Tourney of Champions Update

I've purposely ignored this topic for a while, because my bold predictions haven't held up so well. In the first round, I picked exactly 1 series correctly - I had the 1888 Browns beating the 1987 Cardinals. This should have mired me in the cellar, but two other bozos didn't pick any of the first round series correctly.

The second round has gone somewhat better. The 1943 club did indeed beat the 2005 version, and today the 1985 club outlasted the 1996 club. I almost had a third series win, 1885 over 2000, but Dave Veres was able to pitch out of a jam in the ninth (thanks to some good defense and a ground rule double that held the tying run at third). So with 3 series complete in this round I'm 2-1, and can go 4-1 if things go as I predicted. I need the 1885's to win; if that happens, and Gibson's 1968 squad comes through, 9 points should put me in third or fourth place, which would be cool.

With only 6 days left until pitchers and catchers report, there isn't much going on. The lads over at USSmariner.com recently ran a ZIPS simulation on the 2008 Mariners; that data is here. If I get a chance I will try and do the same thing with the 2008 Cardinals and post it next week.

Something to discuss in the comments: rivalries. Are the Cubs the Cardinals rival, and by what metric do you make that claim (competitiveness, geography, trades, etc)? If not the Cubs, then who? We'll post more on this topic next week.