OK now I got it.
I think the hint that would have been helpful without giving it away if you stated at the start that the goal was to figure out what the “?” was, as opposed to it being a correct phrase including the ?.
Even after you gave your explanation I was trying to figure out why “a” was to “alpha” as “z” was to “question mark”.
Always in second place it seemed but it was only 6 years. Starting in 1991, I was finally the champion. However I was only the best for two years before being relegated back to runner-up for another three years. Late in the 1990s I dropped out of the top-5 rankings completely for a year before coming back to be ranked fourth for two more years. Early in the 2000s, alas, I dropped out of the top 5 in my field completely never to return. You have everything you need to solve this puzzle – even if you don’t see it.
Is this about …
Is it about a human? A living thing or inanimate?
No and no
No
No
Inanimate but physical? No
When you say “I was finally the champion,”
Does “I” signify the first person singular pronoun?
Does “I” signify the ninth letter of the alphabet?
Is it a work of fiction?
Is it something/somebody in a fictional work?
Yes to first person singular.
No to being the 9th letter.
No to both
It’s not living, it’s not even physical, it’s not fictional. What’s left? Metaphysical?
Search engine?
No and no.
It is something intangible.
Now you are thinking laterally. Not really close as an answer but starting down the right track of thinking outside the box.
So.. “you” started “competing” in 1985 ?
Is this some species of technology ? This seems to cover a period in which
several formats were competing for supremacy..
No. I started sometime in the 1940s (in the US that is) but seriously started going up the ranks in the 1980s. However, notice I never said I was competing.
Nope. We know it is not a tangible person, place or thing and the comment about search engines starting down the right track was not about tech per se but rather to not think about an event.
Something to do with letters?
Words?
How often they occur?
No
Best guess so far but words used how?
Big Yes!
Most popular words in some way?
Like when you say “I” was champion, you mean the word “I”?
Yes!
Nope. I does not stand for the letter “i” or the word “I”.
Numbers spelled as words vs Numbers as digits?
I’m thinking a team’s ranking - is it The Chicago Bulls? I’m not an expert in basketball stats, but that’s about the time of the ascent of Michael Jordan. He took a break for two years, allowing the Houston Rockets (my hometown!) to get the championship. The Bulls haven’t done much in recent years as far as I know.
I don’t know. I’m just spit-balling here.
Nope
Leave out the word “team’s”