RST, you state .... 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.
I have been reading the responses in this thread and the ONLY person that keeps saying that there is a feeling of betterment because of a number of entries that are ranked lower than their own is you RST. To be honest the only one here that seems to be taking great offense and on the defensive is, again, you RST.