Thank you for the suggestions and offer to help! I gathered ages at time of SOTY based on DOB and also found country of origin and added those details and another item or two. I would still like to add maybe write-ups from the SOTY mag and/or include the SOTY cover issue (not all SOTYs were on the SOTY cover) but I like the simpler details w/out all of the images for now. Let me know if you can think of anything else that would be interesting to add!

[matureoftheocean]

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TJ thread made me have a much less interesting observation: almost all winners have been from the usa. Appleyard from Canada and three from South America. No winners from Aus/NZ, Asia or Europe. (Rowley and Saari from England and Finland not technically Europe). But I guess this all makes sense (along with the sponsorships) when it used to be about thrasher coverage.

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england and finland arent technically europe?

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Well not the main bit haha. England is it's own thing. Finland are in Scandinavia which are in the EU but geographically its own thing north of Europe. Like Hawaii isn't in America but it's in the USA. (I'm going to be wrong but dont want to look it up so burn me if necessary haha)

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Definitely. Finland and the entire British Isles & Ireland are well and truly a part of the continent of Europe.

[exlurker]

I have been on the "SOTY is bullshit" train since 2002, when Tony Trujillo won over PJ Ladd.

When you give it to a 80's hair metal LARPer over a true revolutionary God in busted accels, you've blown it

TNT's part in In Bloom got the vert button even then. The PJLWHL part will outlive us all.

[Lenny the Fatface]

In defense of not giving it to PJ Ladd, he did go ghost for like a decade.

[skunty]

In defense of not giving it to PJ Ladd, he did go ghost for like a decade.

maybe they gave him his flowers he wouldnt have

[Sνota]

Crazy that no SOTY was ever sponsored by Etnies.

[AnotherOldSkater]

I have been on the "SOTY is bullshit" train since 2002, when Tony Trujillo won over PJ Ladd.

When you give it to a 80's hair metal LARPer over a true revolutionary God in busted accels, you've blown it

TNT's part in In Bloom got the vert button even then. The PJLWHL part will outlive us all.

TNT over PJ was egregious. I sat in stunned silence after I watched PJLWHL.... the other odd one was BA in 99. I mean BA is the man, but I didn't remember him coming out with anything that year.

[Rocuronium]

OP: list SOTY social media announcement dates. I checked the last few years and it seems to be around this day.

[Lenny the Fatface]

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In defense of not giving it to PJ Ladd, he did go ghost for like a decade.

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maybe they gave him his flowers he wouldnt have

Possible, but word on him could’ve been that he’s not that into being in the industry. I feel like that would matter if you’re running a magazine and have to shoot a cover and enough tricks for an article.

[bradtheraddad]

OP: list SOTY social media announcement dates. I checked the last few years and it seems to be around this day.

Hmm, good call, I'll see if I can track them down. I did put together all of the covers and noticed there's variability before social media announcing the SOTY anywhere between January to May. Ok, scouring social media now...

[KUberry]

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In defense of not giving it to PJ Ladd, he did go ghost for like a decade.

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maybe they gave him his flowers he wouldnt have

Nah. Silas basically went ghost too.

[Lenny the Fatface]

Silas produced stuff, he just wasn’t popular.

Won in 2008
Habitat part in 2010
X-games street part in 2011
Transworld part in 2014
Xgames street part in 2015
Adidas part in 2016
Some local part in 2020
His recent part this year

And adidas used to do all those trip montages in the late 2000s early 2010’s.


PJ who I love, had his classic part, and everyone just assumed he was stacking for the plan b video but he wasn’t.

[radcunt]

This but in graphs, please.

[bradtheraddad]

This but in graphs, please.

Oh man...the temptation...I'll see what I can do *sigh* lol

[bradtheraddad]

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OP: list SOTY social media announcement dates. I checked the last few years and it seems to be around this day.

[close]

Hmm, good call, I'll see if I can track them down. I did put together all of the covers and noticed there's variability before social media announcing the SOTY anywhere between January to May. Ok, scouring social media now...

Oh yeah, just wanted to mention the SOTY announcement dates were added.

[BluffsideTank]

Is it true that the only reason Torey didn't win SOTY for his "True" part was because Phelps couldn't imagine giving the award to someone with the last name "Pudwill?"

[TheBoognish]

I’m pretty damn certain Wes Kremer was on Indy when he won.

[bradtheraddad]

I’m pretty damn certain Wes Kremer was on Indy when he won.

Indy officially welcomed him to the team around 3 months after winning SOTY:

I'm not saying he wasn't riding Indy's around SOTY time but, according to Crailtap, he was still on Royal 6 days before the announcement:  https://crailtap.com/tag/wes-kremer/

[Rocuronium]

SOTY announcement date data:
Excluding early years when they were announced by the published cover/issue, and
...excluding the 2 November & 1 January announcement.
Averaging the 17  December announcement dates:
 184/17 = 10.8, making December 10th the most likely day in December for SOTY to be announced.

[WobbleHeadBob]

Time to get Suciu stats added to the grid mr Raddad

[Mandatory Reload]

Has anyone ever broken down SOTY sponsors at the time they won SOTY? I was curious so I took a stab at it. I'm not saying this is 100% accurate, but, I think it's fairly close. Let me know if there are any glaring mistakes/omissions, just thought some of these observations were interesting.

Thrasher Magazine Skater of the Year winners 1990 - 2020
SOTY details breakdown below is meant to reflect details at time of winning SOTY.

Initial Observations
- 29 unique SOTYs over 31 years (Danny Way and Chris Cole won twice over the 31 years).
- 26 out of 32 winners rode for trucks poured at Ermico Foundry* in San Francisco, distributed heavily and solely (at one point) by       
   DLX at time of winning SOTY.
- 19 out of 31 winners rode for Spitfire Wheels, a DLX wheel brand at time of winning SOTY.
- 22 SOTYs were born in the USA
- Avg. age of SOTY at time of winning is 23 with Danny Way being the youngest (17) and AVE being the eldest (37) SOTY recipient.
- Since I was already gathering the age of SOTY, I have an excel script that will also show me the zodiac sign, just did this for fun,     
   maybe Puleo can do something with this info lol. FWIW, there is a tie of 5 Scorpios and 5 Sagittarius SOTYs and 0 Leo SOTYs   
   (with the exception of Leo Romero).


SOTY winners are listed below by year, name, country of origin, age, zodiac sign, sponsors & Thrasher Magazine Editorat time of SOTY/b]

———————————— Kevin Thatcher ♎ era ————————————
   • 1990: Tony Hawk - USA - 22 ♉ - Powell, Tracker Trucks, Airwalk Shoes - Announced: February 1992 issue**
   • 1991: Danny Way  - USA - 17 ♈ - Blind, Independent Trucks, Speed Wheels - Announced: February 1992 issue**
   • 1992: John Cardiel - USA - 19 ♐ - Black Label, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels - Announced: April 1993 issue

———————————— Jake Phelps ♎ era ————————————
   • 1993: Salman Agah - USA - 21 ♋ - Real, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Vans Shoes - Announced: February 1994 issue
   • 1994: Mike Carroll - USA - 19 ♍ - Girl, Venture Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Vans Shoes - Announced: March 1995 issue
   • 1995: Chris Senn - USA - 23 ♐ - Adrenaline, Venture Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Emerica Shoes - Announced: March 1996 issue
   • 1996: Eric Koston - THA - 21 ♉ - Girl, Orion Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, ‘eS Shoes - Announced: March 1997 issue
   • 1997: Bob Burnquist - BRA - 21 ♎ - Anti-Hero, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, ‘eS Shoes - Announced: April 1998 issue
   • 1998: Andrew Reynolds - USA - 20 ♋ - Birdhouse, Independent Trucks, Emerica Shoes - Announced: April 1999 issue
   • 1999: Brian Anderson - USA - 23 ♊ - Toy Machine, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Axion Shoes - Announced: April 2000 issue
   • 2000: Geoff Rowley - ENG - 24 ♋ - Flip, Fury Trucks, Ricta Wheels, Vans Shoes - Announced: April 2001 issue
   • 2001: Arto Saari - FIN - 20 ♐ - Flip, Fury Trucks, Ricta Wheels, ‘eS Shoes - Announced: 12/10/2001
   • 2002: Tony Trujillo - USA - 20 ♍ - Anti-Hero, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Vans Shoes, Fourstar Clothing - Announced: 12/07/2002
   • 2003: Mark Appleyard - CAN - 21 ♏ - Flip, Thunder Trucks, Ricta Wheels, Circa Shoes - Announced: 12/20/2003
   • 2004: Danny Way - USA - 30 ♈ - Alien Workshop, Independent Trucks, Bones Wheels, DC shoes, Bones bearings  - 2x winner - Announced: 12/18/2004
   • 2005: Chris Cole - USA - 23 ♓ - Zero, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Fallen Shoes - Announced: 12/16/2005
   • 2006: Daewon Song - KOR - 31 ♓ - Almost, Tensor Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, DVS shoes, Andale Bearings - Announced: 12/15/2006
   • 2007: Marc Johnson - USA - 30 ♒ - Chocolate, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Lakai Shoes - Announced: 01/18/2008
   • 2008: Silas Baxter-Neal - USA - 25 ♏ - Habitat, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Adidas Shoes - Announced: 12/15/2008
   • 2009: Chris Cole - USA - 27 ♓ - Zero, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Fallen Shoes, Bones Bearings - 2x winner - Announced: 12/06/2009
   • 2010: Leo Romero - USA - 24 ♐ - Toy Machine, Independent Trucks, Pig Wheels, Emerica Shoes, Bronson Speed Co., - Announced: 11/24/2010
   • 2011: Grant Taylor - USA - 20 ♏ - Alien Workshop, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Nike SB, Volcom, Stratosphere, Modus - Announced: 11/23/2011
   • 2012: David Gonzαlez - COL - 22 ♍ - Flip Skateboards, Independent Trucks, Ricta Wheels, Globe Shoes, Rockstar Energy, Mob, Onboard Shop - Announced: 12/05/2012
   • 2013: Ishod Wair - USA - 22 ♏ - Real, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Nike SB, Bronson Speed Co. - Announced: 12/09/2013
   • 2014: Wes Kremer - USA - 25 ♐ - SK8Mafia, Royal Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, DC Shoes, DC Apparel,, Paradox Grip - Announced: 12/14/2014
   • 2015: Anthony Van Engelen - USA - 37 ♏ - Fucking Awesome, Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Vans Shoes, Vans Apparel - Announced: 12/08/2015
   • 2016: Kyle Walker - USA - 22 ♑ - Real, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Vans Shoes, Volcom, Happy Hour, Shake Junt - Announced: 12/05/2016
   • 2017: Jamie Foy - USA - 21 ♊ - Deathwish, Spitfire Wheels, Thunder Trucks, Diamond Footwear, Shake Junt, Bronson, Red Bull - Announced: 12/07/2017
   • 2018: Tyshawn Jones - USA - 20 ♑ - Fucking Awesome, Thunder Trucks, Spitfire Wheels, Adidas Shoes, Supreme, Hardies Hardware, New Era - Announced: 12/15/2018


———————————— Michael Burnett ♍ era ————————————
   • 2019: Milton Martinez - ARG - 28 ♈ - Creature, Independent Trucks, OJ Wheels, Converse Shoes, Bronson - Announced: 12/06/2019
   • 2020: Mason Silva - USA - 24 ♎ - Real, Spitfire Wheels, Independent Trucks, Nike SB, HUF, MOB, Bronson - Announced: 12/16/2020
   • 2021: Mark Suciu - USA - 29 - ♌️ - Adidas, Habitat, Spitfire Wheels, Thunder Trucks, RVCA, Jessup, Atlas Skateshop - Announced: 12/08/2021


SOTY Sponsor Breakdown

Trucks
- 14 winners rode for Independent at time of winning SOTY
- 10 winners rode for Thunder at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Venture at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Fury Trucks at time of winning SOTY
- 1 winner rode for Tracker at time of winning SOTY
- 1 winner rode for Orion at time of winning SOTY
- 1 winner rode for Royal at time of winning SOTY

Wheels
- 22 winners rode for Spitfire wheels at time of winning SOTY
- 4 winners rode for Ricta at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for NHS wheels  (Santa Cruz Speed Wheels & OJ) at time of winning SOTY
- 1 winner rode for Bones wheels at time of winning SOTY
- 1 winner rode for Pig wheels at time of winning SOTY

Boards
- 4 winners rode for Real at time of winning SOTY
- 4 winners rode for Flip at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Anti-Hero at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Toy Machine at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Girl at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Fucking Awesome at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Alien Workshop at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for Habitat at time of winning SOTY
- Zero Skateboards was represented twice with Chris Coles winning in 2005 & 2009.

- The other winners included 1 winner riding for the following brands: Adrenalin, Almost, Blind, Black Label, Birdhouse, Chocolate, Creature, Deathwish, Plan B, Powell, and Sk8 Mafia at time of winning SOTY.


Shoes
- 6 winners rode for Vans at time of winning SOTY
- 3 winners rode for ‘eS at time of winning SOTY
- 3 winners rode for Emerica at time of winning SOTY
- 3 winners rode for NikeSB at time of winning SOTY
- 3 winners rode for Adidas at time of winning SOTY
- 2 winners rode for DC Shoes at time of winning SOTY

- The other winners included 1 winner riding for the following brands: Airwalk, Axion, Circa, Converse, Diamond Footwear, DVS, Fallen, Globe, and Lakai at time of winning SOTY.
*Danny Way & Cardiel wore Vans all through their winning year but were never officially sponsored by Vans Vans finally sponsored Cardiel in 1996. https://www.vans.com/team/skate/john-cardiel.html

Much thanks to the following resources for information, fact checking and inspiration: The Chromeball Incident, Vert Is Dead, Boil The Ocean, SurferToday, #skatetwitter & all of the Slap pals!

A very special thanks to the Thrasher editors over the years, here are a few special issues of note honoring the previous editors:
• Kevin Thatcher - https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/talking-ed-kevin-thatcher-interview/
• Jake Phelps - https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/jake-phelps-lifetime-retrospective/
• Michael Burnett - https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/trash/burndog-interview/



* Independent was made in USA at Ermico Foundry until 2017 at which point they moved the mold & die to China. The trucks are assembled in the USA. It is believed that Thunder and Venture appear to still be made at Ermico Foundry.

** Barely mentioned in the mag despite the cover copy for Skater Of The Year. Both SOTY recipients were mentioned in the Trash section and it was mentioned that the winners were chosen via “Reader’s Poll”.

bumping this thread as we're coming into SOTY season again, really solid data in here that i see people wondering about in other threads

[FuzzGNU]

Spitfire team member of the year goes to...

Sadly this doesn't narrow it down since Louie, T Funk, and Carlyle all ride Spitfire. Right?

When's Sean Greene getting his own wheel graphic?

[goodatmeth]

So since Burnett took over, every single SOTY had a first name starting with M.
M M
M S
M S

Mlouie Slopez

[chapulana]

Is there a full list of yearly candidates/nominees written anywhere (to check without having the mags, obviously)? Even if it only in led all of the names without bio/brand details that'd be cool too.

Anyone?