Im not sure where exactly my comments fit in here but.. I wouldnt be suprised at a 14 year old beating 30s 40s in competitions, even if he'd only been playing for under three years.
I started learning guitar 1 and 3/4 years ago, within the first few months i could play songs like sweet child o mine. Such an eachievement people on the net (mite have been this forum infact) didnt believe me. Sweet child mightnt a masterpiece but the soloing is very fast and requires a really good technique. Is that good? I honestly dont know! Mind you, I know sum people who have strummed guitar for 10 years only to know a few chords and never to venture of into scales and riffing.
Im not trying to imply Im great, nor do I think it but I just dont get whats up with some people. I probably couldnt play Malnsteen, then again I havent tried. Ive heard his stuff and it sounds good as elevator music(joke) but I dont wana learn it.
Also, is freebird noted as a hard song to play? Its one of my fave skynyrd songs but i dont think its particularly fast! The outro is repetitive and slow in comparison to Paradise City by Guns n Roses. Paradise City is far better, better riffs in the solo, faster, not repetitve, why cant people admit guns were amazing! Why do people use freebird as an example? did they invent the cliche riffs used then and now in todays rock guitar?
Later

Ps. I play for a couple of hours everyday, not missed a single day actually, do people like me really get bored eventually? quicker than less frequent players?