Baby Sens silence superfan’s cymbals
John Wilson is one sad superfan. The American Hockey League’s Belleville Senators hit the ice Wednesday night for their first-ever home game in the newly renovated Yardmen Arena. There’ll be a ceremonial dropping of the puck, a military flypast and more.
But there will not, it seems, be a costumed, cymbal-crashing man in the crowd.
“Cymbals” Wilson was a constant sight at Belleville Bulls games and later at games in lower-tier leagues.
But at his west-end Belleville home Tuesday, Wilson, 75, said he was feeling unwanted.
“They never called me back,” he said, sounding crestfallen. He expressed no complaint or anger, just surprise and disappointment.
Team executives did not respond to multiple calls and e-mail messages requesting comment by The Intelligencer’s deadline. Calls to the Senators’ front office were not answered Tuesday afternoon.
A Belleville Senators decal decorates Wilson’s screen door. Standing in his kitchen, the widowed grandfather was ready for Halloween, dressed in one of his many comical getups. He wore a black 1970s suit with sequins, wide lapels, an oversized sparkly bow tie and glittering glasses.
That was just for walking around downtown, he said with a laugh. The trick-or-treaters would be seeing Batman instead.
The retired residential counsellor and supervisor at Sir James Whitney and Sagonaska schools spent 25 Hockey superfan John "Cymbals" Wilson shows off his instruments and one of his many costumes - outside his Belleville home Tuesday in Belleville. Wilson sometimes plays his cymbals at OHL Peterborough Petes games at the Memorial Centre. years attending Belleville Bulls games in a wide array of costumes, crashing his cymbals every time his favourite team scored a goal.
Back then, he’d pop up as Zorro, Elvis, Batman, an escaped convict and more, sounding his cymbals before moving elsewhere to await the next goal. For a time, he also travelled to the team’s away games.
p.m., (HCCSS, KCVI, ASCVI, LCVI, SMCSS, CSS) @ LCVI; (CCI, STASS, IEW, SPCSS, TASSS) @ CCI a.m., Flag Rugby, Kawartha Pine Ridge Elementary Athletic Association Tournament, Fleming Sports Field Complex p.m., OHL Hockey, Sarnia Sting
He said at the time he didn’t want to upset any other fans, though he admitted to startling a few. But most, he said, were welcoming and enjoyed his constantly-changing outfits.
When the Bulls departed in 2015, Wilson took his act to cheer on other teams, including the “very kind” Wellington Dukes, at whose games he’s a regular, as well as the Trenton Golden Hawks, Cobourg Cougars and Peterborough Petes.
“I’ve had VIP status with all of them,” including the Bulls, he said Tuesday.
He said he spoke months ago to a Senators representative and asked to continue his appearances. The representative, whose name Wilson couldn’t recall, asked if Wilson had a band.
“I said, ‘I am the band,’” Wilson said, laughing. He left his phone number but received no call.
When Postmedia Network called him Tuesday to see if he’d be appearing in character the next evening, Wilson said it didn’t look likely.
Wilson said he’d requested VIP status with the team, wanting only to be allowed to move around the stands as he had with the Bulls. “I don’t need a seat,” he added. He said the American Hockey League Senators, however, are “maybe too big” for his routine. He expressed no anger, only resignation.
“They’d have called me by now, wouldn’t they?
“I would just be honoured to cheer them on and see all my friends in the stands,” he said. “Ninety-nine per cent of them I’d know.
“Everywhere I go they’re asking me the same questions. ‘Are you going to be there?’ ‘Why aren’t you going to be there?’
“I feel kind of bad when I have to say, ‘No.’”
The Senators’ administration, he said, “have got a lot on their minds, and I understand that. “It’s up to them. “I don’t want to go there if I’m not invited.” a.m., (BHS, HHSS, STASS) @ BHS p.m., (ASCVI, LCVI, HCCSS, KCVI, SMCSS) @ HCCSS p.m., (CCI, IEW, SPCSS) @ CCI