Montana Pandas and the Return of Panda Meat

Friday night is a big one for Griz fans. There’s another ESPN game featuring the Montana Grizzlies and Sacramento State. But before anyone’s even gotten their helmets on this baby, the thing has already turned into a trash-talking circus.

So the president of Sac State, Luke Wood, gets on ESPN and calls the Griz the "Montana Pandas.” You could almost hear the needle scratch on the statewide record player.

Coach Bobby Hauck didn’t miss a beat. He shot back with his guns blazing and called the Sac State president a “clown.” And with that, the internet made up its mind: it’s Panda-monium.

When the Montana Pandas were (again) a thing

The nickname was meant to be a jab at the Montana team. Instead, Griz Nation took it and ran with it like a pick-six. Suddenly, pandas popped up everywhere on my social media pages. Everything from memes to AI and even some very questionable Photoshop jobs.

And, you know … it’s really not the weirdest way pandas have been associated with Montana football culture. Over 15 years ago, our friend Shawn of Rockstar Radio Show encountered a telemarketer while on the air on 96.3 the Blaze. He answered the request line call and decided to turn it into an opportunity for himself.

The ‘myth’ of the panda meat hoax

Shawn is a master at *effin with telemarketers. He told her he had $88,000 worth of panda meat in his freezer. Two hundred suitcases of it. Straight-faced. all stashed in his basement. Let's just say the bit snowballed fast.

The telemarketer attempted to keep her professionalism, while Shawn explained that the economy went belly-up and people stopped eating panda; he only needed $25,000 to pay back some very shady people.

We dug up the call on the Rockstar Radio Show YouTube page, and it is internet gold.

NCAA Approved Pandas

If history has taught us anything, it is that you do not mess with Montana when pandas are at issue. Be it freezer meat or on the football field, this state can turn trash talk to a rally cry.

So when the Griz take the field on ESPN Friday night, don’t be surprised to see a couple of guys in panda suits in the stands. Some jokes only get better with age. Just like "exquisite" panda meat.