Olumide Adelodun grew up with the Calgary Stampede in his backyard.
So the pomp and pageantry — along with the cowboy sizzle — surrounding ‘The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth’ doesn’t faze the Calgary native and professional basketball talent.
But ask his Calgary Surge teammate Javonte Brown — a big city kid from out east — about the spectacle that is the Stampede, and it’s quite a different take.
“I’m not gonna lie,” admitted Brown, standing with Adelodun amidst a western-garbed sea of people at the Stampede grounds. “It completely caught me off-guard. Like it’s a lot of people. It’s huge — it’s all over the city.
“I’m loving it so far.”
He’ll likely love it even more come Wednesday night during Surge2Stampede — a home Canadian Elite Basketball League contest for Brown, Adelodun and the Surge hosted in collaboration with the Calgary Stampede at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Indeed, the Surge (9-5) take on the visiting Montreal Alliance (6-7) with thousands of Stampeding Calgarians expected to take in the CEBL showcase at the Dome (7:30 p.m., TSN).
“It means a lot,” said Adelodun, a graduate of Bishop O’Byrne Senior High School in the city’s southwest.
“I remember when I was younger with my mom and my brother going to watch a Calgary Flames game.
So to be able to play in that arena is really interesting.
“You know … it’s a big opportunity. I’m really excited.”
Last year, the Surge drew a league-record 12,327 fans to the home of the hockey Flames in a one-off game.
But this year’s first of two Dome home tilts for the Calgary club gets the backing of the Stampede, with the likelihood of a dang fine walk-up crowd helping to fill seats on Family Day at the midway.
“Stampede is a staple in Calgary,” said 22-year-old Adelodun. “When I was younger, I used to just always come here with my family.
“My main thing is the food — I’ve got a lot of interest in the food here,” continued Adelodun. “But … really … it’s just the atmosphere here — you see the cowboys, you see the rodeo and all that. It’s just a lot of stuff that you can really just get into and is just really interesting.
“So it is just kind of cool being able to know that I’ll play in front of everyone in the Calgary Stampede.”
The local talent is passing that excitement onto his roundball teammates.
And that began with a weekend visit with Brown to shoot some hoops — Stampede-midway style — in the games aisle of the grounds.
Just like typical Stampede go-ers, the professional pair found the assignment at the midway mini-hoops booth rather difficult, hitting just two buckets apiece during their extended time from the modified free-throw line.
Surge co-founder Jason Ribeiro joined his charges for the challenge and actually out-hit Brown, a 7-foot forward, and Adelodun, a 6-foot-5 guard, by draining three shots himself and taking home the prized stuffed animal.
“That’s an embarrassing amount of shots we missed,” said a smiling Ribeiro, after heaving up dozens of b-balls.
“But we’re matching the energy of the Stampede.”
And the score doesn’t matter anyways until Wednesday night against the Alliance in the Dome.
“This is beyond our wildest expectations, right?” Ribeiro said. “A 113-year-old institution in the Stampede putting hands on a company that started two-and-a-half years ago has been incredible. And to see our our players out here from all parts of the world, coming here to experience the amazing parts of Calgary, including the Stampede and seeing just how far the influence of the Stampede grows, has been phenomenal.
“We’re held together by the same values of inclusion of community and a fantastic world class entertainment,” continued Ribeiro, of the relationship between the Stampede and his basketball franchise. “So we’re set for a thrilling matchup on Wednesday.
“We’re expecting a good crowd at the Saddledome. And this was not on our bingo card to be doing this game. We already had another Dome game secured (in the final CEBL regular-season game Aug. 10). We were already making moves for Surge2RedDeer (held last month in the central Alberta city). And to be playing during the Stampede here, this has been a gift to the community, so we’ve priced it incredibly affordably (at CalgarySurge.ca).
“We’re expecting two to three times the normal crowd that we get at our home venue of WinSport. So we’re set for a fantastic night, not only on the attendance side, but certainly a great matchup with a great team coming from Montreal, being broadcast on TSN and RDS across the country.”
Right smack dab in the middle of The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, to boot.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t think that all these people will come out here and be unified and everything and celebrate like this,” added Brown, who hails from the Greater Toronto Area. “But I like seeing all these people here.
“And I’m excited about playing the Saddledome, man,” added Brown. “Like I’ve been talking to the guys from last year. They’re talking about how the atmosphere was crazy in the building. I’m just ready to put me on the court and give a show.”
