When Austin Mertens got the phone call telling him he won an exclusive T-shirt autographed by his favorite musical artist, the rapper known as The Game, he didn't hesitate to spread the exciting news.

"I called every single one of my friends and let them all know what happened," said Mertens, a 21-year-old culinary school student from Springfield, Ohio. "I had to."

Mertens, one of six winners of the specialty shirts in a sweepstakes at The Game's official Web site, TheGame360.com, has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Compton-bred rapper since the days of the underground mixtapes that preceded Game's smash albums, The Documentary and Doctor's Advocate.

But aside from the music, Mertens appreciates the man.

"Here in Ohio, we really don't have anyone representing us in the hip-hop world," Mertens said. "I grew up loving the West Coast style, and there aren't many West Coast rappers as big as him, and he does it the best.

"On top of that, celebrities' public personas usually come off as fake, and so far I haven't seen that in him. It's cool that he keeps it real. He seems like he's true to what he says."

Mertens said he will honor his rap hero by taking special care of the new T-shirt.

"That bad boy's getting framed and thrown in the living room," he said. "I'm putting that on display."

He admitted that one particularly stunning thing about his sweepstakes score was the fact that he had never entered any kind of contest before. That makes him 1-for-1 against huge odds and ready to take on the lottery.

"I might invest in that," he said with a laugh. "You always gotta test your luck."