Fattening the Panda

The results of the Panda Game, the annual rivalry game between Carleton University and uOttawa, were all tabulated some time ago on a page bearing that very name. Most entries now include at least a partial game summary as well.

So now that the basics are down, the goal moving forward is to provide greater detail surrounding those contests including the antics involving its coveted prize, Pedro the Panda. 

Starting at the beginning seemed to make sense. I tracked down what appears to be the first mention of Pedro in the Ottawa Citizen from October 4th, 1955. 

Sure enough, Pedro was stolen two days later. It took all of two days for a tradition of mascot-based shenanigans to begin.

I knew I'd found a picture of a couple of Carleton players posing with Pedro following this game so he had either been recovered or replaced in short order. In fact, he parachuted in some time during the fourth quarter. 

So a pretty eventful debut for the city's favourite stuffed (at the time) bear.

I'll continue looking for details of his adventures over the decades in which he was particularly active. For now, in addition to the articles above, a more detailed summary for the 1955 contest was added at the bottom of the Panda Game page. 

Oct 29th, 1949: Carleton 06 @ uOttawa 24

While appreciatively watching the OUA semi-final game between uOttawa and Queen's on OUA.tv, I also took some time to split some of the information about the garnet and grey between a few more pages specific to certain eras.

1949 to 1970 was selected as one period of time. The team joined the Ottawa-St. Lawrence Football Conference in 1949 so it felt like a good starting point. That time range includes the Matt Anthony-coached years and right through to an appearance in the National Championship game with Bob O'Billovich at the helm.

The smaller segments will make it easier to record the program's long history. I plan to include more game summaries on each dedicated page as well as individual and team honours and so on to the results that are already displayed. Having one page for a program that dates back to 1881 was becoming cumbersome.

The game below against Carleton, pre-Panda, is from that 1949 season. I thought it made a fine addition. A few more have been added as well here and there on this new page, with many more to come.