'The Price is Right' fan gets his chance on TV
BY KATIE STEINER, Californian staff writer ksteiner@bakersfield.com
Dandy Daen has been a fan of CBS's "The Price is Right" for 38 years. He never thought he would see the show live, let alone be a contestant.
That all changed May 13 when he went to a taping of the show and left with a new car.
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Jenn Ireland / The Californian Dandy Daen stands in his empty garage where his new 2009 Subaru Forester, which he won on 'The Price is Right', will be kept once he receives it in September. Daen, who went to the game show with 25 other USPS employees, holds up the sign that was used in the May 13th taping where he won the car, as well as a GPS navigator.
Jenn Ireland / The Californian Dandy Daen shows his excitement for his new 2009 Subaru Forester that he won on 'The Price is Right' and will be receiving in September. Daen, who went to the game show with 25 other USPS employees, holds up the sign that was used in the May 13th taping where he won the car, as well as a GPS navigator.
Daen is scheduled to be featured on today's "The Price is Right" episode, airing at 10 a.m. on KBAK Channel 29.
"Just thinking about it gives me a big ol' smile on my face," he said.
Daen went to the taping with about 31 of his fellow Bakersfield post office employees.
For the first half of the show, the mail handler sat there with his group, "real excited knowing I'm there."
When the second half of the show started, Daen recalls, he looked up at a monitor that announced contestants' names.
"They better call my name," he said he was thinking. And lo and behold, his name flashed on the screen.
"I thought I was having a heart attack, I thought I was going to fall down the stairs."
After trying to bid on a prize three times, Daen was the closest bid on a Garmin GPS receiver.
When he made it up to the stage, Daen played "One Away." The game's prize: A 2009 Subaru Forester.
When host Drew Carey announced he was playing for a new car, "I thought I had won already," Daen said. "Everyone in the audience got a little crazy."
During the game, everyone in the audience yelled numbers at Daen, but he focused only on his girlfriend, Carry Cole, and another friend. That may have not been the best idea, Cole said, as she gave him a wrong number. "I don't think he'll ever let that one go," she said.
But that didn't stop Daen from winning the car.
"I think it was more exciting to see him up there than if I got called up there," Cole said.
Daen is supposed to be contacted about his prizes by Sept. 2.
While his co-workers will watch today's episode in the cafeteria, Daen will be more low-key, choosing to watch it at home with his girlfriend.
"People ask me if I would do it again," he said. "In a heartbeat, I'd do it again. I just loved it."
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