LOL - well, I don't think its all that surprising. Seifer is really good at what he does - he and Squall wouldn't be "rivals" if one of them really sucked. It's like being on a sports team - your rival isn't the team you always win against. It's usually the team that always beats you - and are jerks about it. Therefore, it makes sense that Seifer always beat Squall at everything, and rubbed his face in it (including their little gunblade battle at the begining). Finally, Squall beat Seifer to become a SeeD - something Seifer's bad attitude prevented him from doing.