Panda Game
 |
|
| Teams | |
|---|---|
| First meeting | 1955 Carleton 14, Ottawa 6 |
| Latest meeting | October 1, 2016 Carleton 43, Ottawa 23 |
| Next meeting | September 30, 2017 |
| Trophy | Pedro the Panda (3rd Version) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 47 |
| All-time series | Ottawa leads, 33–15 |
| Largest victory | Ottawa, 44–0 (1957) |
| Longest win streak | Ottawa, 7 (1957–1963) |
| Current win streak | Carleton, 3 (2014–present) |
The Panda Game is a Canadian rivalry football game between the two OUA football teams in Ottawa, Ontario, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton University Ravens. It is one of the oldest and richest rivalries in Canadian university football. Its name is derived from the trophy presented to the winner each year; Pedro the Panda. The game is part of the regular East division season, but is celebrated profusely due to its history, the week preceding the game sometimes referred to as "Panda Week". uOttawa is located in the downtown Sandy Hill neighbourhood of the city, while Carleton is between Old Ottawa South and Dow's Lake.
In 1955, Bryan McNulty, a University of Ottawa student and associate editor for the Fulcrum, decided to promote the rivalry between his school and Carleton University. He asked a 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). McNulty later convinced Snow to display the panda in his front window and then organized the first "Pandanapping", a ritual in which Pedro would be stolen from each campus in various ways. "Pandanapping" would progress over the years to the point where major vandalism was involved and almost jeopardized the game's future.
In a short matter of time, both Pedro and the Panda Game itself became national icons. 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.
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