Jim Frey created a successful Web site, received a trip to Mardi Gras from Bacardi, had his site endorsed by Bacardi, has a possible spot on the Mancow Show and will likely retire on his graduation day.

Frey, a senior computer science major, never imagined his daily adult joke Web site www.duncecapjokes.com would generate so much success since its creation two years ago.

“I was just screwing around, I never meant for it to do anything,” he said of his site that receives about a half a million page views per month.

The computer guru has never taken a class on Internet applications, yet he runs the joke Web site and two others from his DeKalb apartment.

“People say it looks like the ‘Matrix’ in here,” he said referring to the two servers and several monitors packed in the corner of his living room. The equipment is used to maintain his sites from his home and his potty-trained parrot Tarzan usually can be found perched on his shoulder while he works.

On a whim, Frey signed up for a contest on Bacardi’s Web site www.partybynight.com as a squad leader where the object was to sign up as many people as possible, and the winning squad leader would be awarded a trip to Mardi Gras.

“I filled out the form and forgot about it,” Frey said.

He was reminded of the contest when he received an e-mail updating the rank of the teams in contention. His team was dead last, with the first place team having only about 100 people signed up.

Frey considered the roughly 5,000 individuals on his site’s mailing list and realized he could take over the lead in a matter of days.

That’s all it took, because two or three days later his team was in first place. He rounded up a few friends to help him with his endeavors and they ran with the opportunity to party in Mardi Gras. Frey already has been to Mardi Gras and swears that everyone has “to go at least once.”

Frey was determined to win the trip and to recruit more team members, so he had a five-minute plug to promote the Bacardi contest on B96’s (96.3 FM) Eddie and JoBo’s morning show. He also went to bars where he knew the owners and advertised for the company.

Frey’s team was ahead by a long shot, when all of a sudden another team blew by him.

He realized how impossible it was for a team to quickly pass him up and he challenged the new first place team. Bacardi looked into the statistics of the site and figured out the team had signed up all the people themselves. The alcohol company disqualified the team, bringing Frey’s team back in front.

When a few weeks later, another team blew by him, Frey certainly thought it was another cheater. He called Bacardi and they verified that the team, who has an even larger Web site than Frey’s, had rightfully won the contest along with the trip to Mardi Gras.

A disappointed Frey could not believe the relentless work he and his friends had engaged in would not be rewarded.

Apparently the Bacardi representative saw the determination in Frey’s efforts and told him since they had been so great, they would send him and two friends to the Mardi Gras celebration on February 24 to 28. Once they get to New Orleans, they will be partying on a balcony with the girls of Stuff magazine.

If all this is not enough, Frey may even be on Q101’s (101.1 FM) nationally syndicated Mancow Show, where he will be able to plug his Web site and acquire more advertisers. There are even talks of Mancow flying down to Mardi Gras with Frey and his friends later this month.