For the past week, Flint Rasmussen has been in a familiar place – performing for the annual Calgary Stampede.

The Stampede, which features several PBR riders in the bull riding competition, is the one rodeo at which the PBR’s exclusive entertainer still performs.

“I had a good career rodeoing,” he said, “so I still know a lot of the ropers, the steer wrestlers, bareback riders. And you know, those guys are friends, so this is the one time a year when I go.”

It also gives him an opportunity to pat PBR riders on the back. He added, “I get to go and say, ‘These are the guys I get to watch every week.’”

A year away from its centennial celebration, the Stampede is one the longest-running rodeos in the world.

Throughout its 99-year history, it has been widely championed for its progressive decision-making in maintaining relevancy while staying true to tradition.

“The reason they worked hard to get me back there is that the type of show they put on, they’ve transitioned a little from the old-time rodeo,” Rasmussen explained. “They could see the trend of what works, a little bit, to transition into our type of show.

“That’s more how they use me. I don’t use props and I do it more on the fly like I do at a PBR event. I don’t have a prominent role except when they need me, a lot like the PBR. If I’m not used a lot you know the show went very smooth.”

Fans will experience the same kind of performance he gives at a Built Ford Tough Series event. There are jokes and one-liners, the t-shirt gun, song-and-dance routines, and a generally good time.

It’s a bridge between tradition, current trends and the future of the sport.

“They know what I’m about,” he said, “and the great thing is they don’t try to change me.”

The Stampede averages in excess of 100,000 fans on the grounds each day, and will easily surpass one million in total attendance, regardless of the weather.

The rodeo, including the bull riding event, gets underway at 1:30 p.m. each day for 10 days. According to Rasmussen, that allows everyone to enjoy the midway by dinnertime before returning to the grandstand for the chuck-wagon races in the early evening.

There are concerts – both on the Stampede grounds as well as nightly shows at the Scotiabank Saddledome – and a nightly fireworks display.

“It’s overwhelming,” Rasmussen said. “It really is. It’s quite a place, and I always like when our PBR guys walk in there and see what it’s about. They’re overwhelmed, too. It is the ‘Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.’”

Rasmussen said that he and the riders “are treated like gold.”

The one noticeable difference, he joked, was that everyone has to pack for all types of weather.

He lives less than five hours south of Calgary, so the climate is similar, but advises first-time attendees to be prepared for record heat – “which is 85 to 90 degrees” – or afternoon rain showers.

“You don’t know,” he enthused. “It has been known to snow.”

Rasmussen said the Canadian fan base thinks he’s crazy, but he prefers hot, sweaty weather.

He explained that there is a large stage and a concrete tarmac between the grandstand and the rodeo arena, which is where he performs. When the sun is out and the temperature goes up, “the amount of clothes goes down, they drink beer and it’s just crazy.

“I want heat. I want to sweat.”

“I’m kind of back to how I did it six years ago when I was still doing rodeos, so it’s kind of refreshing to me,” he continued. “I love to go, but I love my job with the PBR and have no second thoughts after 10 days in Calgary. But it’s fun to go.”

NEWS & NOTES

Built Ford Tough Series: The Top 40 riders in the world will resume competing Friday, July 29, and Saturday, July 30, in Thackerville, Okla. The two-day event hearkens back to an older time with the WinStar World Casino Invitational being held outdoors. More information and tickets are available here.

PBR Now returns: The weekly RFD-TV series will return beginning Thursday, July 28, and will be broadcast every Thursday thereafter until previewing the World Finals on Thursday, Oct. 20. J.W. Hart returns as co-host of the one-hour talk-show format, and will be joined on alternating weeks by two-time World Champion Justin McBride and PBR co-founder Jerome Davis.

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright