Well, it's kind of rude for you to read my honest question and observation as snarky, but so be it.
I find your responses to be inconsistent, and that's what I'm trying to understand. you say that doing your best is important, and that competition drives you to do your best on the one hand, but at the same time, you don't feel that you have done your best and can feel good about your work unless there is a certain percentage of entries that is ranked more poorly than your own.
Is making money for a prize a factor? It doesn't seem like it can be much of a factor given the cost of materials vs. the amounts people were mentioning -- the prize amounts would not pay for thread on a completed project.
My perspective is that I do my best, and I am the only one who can possibly assess that to be true. Sometimes other people will like what I did, sometimes they won't, but my assessment of my own work is what gives me gratification. I know where I was lazy, and I also know where I did some really amazing problem solving and came up with a great piece. A blue ribbon (or red, or white or purple) would not add or subtract anything from what I know of my own work. But then, my motivations are almost always internal. I do things because I like them and I want to.
I hear people get all bent out of shape with trends where everyone wins. I question, and find more disturbing, the mindset where nobody knows they've done well unless they get external affirmation. That's not being snarky -- that's a conversational point, but if you are determined to take offense, I'm sure that you'll find a way.