V-Ball Team Hears 'Come On Down!'

Over spring break, Justin P. Micomonaco '01 heard the words every daytime TV junkie dreams of: "Justin Micomonaco, come on down! You're the next contestant on the Price is Right!"

During the men's volleyball team annual spring break trip to California, eight team members attended an April 1 taping of the longest running game show in television history, airing today at 11 a.m.

Towards the end of a week-long series of games, team Captain Arthur "A.J." Lewis'99 organized a trip to the CBS studios in Los Angeles. The team awoke at 5 a.m. to wait in line for tickets to one of the day's tapings. Team members waited for more than eight hours before being admitted to the studio.

"There were a lot of college groups there, and we kind of figured one of us would get called up," said team member Paul W. Guilianelli '02.

In order to be a contestant on the Price is Right, ticket holders go through a verification process before the show starts. Audience members have their photo IDs and Social Security numbers checked, then review rules for contestant eligibility and are interviewed briefly.

The group, dressed in bright yellow "Harvard Volleyball" shirts, introduced themselves to the show's producers.

"I told them I really hoped one of us would be chosen as a contestant because we had lost all four of our games in California. We needed something good to come out of the trip," said Micomonaco of his winning interview.

Micomonaco's teammates said they predicted he would be chosen to appear on the show.

"We thought Justin made the best impression during his interview," Guilianelli said.

Micomonaco made it out of contestant's row and onto the actual stage by making the closest guess on the price of a refrigerator. Once on stage, he played "Wrong Price," where he was presented with three items and their prices. The object of the game was to guess which product was wrongly priced.

The volleyball team, yelling instructions and pointing frantically from the audience, helped Micomonaco to a modest success: a riding lawnmower, a bar set and an armoire with a parrot on it. Micomonaco also won the refrigerator, along with 40 dollars worth of eggs.

"The prizes are starting to arrive at myhouse," said Micomonaco, who plans on letting hisparents keep most of the prizes.

"But my roommates want the bar set, so we mighttake a road trip and bring it to school,"Micomonaco continued.

"It was an amazing experience. We are happy forJustin and happy that Bob Barker talked aboutHarvard on national television," Lewis said.

The men's volleyball team plans to gather inthe Mather TV room and watch Micomonaco on today'sbroadcast at 11 a.m

"The prizes are starting to arrive at myhouse," said Micomonaco, who plans on letting hisparents keep most of the prizes.

"But my roommates want the bar set, so we mighttake a road trip and bring it to school,"Micomonaco continued.

"It was an amazing experience. We are happy forJustin and happy that Bob Barker talked aboutHarvard on national television," Lewis said.

The men's volleyball team plans to gather inthe Mather TV room and watch Micomonaco on today'sbroadcast at 11 a.m