The annual Panda Game between the Carleton Ravens and University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees broke the attendance record once again, and it was the largest attendance for a regular season Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) football game in over twenty years, according to the CIS.
But while the popularity of the Ravens-Gee-Gees rivalry is thriving on the football field, it is struggling elsewhere.
Carleton is promoting a “Rivalry Series” of games between the two schools, but aside from Panda Game, the advertising has been minimal at best. The men’s hockey rivalry will reignite in the Colonel By Classic on Oct. 19, but promotion has been weak in comparison to the Panda Game.
While it’s logical to mark the return of U of O men’s hockey with a significant game against Carleton, it also raises the question of why the women’s hockey teams were not given an equal opportunity. Though hockey games are much longer, it would make sense to create a major hockey event featuring both teams—similar to the Capital Hoops Classic.
Meanwhile, other teams at Carleton are branding their own significant games against the Gee-Gees, but have been shunned by the Rivalry Series.
The men’s lacrosse teams played a pair of games this season that were dubbed the Capital Lacrosse Clash, while the men’s baseball teams take part in the O-Train Series. For other teams, playing against U of O is just another game.
The Panda Game represents everything that is great about the rivalry between Carleton and U of O, but the Rivalry Series could be so much more.
