You’re a Miami University alum and you’re embarrassed to be associated with former RedHawks and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
You’re balding and you’re jealous of Troy Polamalu’s long, luscious black locks.
Or — and this eliminates most of you — you’re a hot-air balloonist from Middletown, and if the Packers win Sunday’s game, you get the honor of hanging the NFL Championship banner from your balloon.
Welcome to Sean Askren’s world.
Askren, 44, a longtime hot-air balloonist, is spending this week in Texas flying the seven-story NFC Championship balloon, participating in balloon glows, being an ambassador for the sport and backing the Packers.
He chants GOPACKGO from 3,000 feet.
When he safely lands, he celebrates with fried cheese curds and a beer brewed at the Titletown Brewing Co.
The towel he waves is not terrible.
This from a pilot who competed in the U.S. Hot Air Balloon Nationals and the MidFirst Ohio Challenge in Middletown. He now finds himself at America’s greatest sporting event.
“I never would have expected this in my wildest dreams,” said Askren, a Super Bowl ballooning rookie. “I’m pretty stoked about it.”
Later, he added, he was “overwhelmed by the opportunity” to represent his sport and his hometown, “a hotbed for ballooning.”
Askren was invited to participate in the Super Bowl by a longtime friend and fellow pilot Marsha Treacy, who works for AeroSports, Inc. Her company, in partnership with THC Associates of Centerville, Va., operates the hot-air balloons for the NFL, Askren said during a phone interview.
A red and silver balloon represents the AFC and a navy and silver balloon represents the NFC. The balloons feature an inkjet printed Super Bowl XLV logo on one side.
Every morning this week, just outside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Askren inflates his NFC balloon, takes media members and Super Bowl dignitaries for flights, and on Friday, he will entertain guests at the NFL commissioner’s party near the convention center.
So far, Askren said the weather there has been “crapping out.” The city has received several inches of snow, and on Tuesday, winds gusted at 40 mph. The flying conditions are expected to improve the rest of the week, he said.
When the outcome of the game is decided late Sunday night, the winning team’s Conference Champions banner will be removed and replaced with a Super Bowl XLV banner.
He’ll either be a champion or join Packer fans drinking stale beer and chewing cold curds.
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