OTTAWA SUPERFAN KEEPS LEADING ALL THE CHEERS
Hughes details his wild ride through the world of sports and beyond in new book
Along the way to becoming the world's biggest superfan, Cameron Hughes was a childhood friend of Justin Trudeau, he was Ottawa Lynx mascot Lenny, he's had dance-offs with tennis star Novak Djokovic, he has partied at Prince's house, he breakdanced with Alanis Morissette, he went rollerblading and bar-hopping with Steve Nash, and Julia Roberts offered to set him up on a date with a friend.
It's been such a wild and crazy and gratifying ride, the 49-yearold Hughes decided to put his adventures into a book — King of Cheer — which is available on his website (cameronhughes.tv). The book is about “showing up, getting up and never giving up.”
Over 37 years, Hughes — who is paid to turn events into a party with his supercharged and sometimes-unhinged style — said it's been an “unlikely, crazy, fun, difficult — all of the above — career” where he's worked some 1,500 gigs in NBA and NHL arenas and Major League Baseball stadiums in front of more than 18 million people. He has also done major tennis and rugby tournaments, Olympics and cricket in Barbados.
Hughes, who is now living in Victoria, grew up in New Edinburgh and went to Rockcliffe Park Public School with Trudeau. Hughes' dad David, who was with Public Works for 25 years, had a stroke and died in 2015; his mom
Deanna, a teacher, died of breast cancer in 1988.
“There was a group of five or six of us from the 'hood who played together,” said Hughes. “I had lots of playdates (with Justin) — the RCMP would sweep my mom's house, then we'd play. He was always fun, outgoing, playful and fearless.”
Hughes' itch to be seen and heard began as a kid watching Rough Riders games with his dad at Lansdowne Park.
“There was a crazy guy in Section C,” said Hughes. “I was 11 and remember watching him and saying to my dad, `I think I can get the crowd going.' Some parents take their kids to Broadway and the kids want to be dancers. For me, it was, `No, I want to get the crowd going.' It's always been inside of me.”
Hughes went to Queen Elizabeth Public School, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, then Bishop's University (where he would wear a melon on his head for games). In 1993, in advance of
the inaugural Triple-A baseball season for the Ottawa team, he auditioned for and got the job of Lenny the Lynx. During the big mascot reveal, Hughes was asked to put the costume on and jump over the centre-field wall into a crash pad.
“Cliff Floyd, Curtis Pride, F.P. Santangelo, Kirk Rueter ... half the team jumped on me and pummelled the crap out of me,” said Hughes. “Then I had to get on an ATV and drive around in front of 10,000 people. That's how I started to work crowds.”
His next break came Jan. 8, 1994, with the Senators facing the Winnipeg Jets at the Civic Centre. Bored, with eight minutes to go in the game, Hughes got up in his seat and began to dance to Sister Sledge's We Are Family. Said Hughes: “The crowd was like, `What the hell is he doing?'” Another song came on and he started dancing up and down the aisle.
“It's why I have a career,” said Hughes. “Something possessed me, I'm not sure what it was. It just happened.”
The next year, the Senators gave him $250 to entertain fans. Once the Senators' season was done, he hooked up with the Toronto Maple Leafs to appear at playoff games. While Hockey Night in Canada's Harry Neale took some verbal jabs at him on Night 1, the colour commentator heaped on the praise the next game.
Said Hughes: “He was like, `Look at this guy go. He's from Ottawa, he's a motivational consultant, the crowd loves him, he's unbelievable.' That was the defining moment for me, where I knew I could make a living out of it.”
Another turning point came after Hughes, while on spring break, went to Los Angeles — showing up and cheering on the Lakers, Kings and Ducks. He was noticed and got gigs in Washington for the Bullets and Capitals.
The appearances have been stacking up since — 1,500 or so of them. He's done the last five NBA Finals. He's done 52 Vegas Golden Knights games in the past three years. And then there's the 2011 and 2015 U.S. Open tennis tournaments. In 2015, called to centre court by Djokovic, he gave the tennis star a double high five and an I Love New York T-shirt. They swung the T-shirts wildly above their heads before having a dance-off — another crazy moment in the crazy life of a superfan.
Invited to Prince's Beverly
Hills Mulholland Drive mansion a few years ago, Hughes ended up in the basement, where Prince was the DJ for the night — Hughes still has the purple napkins.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, he handed now U.S.-president elect Joe Biden a T-shirt.
Thinking back on a lifetime full of experiences has brought many of the moments back to Hughes, things he shares in his book.
“What I did was break it down into two sections,” he said.
“Part 1 is literally me trying out for my high school basketball team, not making it, then at the end of that narrative,
I'm at MSG performing for the New York Knicks. It takes you through the highs and lows and some of the more personal stuff that made me who I am. The second half of the book — I wrote it for the 25-year-old kid in me, stuff like that night I danced with Novak, how did that happen? It's more of the fun, lighter side of it.
“The book can't be me, me, me. I want to take (readers) on a journey. One of the book tag lines is show up — you never know, a moment could happen.”
Hughes jokes that he's had “cheer-pression” during the pandemic, which has slashed into an income that was into six figures pre-COVID-19. But he says it's been a wonderful ride.
“The goal of my journey has always been to put a smile on people's faces,” he said. “And then, along the way, there have been all these weird circumstances I've ended up in.”