From week one in September to the playoffs and Super Bowl in January and February respectively, I’m watching all the football I can.

While the season probably feels inordinately long for anyone who doesn’t love the NFL, 17 regular-season games + the playoffs whizzes by much too fast for my liking.

Not that I’m counting (ha ha), but there’s 24 (!!!) more weeks until week one (preseason doesn’t count in my book).

So what’s been filling the football-shaped hole in my life lately?

Competitions of a different sort—cooking competitions. For some reason, there’s a slew of them on different nights every week now.

On Sunday, there’s Tournament of Champions, a March Madness-style battle of esteemed chefs forced to make dishes dictated by the spin of a sadistic randomizer. Example: You might have to cook venison loin and incorporate breakfast radishes somewhere in the dish. Plus, use a waffle iron somehow for the specialty equipment requirement and create something that’s decidedly herbaceous in style. All in 30 minutes.

It’s stressful even watching, but in a fun way.

Instead of Monday Night Football with Troy Aikman and Joe Buck, I’ve got Top Chef with Tom Colicchio and Kristen Kish. This season it’s set in the Carolinas, which has been a pretty backdrop for all the quick fires and elimination challenges.

Then on Tuesday night, there’s Chopped, crazy mystery baskets and all. On Wednesdays, it’s America’s Culinary Cup with Padma Lakshmi and the first $1 million cash prize for the winner. On Thursday night, Gordon Ramsey is a less shout-y version of himself on Next Level Chef and there’s usually a new episode of Beat Bobby Flay.

So basically I’ve got a well-stocked DVR (for the Spring, anyway). Then comes MasterChef (also with Gordon Ramsey) shortly after.

While I’m pretty sure I’m not cut out for competitions like these, I love learning what works (and inevitably, what doesn’t) under these madcap conditions. When anyone suggests risotto or a stew with a tough cut of meat, I want to scream into the TV “NOOOOO!” because neither rarely works under pressure.

It is pretty incredible how much work these chefs—amateur, soux chefs, professionals, and otherwise—get done in such a short period of time. I’m always tucking away new techniques and flavor combinations for my much-calmer home cooking endeavors where there’s never a clock ticking in the background.

How about you? Do you like cooking competitions? Which is your favorite and why?