By Kyle Zamiara
Sports Editor
I think it was on the long 12-hour drive back from Nashville playing “The Price is Right” on a cell phone when I realized how lucky I was to have been the sports editor this semester.
How many have gone through The Bona Venture and had the chance to see both men’s and women’s basketball teams go to the NCAA Tournament?
Zero.
It didn’t occur to me during Christmas break that I’d be in charge of what would be one of the craziest semesters in school history.
But when I look back on this tremendous spring semester, I have to go back to where it all began.
Former sports editors Ryan Papaserge, Sam Wilson and present editor-in-chief Tyler Diedrich took a chance on me in one of the best writing classes the sports section has had in the fall of 2010.
I can’t imagine being anywhere but the newsroom every Wednesday night, and it’s all thanks to them.
Without them, I’m just another fan in Atlantic City.
I’m not sitting on press row in Nashville, cowboy hat and all.
I’m not ‘BV’ed about Balls’ tentative first baseman this weekend, even if the newsroom’s stuffed Sexual Harassment Tiger took the position I really wanted.
Without Ryan Papaserge, I would have never gotten the chance to write for BV Sports as a shy freshman just looking for a shot to write for the first time. Paps taught me to build cities late into the night and always look to Hickey breakfast if you haven’t laid a page and it’s 3 a.m.
Without Sam Wilson, I’m completely lost in the quirky world of Quark and tweeting basketball games. It was truly a privilege to lay pages with him every week and converse over the troubles of our Buffalo sports teams.
Without Tyler Diedrich, I’m never convinced to join The Bona Venture.
I’ll always remember when the three of them took me into the creepy closet that is the archives room and asked me to step up as an editor.
Tyler has helped me every step of the way and even tickled my heart to enjoy Christmas music only weeks after Halloween. And don’t worry, Tyler; I’ll keep the blue and gold tradition going in the newsroom, too.
And even though she’s never dipped her pen into the sports section, I must thank Alexandra Salerno for humoring my somewhat-questionable stingers, even if most of them never made it final.
Finally, it comes down to Charlie Specht, who graduated the spring before I came to Olean. At a high school track meet, Charlie- a graduate of my alma mater, Iroquois High in Elma-told me to start writing for The Bona Venture right away, even if I’d never written articles before. Turns out it was the best advice I’d received before coming to St. Bonaventure.
I know Anthony Gannon will battle tough and take the sports section to greater heights than Da’Quan Cook has ever soared, with a strong cast of Skye Tulio and Taylor Nigrelli behind him.
If I’ve learned anything from my time as an editor, it’s all credited to the wonderful people here who helped me along the way. Getting
involved in The BV was by far the best decision I’ve made at Bonaventure.
zamiarkj10@bonaventure.edu
