In a year of firsts for the Carleton Ravens football team, perhaps the most anticipated event was the return of the Panda Game.
The first Panda Game was held in 1955 as an event to highlight the rivalry between the University of Ottawa and Carleton.
That year, Brian McNulty, then a student at the University of Ottawa and the associate editor of their student newspaper, decided something needed to be done to liven up the rivalry between the two schools.
Enter Pedro, the name given to a stuffed panda that would be awarded as a trophy to the winner of the game. Throughout the years, the game has been the source of much excitement and celebration as well as intense rivalry and pranks, which ultimately ended in 1998 with the retirement of the Carleton Ravens football program.
After disappearing from history, the first Panda Game in 15 years kicked off Oct. 5.
The level of anticipation was already high beforehand, thanks to the news that the game had sold out, with 4,200 fans expected to attend.
An hour before the game was scheduled to start, fans were already appearing at Lees Stadium, ranging in age from those old enough to have attended the very first Panda Game, to young kids accompanying their parents, and plenty of students from both Carleton and U of O.
The diversity among the fans is what makes the Panda Game so great, Carleton’s director of athletics Jennifer Brenning said.
“It really engages not just the school community, but the community at large,” she said.
This sentiment is echoed by Jennifer Elliott, the Sports Information and Events Officer at U of O.
“It’s a big game for the entire city, not just the two schools,” Elliott said.
Before the game kicked off, there was an opening ceremony featuring players from both universities who had played in the original Panda Game in 1955.
“It’s important to acknowledge the tradition and the alumni who played in the past . . . while still showcasing the teams that are playing here today,” Elliott said.
Aside from the strength and skill displayed on the field by both teams, there was also an impressive display of spectator speed and agility at the end of the first quarter when a naked male fan sped across the entire field.
Thanks to the vigilant oversight of the security officers at the game, he was quickly covered up and taken off the field, to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.
The halftime show featured plenty of games pitting Carleton students again U of O students in events such as the “Gee-Gee Derby,” where contestants were dressed in horse costumes and told to race each other to the opposing end zone.
In the end, the Ravens proved no match for the Gee-Gees this time, as the game ended in a 35-10 victory for the Gee-Gees. However, Ravens head coach Steve Sumarah said the game had many positives.
“It was a great experience with lots of positives . . . obviously we were quite excited and now that we’ve had a taste of our first Panda Game, the team is looking forward to playing this game again in the future,” he said.
As the stadium emptied out following the presentation of the silver Panda trophy to the winning team, it was clear that both the fans and the teams were already looking forward to next year’s Panda Game.
Game report: Football team defeated by Gee-Gees in renewed Panda Game
