Jim Hunt (columnist) - Harold Ballard

Harold Ballard

Jim Hunt had many run-ins with Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard. It was Hunt that gave Harold Ballard the nickname Pal Hal, which would be the title of Dick Beddoes biography about Ballard. The first notable incident with Ballard took place as a rebuttal towards Hunt’s comments about the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ballard went on the air after the next Maple Leafs game and called Hunt a bastard. He then told TV host Dave Hodge that his comments were about someone whose last name starts with one of the first three letters of the alphabet. Hodge responded by saying Jim Bunt. Ballard responded by saying the name started with the letter C.

When Hunt worked for the Toronto Sun newspaper, Hunt was asked to attend Harold Ballard’s 85th birthday. The birthday was on July 30, 1988 and held at Ballard’s cottage in Thunder Bay. Hunt attended the party with a female photographer called Veronica Milne. Hunt and Milne got lost on the way to the party and arrived an hour late. Upon their arrival, Ballard responded by saying, “Hunt, I know why you’re late. You were humping her in the back seat of the car.”