Yesterday the American Society of Magazine Editors announced the nominations for the 2011 National Magazine awards. The New Yorker led the pack with nine nominations, followed by New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and the Virginia Quarterly Review (all with six nominations), causing some to speculate as to whether having “New York” in your title guaranteed a certain amount of success.

New Yorker editor Dave Remnick spoke to WWD about whether or not Jane Mayer‘s profile on the Koch brothers could beat Michael Hastings‘ profile of Stanley McChrystal. “Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston, right? Princeton beat UCLA,” he said. “Anything can happen.”

W editor Stefano Tonchi also told WWD that he was particularly gratified that W received three nominations, because — due to his recent relaunch — the magazine “only submitted what [it] had — that was September, October, November.”

“I would never, ever, ever anticipate that your own estimation of your work equals a certain number of nominations,” said Bloomberg Businessweek editor Josh Tyrangiel, “unless you’re Adam Moss and David Remnick, who are generally always right about that.”