Lucky's Last Call

Three and a half years sure do fly. This is, (Brooklyn College willing) my final season covering Brooklyn College basketball and I can honestly say that it’s an experience that I’ll never forget.

I didn’t know what to expect walking into the Kingsman, except that I was this sports nerd looking for a forum to write about the Yankees. What I learned is that the beat reporting and covering a team for the paper is a much more valuable experience than writing any sports column. I was able spend one day in the newspaper office cutting out all the clips I’ve done and it was a nostalgic experience. There it all was, my hard work, my passion, in written word for anyone to read. Some articles were good, some were not so good, but all had my name to it. The sports section when I started was just two pages with just me and Scott Gallop writing. Now, in my humble opinion, it’s the best collegiate sports section in New York and it feels good to know that I had a hand in that.

Everything came into perspective during the doubleheader against Medgar Evers. It was appropriately Senior Day, a celebration of all the accomplishments of the senior basketball players. I was able to cover the women’s basketball game for the radio station, an exciting affair that came down to the wire. I switched to my newspaper duties for the men’s game and in typical BC fashion they made one hell of a charge in the second half to the adulation of an amazing crowd, fittingly, the best crowd ever at Brooklyn College in terms of intensity and emotion. After the game, did my post game interviews with the coaches and the players, with plenty of sentiment in those interviews. It didn’t really hit me that I may never be doing that again until now.

So while I’ll still be writing, a chapter of my life is closing. I’d like to thank everyone at the Kingsman, too numerous to name in such a small space, along with the coaches and the players of Brooklyn College, most notably coaches Alex Lang and Steve Podias. I’m sure there were times I wasn’t exactly number one on the Christmas list for the folks in the athletic office, but thanks to them as well, Athletic Director Bruce Filosa and company.

It is a bit of a kick to read “Lucky Ngamwajasat” in print. It’s also funny to think about all those people who’ve read my name and probably have mispronounced it or simply cannot believe my first name is Lucky. But more importantly, it’s much more of a good feeling to know people actually read your stuff. Thanks to all the readers out there.

To quote that oh-so-wonderful one hit wonder from the 90’s “Closing Time” by Semisonic “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”