A Google search for “helium shortage 2012” yields pages of how balloon vendors have taken a hit. Turns out the shortage also means an end to a Nebraska football tradition.
On Monday, school athletics officials announced that they will no longer launch 5,000 of balloons at Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium to celebrate Nebraska’s first score of a game. The tradition started in the 1940s.
“We want to be good stewards,” said Nebraska director of athletic marketing Ethan Rowley, in an article posted on Huskers.com. “We don’t want to take helium away from hospitals and industries that need it more than we do right now.”
The eight or nine helium tanks left over from the 2011 season will be used to fill approximately 2,500 balloons during the Huskers’ Sept. 1 game against Southern Miss.
It all makes for a very deflating affair (pun fully intended).
