July 31, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It was something she talked about all season. How she and her brother would take their disabled grandfather on a cross-country train ride to see a taping of their favorite show, "The Price is Right." Well, it didn't work out exactly that way, but $11,000 worth of prizes and one incredible story later, Maryland softball player Jillian Callaway admits she couldn't have planned it any better.

Grandfather John, who suffered a stroke in 1999, did not like the idea of a long train ride, so the entire family decided to fly to Los Angeles for a summer vacation. Certainly visiting the set and meeting Bob Barker would be a highlight, but Jillian's higher aspirations were realized when she was invited to "come on down" and play the show's famous pricing games. After winning a $2,500 Yamaha piano by bidding her jersey number to get off "contestants' row," Callaway accurately executed a "Squeeze Play" and left "The Price is Right" the winner of an $8,500 spa.

"My grandfather watches the show every day. He's awesome at guessing the prices and we always talked about going," said Callaway. "I was feeling it though. I told people before I went that I was going to get on. Someone from my family had to get on."

The Casting Call
Callaway, a junior at Maryland, arranged for tickets for her family in January before the softball season started. The show distributes 1,000 tickets per episode, but "The Price is Right" studio accommodates an audience of only 325. Callaway's family, including 71-year-old John, lined up within the first 100 audience members at 3 a.m. the night before the June 6 taping.

"We sat outside in the parking lot with food from the gas station until six in the morning, and then they let you onto the lot," explained Callaway. "At 7:45 they give you a number and an hour break, and then you get back in order and they check your I.D. My whole family was out there from 3 a.m. until 2 p.m. when they let us into the studio. Then I did my interview."

Each member of the audience is lined up, 20 at a time, and is given five seconds to convince a producer that he or she is a worthy contestant. The producer asked Callaway, who was dressed in a Maryland softball t-shirt and her yellow "THINK" visor, what position she plays.

Callaway wryly responded, "I'm a utility player - I play them all." After the producer chuckled, Callaway went to her seat feeling good about her chances.

On To Contestants' Row
Jillian sat with her brother and mother in the center of the studio, a few rows behind where the lucky contestants bid for a chance to win prizes and move on, while father Tony sat with his father in a section for persons with disabilities. After receiving instructions from the producers about when to stand, clap and cheer, colorful studio announcer Rod Roddy came out to warm up the crowd with a few jokes.

Out came the host, Bob Barker, to commence the show's first 30th anniversary taping. Contestants were called and pricing games began. The first contestant, a college student from Pepperdine, won three cars in the game "Three Play," totaling $88,865 according to the show's website. The second contestant claimed $22,000 cash by sliding chips down "Price" viewers' all-time favorite game, "Plinko."

After the first Showcase, Jillian's moment arrived.

"It is so loud in there they have cue cards [for when they are calling contestants]. But when it's your name, you kind of key in a little more," explained Callaway. "When I heard my name, my brother and I jumped up and gave each other hugs. I hugged my mom, gave my dad and grandfather hugs and gave high fives to people all the way down."

Jillian stepped up to the red podium - her favorite color. She was now a contestant on "The Price is Right."

It took her three guesses to make it to the stage. Listening to her father and to the studio audience on the first two prizes, Callaway was far off. But her bid on the Yamaha grand piano, the one in which she guessed her uniform number, paid off.

"I got to bid last. When we were younger my brother and I always talked about that if everyone overbid, instead of bidding $1 we would bid our jersey number, and my number is two," described Callaway. "I looked at my brother and he was saying `two,' but he meant two thousand. So I said, `Two dollars please, Bob.' The crowd groaned and Bob repeated my answer to see if I was sure."

Jillian would prove the audience, and Bob Barker, wrong.

"[Barker] looked at the retail value, and he said, `Two dollars wins it!' And my light started flashing, and I was jumping up and down, and I don't even think I touched the steps on the way to the stage," exclaimed Callaway.

The Squeeze
The show was moving along by that point, and Callaway was allowed to say hello to her family and to "all of her girls in Maryland." She participated in the game "Squeeze Play," having to determine a wrong number in the price of the hot tub. Callaway chose to squeeze out the correct figure, winning the spa and advancing to the Showcase.

"The numbers in the price were something like 8-7-5-4-0," said Callaway, "And I squeezed out the 5. I won the hot tub, and jumped up and down some more and gave Bob a handshake and a hug!"

Grandpa John approved.

"My grandfather was ecstatic - he can't walk and he somehow managed to stand up and clap," said Callaway. "And Bob Barker is really nice - he signed an autographed picture for my grandfather. And he got one of the Barker's beauties - Nikki Ziering - to sign a picture and he's got them both hanging in his house."

Callaway was relieved to have been selected for a game in which her price knowledge wasn't put to the test.

"It's kind of funny because I prepped for the show. [Teammate] Beth Radford would make me watch it every day and quiz me. I really wasn't that good so I was lucky to get an easy game."

Showdown
The biggest winner from the second half of the show, it was on to "The Price Is Right's" Showcase, which fans recognize as the giant spinning wheel. The contestant that gets closest to a dollar advances for even bigger prizes in the Showcase Showdown.

Callaway spun last, tying the first contestant at 45 cents. Opting for a spin-off, Callaway's luck ran out. She lost by a dime - 65 cents to 55 cents.

"I was happy, but kind disappointed not to make it [to the Showcase Showdown]," said Callaway. "At first, I thought `All I want is my name to be called,' and then you get your name called, so I said, `This isn't good enough - I've got to get out of contestants' row.' And it was still not good enough. You want to keep going."

Rolling The Credits
Callaway reports that she will keep the hot tub for her new house in College Park. Brother Tony, an incoming Maryland freshman and wrestling prospect, will live there as well as some of their friends. The piano will be sold to cover the tax bill from the prizes, and the family is planning a "Come On Down Party" to celebrate the winnings and christen the new home.

Jillian, the Callaway Family, Rod Roddy, Bob Barker and his Beauties will air when the show kicks off its 30th season this fall.

One thing is for certain - Grandpa Callaway will be tuned in.