Grad student wins car, prizes on 'The Price is Right'

"Brad Bond! Come on down! You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!" echoed from the speaker in CBS's studio in Los Angeles on January...

Brad Bond, graduate student in LAS, fulfilled his childhood dream by winning the Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right this past winter break.

Winning more than $34,000 in cash and prizes, Bond is the recipient of fitness equipment, garden tools, bean bag chairs, water joggers, a trip to the Caribbean and a Dodge Avenger.

"It didn't even feel real," Bond said. "I felt like I was miniaturized and on a child's board game."

In California for the Rose Bowl, Bond and alumnus Brian Fisher decided to indulge in their obsession and go to a taping of their favorite game show. Watching the show every night before bed, Bond admits The Price is Right is his guilty pleasure.

Bond was the first name called down, and with a bid of $1, was the first contestant for the day. After winning his least favorite game, The Clock Game, where contestants have to guess the exact price of two prizes before time runs out, Bond proceeded to win the spin-off and become a competitor in the Showcase Showdown.

"I was trying to control my excitement in combination with my breathing," Bond said.

Although he severely underbid his showcase, Bond won the showdown because his opponent overbid.

"He bid way lower than I expected, which made it even more shocking when he did win," Fisher said.

Since the prizes count as income, Bond plans on selling the more impractical ones to help pay the taxes.

Though the contestants are supposed to be randomly called, Bond says that while they were waiting in line, the producer interviewed and took notes on everyone. Bond said he thinks his pure excitement and jumping "like a spider monkey" may have attracted the producer's attention.

After the show taped in January, Fisher and Bond kept the news secret until it aired on Feb. 13. The two held a 'The Price is Right' party to watch the show as they awaited their friends' "shocked and priceless" reactions, Bond said.

Kristin Drogos, Bond's roommate and graduate student in LAS, admits that Mountain Dew shot out her nose when she heard the news.

"In class he's so calm, and on the show he was literally jumping up and down," said Christy Miceli, junior in LAS. "He was so ecstatic. It was really entertaining to watch."

Currently, Bond is waiting for the delivery of his prizes, and a call from a travel agent.

"You don't think grad student, brand new car. You think jalopy," Bond said. "Now I can say I won a car on The Price is Right."