Miracle bowler in top 100
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Updated: July 02, 2009 1:13 PM
“The Animal” is one of the top 100 male bowlers in Canada.
The top 100 men and 100 women were honoured with certificates celebrating a century of excellence for the 100th anniversary of 5-pin bowling in Canada.
“I thought it was a very great honour. I was happy, surprised,” Hunt said of his honour as a top 100 in Canada. “It’s something that you don’t just do overnight, it’s been the last ... 30 years.”
This weekend, The Animal is battling for a position at nationals. A member of the Bowl BC 400 Club, Hunt will be bowling with the senior team at nationals, a first for him, though it’s his lucky 13th visit to masters nationals. Usually he’s gone around and competed in tournaments to qualify for the tournament division, but finances mean he’ll play with the seniors team this year.
“This is the first time with the seniors,” he said.
The competition is pins over average, which will throw him off a little since he’s more of a scratch bowler.
“’It’s a different type of game, so for me it’s going to be a little harder,” he said.
Hunt’s first visit to nationals, was in 1986 and it was then CBC branded him with the handle “The Animal”.
“CBC made this about all of us,” he said, gesturing to the cartoon of his younger self, with full beard and a caveman getup, complete with club.
“I was a little noisy, rambunctious, bouncing out of the lanes,” he recalled. “Now I’m old I can get down but I can’t get back up.”
Though he lives in Esquimalt, Hunt bowls at Sidney’s Miracle Lanes. He’s fond of the local bowling house since it’s owned by the same family who operated a house in Esquimalt decades ago when Hunt began bowling. The lack of bowling houses is something he laments as the sport hits the century mark.
“Property’s too expensive,” Hunt said. “Who’s going to put out $7 million to put a bowling alley, to make five bucks a line back.”
“They are promoting to youth, but unfortunately we’re losing youth bowlers because we’re losing bowling alleys,” he added. “A lot of parents … they’re not going to drive a half-hour, 45 minutes ... for the kids to bowl for two hours. As the lanes close we lose bowlers. This is where we lose the youth and the seniors.”
He makes the drive to Sidney, and at times to Duncan, simply because of his love of the sport.
“If I wasn’t competitive I might not,” he said.
reporter@peninsulanewsreview.com
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