Christmas, and the competition is really sizzling.

 It is a sign of the times. There is a show about Christmas light displays. Ostensibly, the most garish, brightest, flashiest celebration of the solemn, profound occasion will win the prize. No, that was just a little joke. It has nothing to do with the birth of a Savior, it is all about Santa Claus, reindeer, and sparkling, glittery snowmen. All synced to a rock and roll beat.

In the first episode the Smiths are doing well, they have 75,000 lights scattered around their house. Santa, 🎅 his sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer perched on the peak of the house, and enough light pollution to call the mother ship here from the Andromeda galaxy. Across town, though, the Ringolds, put Santa, and Frosty on rotating platform, elves twinkling and dancing to Jingle Bell Rock all across the front yard, and fireworks exploding from the chimney🎆 and are looking to grab the lead.

It doesn't look good for the Smiths. Until Mr. Smith's Mother, a kindly, gray octogenarian, with a walker that turns and doubles as a seat, on work release from the Shade of Heaven retirement home, fires a rocket propelled grenade through the living room window. The explosion destroys half of the house, and cuts the power to the carefully placed, meticulously orchestrated lights. And the sound system.

At first the judges are a frozen. But, there was no law against explosive ordnance. There were several provisions for firearms, and light artillery, after the debacle last year with the 75mm mortars, and the raging fire fight in Santa Clara, they had no choice. But, the Smiths had been wise enough to find the loophole. And are now in a solid first place.

Tune in next week when the producers revise the rules. Here is a little spoiler, they forget about tactical nuclear weapons. Say goodbye to Tempe. Including the Phoenix Cardinals, the Suns, and Pizzeria Bianco, which is a real shame.

Competition can be good, but sometimes it gets a little silly.

When we were young and a little more carefree we spent a lot of time playing Frisbee. Playing may not seem like the right word, but it is a perfect description of the art of Frisbee. Throw, catch, and watch it float majestically from one person to the next.

With the right throw you could send it around a tree, or bounce it lightly off the ground. Artwork, poetry, heavenly, call it whatever you choose. It was a plastic disc, perfect in design, and execution.

We loved the time in the park. If it dropped no big deal, if you didn't catch it or throw it perfectly there were no repercussions.

Someone told us about "Ultimate Frisbee" a competition, and asked us to join their team, we played a lot of Frisbee, and that seemed like a plus. In a couple of seconds we laughed and said no. We didn't know much about the game, but Frisbee was not a competition, it was a cooperation.

Society has to turn everything into a competition. There are cheer competitions, dance offs, choir
competitions, American Idol, America's Next Top Model, chef shows, and almost anything you can imagine. "I will kick your ass at cooking!" or modeling, or singing, or being, or doing something that is not really a sport.

Why? What is the appeal of watching somebody win? Or, is it the opportunity to watch somebody lose. Everybody loves a loser, right? It is a world filled with the chance to fall short, to fail, and we eat it up. Kick them out of the house, off the Island, out of the kitchen, fire them, and we can see a loser, shamed, humiliated, disgraced. Why is that so appealing.

Each show has one winner, but a lot of losers. That is what people love, losers. Maybe not the losers, but the losing. It draws people in and they delight in the failures. These shows claim to crown a champion, and they do, once, but only after a season filled with sad sacks stumbling from the spotlight with the pall of loss chasing them.

Competition is healthy, and invigorating, but obsession and farce are not. There are things that are just fun, dancing, Frisbee, acting, singing that are just for joy. It lessens the effort to judge them, and score them. Why do people enjoy it so much?