Sam is easier to tolerate if you just recognize that he is talking to himself, out loud. Yes, it's ego-driven. But it's just his way of approaching games. It doesn't bug me because that's how I view him. Yes, he will surpass me in WORLDWIDE SINGLE TARGET DPS USING TWO BUTTONS OR LESS or whatever metric he has set for himself. He isn't trying to surpass Prepared because he wants to show us how super-cool he is, he is trying to surpass Prepared because it's a goal he set for himself.

It isn't something I have ever tried to understand. It's just Sam. As long as he isn't talking out loud in the movie theatre, he's pretty harmless.