It is competitions. In these there is always at least on champion, and other competitors or "rivals"
Length + seam allowance +width + seam allowance
The glove represents a part of his former life that is still meaningful to him. He thinks the papers do not.
Let us only consider the endings of the verses; we see that the 1st and the 2nd dont match (surplice, wings). We notice though that the 2nd and 4th match (wings, sings). We can thus knock out options a and c. We also have that the 2nd and the 4th verse do not match. Finally, the 1st and 3rd dont rhyme (surplice, bell) and neither of them rhymes with any other verse, thus the correct option is b.
