By Paul Morden for the Sarnia Observer
Hugh ‘Bummer’ Stirling might rate consideration as one of the greatest Sarnia athletes of all time on the uniqueness of his nickname alone.
The current definition of that particular bit of slang certainly doesn’t describe what this two-time Grey Cup champion could do to a football.
Back in November, 1934, Observer sports editor O. W. Wilson said the Grey Cup winning Sarnia Imperials were paced in their championship win “by the sky scraping hoists of Bummer Stirling.”
Born in London in 1907, Stirling played football in high school and joined the Junior St. Thomas Tigers in the 1920s.
He led that team the the Dominion Junior Football Championships in 1928 and then joined the Sarnia Imperials the following season.
The team was sponsored by Imperial Oil, which offered a job to all the team’s players, and that was a powerful incentive in 1929.
Stirling played during the glory years of Imperial football in Sarnia.
A teammate of Norm Perry and Ormond Beach, Stirling has been described as among the best kickers in the game.
Former Observer reporter Dan McCaffery noted in a column several years ago that Stirling regularly punted balls 70 yards or more. Once he silenced a Toronto crowd by kicking the ball right out of Varsity Stadium.
A Montreal reporter wrote that Stirling’s kick “soared away like a projectile from a naval gun.”
He was famous for kicking a 115-yard punt, said to be the longest in Sarnia football history.
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame notes that along with his long and accurate punting, Stirling was recognized as one of the game’s best backfielders. He was a “60-minute man” known for having a fierce competitive spirit.
Stirling was a star with the Imperials all through his career, which continued until 1938 and included being named an all-star six straight seasons.
And, he was an important member of Sarnia’s Grey Cup-winning teams in 1934 and 1936.
Before his first Grey Cup win, Stirling was a member of the team that played the only Grey Cup hosted by Sarnia.
The Imperials lost by a single point to the Toronto Argonauts on a frozen field covered in snow that December day.
The official site of the Canadian Football League notes that most experts believed the Imperials should have won that match, but Toronto limped away with a 4-3 win.
It was a brutal defensive battle and the first time no touchdowns were scored in a Grey Cup. Stirling kicked all three single points for Sarnia.
The team came back the following year to win the Grey Cup.
An Observer story on that game played at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium said, “There was never any doubt as to the outcome of Saturday’s game from the time Bummer Stirling hoisted the first ball into the stands and out of circulation.”
The Imperials defeated the Regina Roughriders 20 to 12 that day, with several of Sarnia’s points coming off kicks by Stirling.
He was the highest scorer in all of eastern Canada that season.
In 1936, Stirling and the Imperials were back at Varsity Stadium to win their second Grey Cup over the Ottawa Rough Riders 26 to 20.
Stirling was named the league’s most valuable player that year, and two years later the Canadian Press made him the first football player to receive the Lionel Conacher Trophy as the top Canadian male athlete of the year.
Stirling retired from football when the Second World War began and served overseas.
After leaving the armed forces, he moved to Alberta where he worked for Imperial Oil.
In 1966, Stirling was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Sarnia Lambton Sports Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Stirling died in Calgary in 1994.