Every student in Ottawa needs to see a Panda Game at least once. It doesn’t matter whether you are a diehard football fan or a casual onlooker—the game’s atmosphere is unbeatable. No other event captures student life the way the Panda Game does.
It’s the only Ravens football game of the year at Landsdowne, staring across the field and yelling at our cross-town rivals.
While the jeers are often vulgar they are friendly at heart. The game puts a face to the Raven’s and Gee-Gee’s rivalry. It elevates it from frosh chants to something tangible.
Being surrounded by peers, alumni, and other members of the Ottawa community makes you feel like you are a part of something bigger than yourself or your immediate group of friends.
Carleton is a large place and outside of your program it can be hard to feel connected. The Panda game gives the engineer trapped in Mackenzie something to chat with the art history major over pizza and a pint.
There were people at the game this year who did not watch a single play but had a blast. Though this may seem strange it reveals the power of uniting the schools over a single goal, bringing Pedro the Panda home.
Pedro and the game’s history goes deeper than Capital Hoops, frosh week, and exams.
The match is a spectacle that unites the schools over something positive. It gives students a sense of ownership over our school.
Even with the storybook ending, the event is so much more than the scoreboard.
