One positive thing regarding the SOTY race, is the level the top guys pushes them self's to do. It seems like they are going the extra mile to win, also does that don't win and at the end the level of skateboarding goes up. Thiago Lemos had some insane parts like 5 years ago or so and didn't win for example. but he set a new level on tech skating, with long switch backside tailslides on very high curbs, because he wanted to win the trophy. There are many examples of contenders not winning but still have pushed skating to the next step.