Yeah agree. TJ and Gabbers are probably equally the people’s champs, but outside of Gabbers being on adidas neither are really bringing in the advertising money for Thrasher.
Joslin has undoubtably the trick of the year, and a good story behind it, plus the cover, but he’s somehow ended up with C-tier sponsors which works against him.
Durao is the most underground, so could be a wildcard pick which Thrasher have done in the past, but I think his impact is limited and him winning won’t really do much for the magazine.
Scharr seems to tick all the boxes - 2 amazing parts, a cover, he’s a vert skater which looks impressive to normies in Instagram clips, Olympian, properly on NB so they’ll likely pay for ad space…
Yeah, uncontroversial but at this point in skateboardings life it feels unconventional. Which possibly only adds to the fact it might happen…bc Thrasher should be doing that.
Thrasher itself has always struck me as a bit Republican if I’m honest. The whole ‘skate & destroy’ shtick never rang true with me given it was generally being delivered by extremely rich Californians
They did a feature on Palestinian skaters this year which definitely seemed to be pro Palestine and they have been supporters of Ryan Lay and Skatepal for years. That’s all I was thinking of really.
I mean, you could be right Thrasher has definitely given off some NorCal Proud Boy vibes at times.
For me, Zion is that regular on soty trips who puts down some really solid skating so it’s good to see him get a solid solo part and shine full beam.
However, I wish he didn’t wear redbull beanies. They look rubbish. It doesnt impact the physical skating but it does impact the aesthetic and that’s half of what skateboarding is.
Finally, as rad as that part is, it’s too late in the game for me to call him soty. I like my sotys to prove themselves all through the year. Yes, he’s had a part in the last real video but I cant remember it.
I do think that part merits a pro shoe if he hasnt got one already.
Just watched the Joslin part and although I’d been insta-spoilered the bigflip down Wallenberg and the ender are both great enough that I’d have been semi-happy with him winning SOTY purely down to the seeming inevitability of it. Then I saw his self-props of him shouting “I FUCKING DID IT,” and it just had the same energy as those “we believe that we will win” Yank football chants that it completely ruined it for me.
If it were me picking it’d come down to how I felt on the day between TJ and Gabbers. I feel like the wise money is either on Joslin or Schaar. Knowing Thrasher they’ll pick Tyshawn again for the lolz.
