ESKIMOS GUARANTEE K-DAYS EVENT REMAINS MAGICAL FOR THE KIDS
‘It’s something we really need to do,’ Sewell says of 40th anniversary event
Still magic.
The wind whistled. The rain drove down. And the temperature felt more like January than July.
The temperature was 10.2 C at 9 a.m. when it began on a day with the lowest maximum temperature for a July 24 in recorded history, a chilly 12.3 C.
It was the 40th edition of Monday Morning Magic for special needs kids between the ages of three and 12, the first few of which were held without publicity by Tom Wilkinson and Edmonton Eskimos players and brought tears to the eyes of the Conklin Shows head carnie of the day.
Certainly, there’s never been an edition with such woeful weather as this one, but the kids look forward to this for months. And goodness knows they’re made of tough stuff. They still came and Northlands did a terrific job of making the rides available long enough for the kids to experience while preparing an extended indoor show to follow.
“I thought it was amazing. To get to have this kind of experience with kids who don’t often get a chance to do things like this was awesome,” said receiver Natey Adjei, who participated in his first Monday Morning Magic.
“I had more fun, to be honest, than some of these kids. Getting to be side by side with them on the rides and getting to see the smiles on their faces of these kids I think I’ll remember for a long time. The joy they had, you could tell it meant a lot to them. This weather is something, but once you get on a ride, the smiles are still the same.”
At five-foot-nine, Adjei is kind of kid sized. It’s even more fun to watch the kids with a six-footfour, 288-pound defensive tackle like Almondo Sewell.
“You can see the excitement on their faces when they get here. Then they get on rides with players and do some of the other stuff. And we enjoy it, too. We’re big kids trying to go on all the rides, too,” said Sewell, a CFL all-star the last four seasons.
“You kind of form bonds with some of these kids because when you’ve been with the team for a while, you see the same kid back here next year and the next year and watch them growing up. It means a lot to these kids and they remember who you are exactly.”
Brandon Zylstra may be an emerging star receiver, but is only nine games into his career as an Eskimo, so this is all new to him.
It’s pretty special stuff. If this doesn’t make you feel good, I think you have an issue as a person.
“I went on a few rides with a few of the kids. I went to the petting zoo and Legoland and tried to experience as much of it as possible. I just loved experiencing all the smiles on their faces. It’s just awesome.”
For new general manager Brock Sunderland, this was a first.
“It was amazing to see kids a little bit scared of seeing a giant of a football player end up getting a signed football and go for a hug. It’s pretty special stuff. If this doesn’t make you feel good, I think you have an issue as a person,” he said.
“It just showed that no matter what the weather, there are going to be smiles on kids’ faces. And the smiles on the players faces were still wider than the ones on the faces of the kids,” said Eskimos CEO Len Rhodes.
“Today really puts it in perspective for the players how lucky they are when they look at some of the kids that aren’t so blessed.
“I feel so good about our coaches moving the practice to later this afternoon. I spoke to Jason Maas in April and he said he was going to make sure it was going to happen. I appreciate it from the bottom of my own heart on this one.”
Four K-Days ago, head coach Chris Jones — with the full support of then-GM Ed Hervey — refused to change meeting and practice times to allow the team to be part of it. This year Maas held his practice back until 3:30 p.m. to make it happen.
“This is an event that is not mandatory, but when they push practice all the way back, we have everybody show up to it on the team,” said Sewell.
“It’s something that we really need to do. With some of the stuff these kids have to go through compared to what we have to go through is nothing. It motivates us as well. And it’s fun. I had some kids wanting my autograph, but then Leonardo and Donatello, the Ninja Turtles, came up and they were out of there.”
Over the years your correspondent has watched hundreds of coaches in dozens of sports try to come up with team bonding experiences, but Monday Morning Magic in Edmonton may be the greatest team-bonding experience of them all.