Why is my competitor kicking my ass.. I have 10x more links than them!

If it hasn't been updated since 1995 then it has been around a long time in terms of internet years That is a factor.

 

We post news articles every day. By the way, I fixed the speed issues.

Also, thanks for all the helpful tips. They've helped me out a lot, and yes my on-site optimization is really good I think. I'm not saying I'm a pro, but I can't really find any ways to improve it.

 

I think this problem is extremely simple.

You are most likely getting penalized for keyword spamming (another term is keyword stuffing)
Keyword density should be in the range of 5%-20% depending on which section it is... Meta tags, H1, H2, H3, body, etc.
But you've got some sections sitting at 70%+. This is waaaaay too much and there is no doubt in my mind that google is penalizing you for this.
Just to give you an example,

here is a keyword density report for your landing page:


Here is watchop.com

http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-ranking-factors.htm

Code (markup):

 

Completely agree with jsnewbee. I have seen one backlink with a PR6 improve a sites rank from 2 to 6.

 

There are number of factors your competetor can outrank you.
1. They have got quality backlinks.
2. You have abnormal records of creating backlinks.
3. Site Age
4. Your site takes more time to load.
5. On-page optimization.
6. Great and relevant vs poor and non relevant Contents.

 

it's probably how old the site is, what's making your adversary's site popular

 

My site's two years older than them.