Of course. You're not getting paid for being competitive. This isn't Dota or Starcraft or LoL. The only thing that distinguishes SCS from a vet match are signups and brackets. It's all psychological.
Traditionally, however, SCS has been a place to experiment, and keep sharp. It feels like it's taking a decidedly...I don't want to say "Try hard" attitude, because I'm of the view that if you're playing a game, you should always be playing to win, but something along those lines.
(I also really like the leaderboard in theory--I think good clans should have a place to prove they're good in the public eye, but if it leads to people being less willing to experiment, teach, and play around, that's a recipe for a stale metagame, and boring, over-serious matches in a very, very tiny community.)