A chance encounter while rehoming cats on Sanibel Island turned a man into a lifelong Indiana Pacers fan. His name is Matt Asen, and he can be seen behind the basket with pink flamingos and a hard hat at the NBA finals games.
"I'm known as the Pacer Guy, the flamingo man, sign guy," Asen said.
Asen is from New York and came to Southwest Florida in 1978. He owns the Timbers Restaurant and Sanibel Grill.
"I had feral kittens up from under the restaurant when I got the location on Rabbit Road, and I told people, I said, I've got kittens, three kittens come and get them," Asen said.
One day, a woman came by to get one of those cats. It turned out to be the wife of Herb Simon, who owns the Pacers.
"On the porch of my house, I had a photograph of Larry Bird and Doctor J choking each other, a classic old NBA photo, and she said, 'Are you a basketball fan? I said, 'Oh yeah, I'm a big fan," Asen said.
From there, he was offered to go with Simon to a game in Atlanta.
"And I had no concept of, you know, private jets and flying to Atlanta for an hour and coming back that night. We went to the game, and I cheered on the team," Asen said.
He took one of his pink flamingos that he had taken to previous sporting events so friends and family could spot him. The Pacers won and the flamingo became a symbol of good luck. That was the start of his super-fandom.
"Simon had a house on Captiva, and I had the only satellite dish way back then, and he came and watched a couple games with me, and we started talking basketball. And the rest, as we say, is history," Asen said.
Since then, he's gotten to know players and met celebrities. Spike Lee signed one of his flamingos, and during this year's playoff run, he met actor Timothée Chalamet.
"At first, I wasn't aware that Kylie Jenner was his girlfriend, and I sent the picture to my boys in Florida. And my son said, 'You’re sitting next to Kylie Jenner? The heck with Timothée Chalamet.' I said, 'Oh yeah, that is her. I'll have to get some beauty products for your mom,'" Asen said.
There have been so many special moments, including the opportunity to grant a young man's Make-A-Wish this week, ahead of Wednesday's game.
"His wish was to go see a Pacer playoff game and meet the Pacer guy. I said, 'They're going to win for you tonight.' I said, 'Don’t worry, you cheer them on, bring a flamingo, we’ll go win this game together.' And they won the game," Asen said.
As the Pacers continue their quest to win their first NBA title, the Pacer Guy will be there every step of the way.
"It’s a great team, and for the first time ever, I'm not confident we're going to win. But I have confidence that we can win. And if we do it, there'll be a parade and I'll be front and center with my flamingo, and my signs," Asen said.
Locally, you can usually catch Asen at the Sanibel Grill, in the same building as Timbers. He also owns the Pawnbroker and University Grill in Fort Myers.
To watch Asen's entire interview with Gulf Coast News, you can click on the player below.
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