...If a picture is really successful it may find its way into the magazine which of course would bring wide spread recognition to your work...
Seriously!? Wide-spread recognition? Maybe 10-15 years ago you would have gotten Andy's 15 minutes of fame. Today, you would be lucky to get 15 seconds, if that, in an era of ADHD, encouraged by Facebook, Tweeter, Vine and the likes.
Besides, who reads NG anymore? Scratch that... who reads?
If I remember correctly, NG is the ringleader of rights grab, i.e., sending them any photo, not just the winning one, grants them all the usage rights under the sun forever.