By MICHAEL ROSENTHAL
STAFF WRITER
 Patrick Lanni (top) |
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Rutgers student Pat Lanni recently took a stroll into New York City with his brother and friends just to get away from things.
When they needed a quick ride through town, little did they know that they’d find themselves in a cab with a celebrity, the “Cash Cab,” and the chance for Lanni to win enough |
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money to fund and create a website.
“We were focused on getting to where we needed, and then all of a sudden, lights started flashing on the inside and sirens wailed,” said Lanni. “I was simply stunned when I realized what was happening.”
Discovery Channel’s reality trivia show, “Cash Cab” puts random city-goers like Lanni in a taxi cab with comedian Ben Bailey.
The game is simple: answer the questions and win money accordingly, but if you land three strikes before your destination, you’re out.
Lanni and crew had to go from 8th and 42nd to 86 Bedford Street in the Village, but they had to answer various questions, he said.
“The first question was to name five of the Middle East countries that ended with ‘stan,” said Lanni. “Luckily, my brother is proficient in geography and current news and nailed that question, which really gave us the confidence we needed to continue the game.”
Lanni and his friends answered a few more trivial questions, but when asked about “the origin of milk bones,” his older brother from Princeton University had no answer.
Lanni thought back to his biology courses and happened to remember a story about the origin of milk bones.
“The name’s not important, but a guy on the Lower East Side who delivered milk as a living developed a special biscuit,” Lanni said.
Because he was a milk man, he named it the “milk bone.“ Nabisco eventually picked up on this man’s invention and the rest is history.
Paying attention in class earned his party $100 each and kept them in good shape, he said.
“At this point, I realized that I potentially kept a dream alive for myself because I’ve wanted to start my own sports blog website,” said Lanni. “I felt tense but confident at the same time.”
The dream was one strike away from happening, and his knowledge saved the day, but there was the double or nothing video bonus that had yet to be played once they arrived at their destination.
Bailey asked what the capital of Tibet was, and though Lanni didn’t know the answer, his Princeton graduate brother did.
Lhasa was the correct answer. “Locksa,” shouted the two united brothers after answering correctly because they like to say that things are on “lock” when it’s a guarantee.
A guarantee it was as the Lanni brothers and friends won a few thousand dollars, and Lanni now satirizes Big East college sports on the internet.
“I got lucky, I guess. I always knew that NYC was the land of opportunity, but I never thought it would come this way.” |
