(Or why my brother is so exceptionally lucky)

My brother Pat wins everything. Or so it seems. Over the years, he has won numerous prizes and contests—and I'm not talking small stuff. Once, Pat won an all-expense paid trip to the Grammy Awards in New York City. He won tickets to the Super Bowl in Miami. Last year, he won a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. A Harley! Can you believe that? Often friends will ask him to buy lottery tickets for them. A big lottery win has yet to happen for him, but if anyone I know is going to win, it's Pat. I'll get to Pat's secret for success in a moment.

Recently I benefitted from my brother's good fortune. Pat was the runner-up grand prize winner in a contest through NBC/Universal in Los Angeles. The prize was an all-expense paid trip to L.A., to watch the shooting of the opening intro for Sunday Night Football. The opening video will feature Carrie Underwood and a half-dozen NFL players, including San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Even more cool was the fact that Pat invited me to join him on this California adventure.

The video footage was shot in the enormous hanger in Playa Vista California, where Howard Hughes built the H-4 Hercules aircraft—the legendary "Spruce Goose". That hanger is now one of the largest film and video production facilities in North America.

Not only were we invited to watch the production, but we got to be "extras", along with two hundred others vying for fame and the chance to see their face on broadcast television. Carrie Underwood is a talented singer, and it was interesting to watch her performance. There were 50 - 60 crew members on the shoot, using multi-million dollar equipment. Scott, the second assistant producer on the production, told us that the budget for this entire endeavor was around $2 million dollars. 

My brother was the runner-up winner, but because the grand prize winner could not make the trip, the prize went to Pat. The only drawback to winning these contests is that the winner must pay taxes on the value of the prize. But Pat is used to that.

Instead of staying only two nights at a luxe hotel, we opted to stay for the whole week at the very average (and only slightly '70s dank) Holiday Inn Express near LAX. We drove our rented Camry up to Santa Monica, had dinner at the iconic Chez Jay's (very '60s dank), and braved driving the impossible 405 freeway. That was all on the first full day.

We also visited The Getty Museum, got tickets to see the Conan O'Brien Show, hung out in Hollywood, cruised the art galleries and relaxed on Westward Beach in Malibu. But those are stories for another time. In fact, we had such a good time, we decided to have a Brother's Weekend every year from now on.

So, what is my brother's secret for winning? Simple. Enter as many contests as you can. It has become a bit of a hobby for him. He finds nearly all of the contests online, and he enters many of them. The saying "You can't win if you don't play" really is true. But you also need a certain amount of good luck. As for Pat—well let's just say the guy has got a lot of good karma. He's a fine human being, and deserves to win. And I am grateful he asked me to come along.
So, starting Sept 4, 2014, look for Patric and me every week during the Sunday Night Football intro on NBC. You may catch a glimpse of my arm or the back of Pat's head, and you can say—"Hey, I know those guys!"
Are you ready for some football?