The Panda Game (French: Match Panda) is an annual Canadian football game between the two OUA football teams in Ottawa, Ontario: the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton University Ravens. It is the most significant rivalry in Canadian university football and for many years has been the highest attended event in all of U Sports, and often is the best attended sporting event in Ottawa each year (surpassing all professional and amateur events in the city). Its name is derived from Pedro the Panda, the trophy presented to the winner each year. The game is part of the regular East division season, but is celebrated profusely due to its colourful history. The week preceding the game is sometimes referred to as "Panda Week". The University of Ottawa is located in the downtown Sandy Hill neighbourhood of the city, while Carleton is between Old Ottawa South and Dow's Lake.
Creation and further history In the fall of 1955, Thomas White and Bryan McNulty, two University of Ottawa students, decided to create a rivalry between their school and Carleton University. As sports editor of the U of O newspaper, Tom White suggested that they asked a prominent local jeweller, Jack Snow, to donate a stuffed panda that would be named "Pedro" to be used as a Gee-Gee mascot (as they had not adopted the Gee-Gee horse mascot yet). Mr. Snow had earlier been a team sponsor and was agreeable that the panda be "stolen" from his store and that Carleton students would be blamed for the theft. It was also understood that the police would be advised of the hoax beforehand. McNulty and White convinced Snow to display the panda in his front window and then organized the first "Pandanapping". The afternoon prior to the game, White drove McNulty and two other U of O students to the store and, claiming to be Carleton students, nabbed Pedro the Panda and took off. That evening, while watching the news on the local CBC station, Tom White's parents thought that the theft reflected badly on the Carleton student body, not knowing the panda was in an upstairs bedroom cupboard in their own home. Two Carleton students, roomers in an adjacent apartment, were also unaware. The following day, White and McNulty made their way to the north stands of Landsdown Park waiting for their moment. Just prior to the end of the game, Pedro the Panda was parachuted onto the playing field. The Panda Game rivalry - and ritual of the theft of Pedro being stolen from each campus in various ways - lasted more than four decades. "Pandanapping" would progress over the years to the point where major vandalism was involved and almost jeopardized the game's future.
Both Pedro and the Panda Game itself became national icons and feted across the country. In 1958, after a 25–0 Gee-Gee victory, Pedro went on a world tour. He made visits to McGill University in Montréal, Dalhousie University in Halifax, the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, UCLA in Los Angeles, and Alabama State University in Montgomery. It is said that Pedro was even sent to Peru, Mexico and Europe.
The game quickly became the most well-known football game in Canada behind the Grey Cup and the Vanier Cup. The attendance at the Panda Game one year exceeded 16,000, which was higher than that of the Vanier Cup that same season. The resumption of the Panda Bowl took place in October, 2013 when Thomas White, assisted by representative players from both university teams in 1955, presented the winning game trophy to the victorious captain of the University of Ottawa team.
1987 tragedy By the 1980s, the Panda Game had gained a reputation for being a drunken party more than a football game.
The 1987 game brought heavily packed stands. Dozens of fans leaned up against a railing, causing it to collapse. 30 Ravens fans fell roughly 16 feet onto concrete. Many students sustained broken bones and concussions, while one female student broke her neck and spent 20 days in a coma.
The future of the Panda Game was in doubt after the incident, but the tradition ultimately carried on. The 1988 game was heavily monitored by police and there was a general lack of enthusiasm about the event.
Cancellation, eventual return The aging stadium at Lansdowne Park fell into disrepair in the 1990s. The folding of the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1996 left the venue without a full-time tenant. As it was economically unfeasible to maintain the venue so as to safely host a single football game annually, the game was moved to Carleton's Keith Harris Stadium in 1997.
The resulting loss of revenue aggravated an already precarious financial situation for Carleton's football team. In 1998, Carleton University decided to cancel their football program at the end of the season after numerous years of sustained financial losses. This decision rendered the Panda Game tradition dead and left the Gee-Gees as the lone collegiate football team in the city for the first time in 53 years.
The late 2000s brought rumours that Carleton may once again look to field a football team sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, serious plans to rebuild and modernize the facilities at Lansdowne Park were put into place. After years of planning, in 2013, the Ravens once again took the field and would mark the return of the Panda Game tradition. 2013's Panda Game was a success with approximately 4,000 fans packing the brand-new Gee-Gees Field, the game resulted in the Gee-Gees winning the Pedro trophy with a score of 35–10.
Return to Lansdowne Park
It was announced that the 2014 Panda Game was to be held at the newly renovated 24,000 seat TD Place Stadium, thus returning the game to its former home at Lansdowne Park.
The Panda Game in 2014 was another wildly successful venture, the use of the modernized facility saw the crowd grow to 12,000 as the Ravens came away with a last second Hail Mary catch to win the game 33–31. Fans immediately stormed the field, following the Touchdown. In Canadian Amateur football the convert is an optional play following a Touchdown. The Carleton Head Coach elected not to try the convert and end the game. In Amateur football there is no option for the defence to score points on a convert.
The 2015 edition saw a then-record attendance of 17,596. It was also the highest scoring Panda Game of all time with a combined score of 93 points, crushing the previous record of 77 points in 1975.
In 2016, the No. 7 ranked Gee-Gees came into the game undefeated (4–0) as they faced the No. 10 Ravens (3–2). Surpassing the previous season's record attendance mark, the 2016 Panda Game was a sellout as 23,329 fans watched Carleton defeat Ottawa 43–23.Carleton Ravens knock off Ottawa Gee-Gees in Panda Game It was the most attended U Sports football regular season football game in at least two decades.
The 2020 Panda Game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the 2021 Panda Game, there were serious disturbances in Sandy Hill, resulting in several arrests and criminal charges. For the 2022 edition of the game, police increased their presence in the affected neighbourhood while officials threatened to cancel future Panda Games if such disturbances were repeated. There were disturbances in Sandy Hill after the 2022 game, leading to seven arrests. In 2023, the game was moved to a Sunday. The University of Ottawa created successful student events on campus before and after the game, and worked with community organizations, the city and the Ottawa Police, greatly reducing any disruptions before or after the game.
Game results YearSiteWinning teamScoreLosing teamScoreSeries tallyNotes1955 Lansdowne ParkCarleton14 Ottawa6CAR 1–0First official Panda Game 1956 Lansdowne ParkCarleton14 Ottawa10CAR 2–01957 Lansdowne ParkOttawa44 Carleton0CAR 2–1Biggest blowout in Panda Game history1958 Lansdowne ParkOttawa23 Carleton0TIE 2–2Attendance: 2,5001959 Lansdowne ParkOttawa42 Carleton0OTT 3–21960 Lansdowne ParkOttawa28 Carleton6OTT 4–21961 Lansdowne ParkOttawa13 Carleton12OTT 5–21962 Lansdowne ParkOttawa13 Carleton10OTT 6–21963 Lansdowne ParkOttawa41 Carleton21OTT 7–21964 Lansdowne ParkCarleton40 Ottawa33OTT 7–3Attendance: 3,0001965 Lansdowne ParkOttawa27 Carleton19OTT 8–3Attendance: 6,0001966 Lansdowne ParkOttawa28 Carleton13OTT 9–31967 Lansdowne ParkOttawa36 Carleton20OTT 10–3Attendance: 6,5001968 Lansdowne ParkOttawa28 Carleton27OTT 11–3Carleton scores a touchdown as the clock ran out, but missed a two-point conversion attempt which would have won the game. Attendance: 6,200 1969 Lansdowne ParkCarleton21 Ottawa20OTT 11–4Attendance: 14,0001970 Lansdowne ParkOttawa29 Carleton20OTT 12–4Attendance: 11,0001971 Lansdowne ParkCarleton28 Ottawa14OTT 12–5Attendance: 15,0001972 Lansdowne ParkOttawa31 Carleton14OTT 13–5Attendance: 10,0001973 Lansdowne ParkOttawa21 Carleton14OTT 14–5Attendance: 6,0001974 Lansdowne ParkOttawa48 Carleton7OTT 15–5Attendance: 13,5001975 Lansdowne ParkOttawa55 Carleton22OTT 16–5Gee-Gees go on to win National Championship Attendance: 15,5981976 Lansdowne ParkOttawa19 Carleton14OTT 17–5Attendance: 13,0001977 Lansdowne ParkCarleton36 Ottawa16OTT 17–6Attendance: 12,0001978 Lansdowne ParkCarleton24 Ottawa13OTT 17–7Attendance: 15,0001979 Lansdowne ParkOttawa28 Carleton16OTT 18–71st Pedro retires Attendance: 14,0001980 Lansdowne ParkCarleton30 Ottawa21OTT 18–8Attendance: 15,0001981 Lansdowne ParkOttawa29 Carleton0OTT 19–8Attendance: 10,0001982 Lansdowne ParkOttawa19 Carleton7OTT 20–8Attendance: 8,0001983 Lansdowne ParkCarleton28 Ottawa23OTT 20–91984 Lansdowne ParkCarleton30 Ottawa18OTT 20–101985 Lansdowne ParkCarleton34 Ottawa27OTT 20–111986 Lansdowne ParkOttawa30 Carleton29OTT 21–111987 Lansdowne ParkCarleton8 Ottawa4OTT 21–12See "1987 Tragedy"1988 Lansdowne ParkOttawa29 Carleton9OTT 22–121989 Lansdowne ParkOttawa23 Carleton11OTT 23–121990 Lansdowne ParkOttawa30 Carleton17OTT 24–121991 Lansdowne ParkOttawa34 Carleton15OTT 25–121992 Lansdowne ParkOttawa17 Carleton6OTT 26–121993 Lansdowne ParkOttawa21 Carleton3OTT 27–121994 Lansdowne ParkCarleton27 Ottawa15OTT 27–131995 Lansdowne ParkOttawa35 Carleton8OTT 28–131996 Lansdowne ParkOttawa28 Carleton0OTT 29–131997 Keith Harris StadiumOttawa22 Carleton19OTT 30–131998 Keith Harris StadiumOttawa59 Carleton17OTT 31–13Ravens team cancelled following season2013 Gee-Gees FieldOttawa35 Carleton10OTT 32–13Return of Panda Game2014 TD Place StadiumCarleton33 Ottawa 31 OTT 32–14 Last second Hail Mary catch2015 TD Place StadiumCarleton48 Ottawa 45 OTT 32–15 Overtime victory, highest scoring game in Panda history2016 TD Place StadiumCarleton43 Ottawa 23 OTT 32–16 Sellout crowd (23,329)2017 TD Place StadiumCarleton33 Ottawa 30 OTT 32–17 Overtime victory, Sellout crowd (24,420)2018 TD Place StadiumOttawa38 Carleton 27 OTT 33–17 50th Panda Game2019 TD Place StadiumOttawa32 Carleton 10 OTT 34–17 Attendance record (24,600)2021 TD Place StadiumOttawa19 Carleton 17 OTT 35–17 2022 TD Place StadiumOttawa37 Carleton 7 OTT 36–17 2023 TD Place StadiumOttawa18 Carleton 16 OTT 37–17 Ottawa scores a walk-off 55-yard field goal to win. Attendance: 23,4672024 TD Place StadiumOttawa35 Carleton 32 OTT 38–17 Attendance: 23,4992025 TD Place StadiumCarleton20 Ottawa 14 OTT 38–18 Sell out - 24,3722026TD Place StadiumOttawa35Carleton32OTT 39-18
See also Capital Hoops Classic
Notes
References
External links Panda Game at the Ottawa Gee-Gees website