He entertains most of the fans in the stands—and frightens a few. And he’s everywhere. Just who is this mysterious sports nut?
FAN-SPASTIC
When Cameron Hughes attends a sporting event, he never goes unnoticed. It’s not just that he’s a husky, six-foot-tall man with fiery red hair sitting in the cheap seats. No matter how well or badly the home team is doing, he cheers into his megaphone, jumps up and down, pumps his fists—whatever it takes to get the fans around him excited. And in really desperate times—like when the home team is getting shellacked—Hughes does his infamous “stripper dance”: Slowly, he removes one of his 10 or so layered T-shirts, holds it up over his head, twirls it in the air, and then throws it. Then he starts gyrating. “I’m that guy,” he says, “the funny, happy, dancing, possibly very drunk guy you’ve seen at the ballpark at least once.”
Is he crazy? You might think so—and you might think he owns his own jet if you’ve noticed him cheering wildly at a Los Angeles Lakers game one night, a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game a few days later, and a Detroit Red Wings hockey game a few days after that. And then he’s off to do his thing at a high-school football game in Duluth. And at every venue, it’s always the same schtick: Cheer, jump, and dance.
And he never has to buy a ticket.
For 15 years, Hughes has been a “fan for hire”—teams pay him anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500 just to show up and be himself. It adds up to a lucrative career: Working more than 80 games per year, Hughes earns somewhere in the “six figures” (he won’t say how much).
It all began, quite humbly, when Hughes didn’t make it onto his high-school basketball squad in 1989. Still wanting to help the team, he played his part from the bleachers by painting the school’s colors on his face, waving homemade signs, and cheering louder than anyone else. Later, at Bishop’s University in Quebec, Hughes took the job of “Melonhead,” the team’s mascot.
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And then destiny found him at an Ottawa Senators hockey game in 1994. More than a little drunk at the time, Hughes recalls, “I started dancing to ‘We Are Family,’ and everyone was like, ‘What is he doing?’ Then they all started clapping and cheering, and I thought, ‘Uh-oh, what did I just do?’ After the game, the team communications guy came up to me and said, ‘We want to hire you.’” Hughes took the gig, and then got another job (at $300 per game) cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hughes knew he’d found his true vocation—a professional sports nutcase.
The theory goes this way: If the fans sitting around him start acting a little nuttier, then the fans near them might get more excited as well. And hopefully that energy will transfer down to the home team and will translate into more wins. That’s what the teams who employ him hope, anyway.
The job may look like nothing but fun, but it isn’t easy. To stay in shape, Hughes trains by doing high-intensity aerobic workouts. And though he appears drunk when he’s doing his routine, he isn’t; his klutzy moves are all carefully choreographed, and three Red Bull energy drinks are usually enough to get him through the game. And with all the gyrating, Hughes gets his share of blisters, bleeding palms, bruises, sprains, and twisted ankles. At one game, he had to be rushed to the hospital suffering from dehydration. He’s also been known to upset grumpy fans, who have retaliated with hot popcorn, boos, and, in some cases, violence. Once, security didn’t get to him in time and Hughes was pushed down a flight of stairs.
So does all this effort actually help the home team play better? Hughes believes it does. So does Amanda Greco, a team official for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers: “Having Cameron there adds just a little extra energy to the crowd, and it definitely gives the players an extra advantage.”
“It’s not just a job,” Hughes insists, “It’s something I live to do.”
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