# Can't use Cougars as Mascot **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124 "2012-01-20T13:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/1 "2012-01-20T13:27:36Z")
I swear, this sounds like something a stand-up comedian would come up with. But it purports to be true. And in Utah!Q > [@](#): > > **New school can’t be Cougars because middle-aged women might be offended** > > Students at a new Utah high school are facing disappointment after their choice for a new school mascot was rejected for one of the strangest reasons possible: Board members deemed it might be seen as offensive to middle-aged women. > > As reported by Salt Lake City Fox affiliate KTSU, Draper (Utah) Corner Canyon High announced its new mascot and school colors on Wednesday, with Canyons School District officials proclaiming that the school’s teams will be called the Chargers, using a blue and white color scheme. > > That’s all fine and good except for the fact that the school’s future student body – which was given the opportunity to select its own future mascot – had chosen to be the Cougars. With some 23 percent of the student vote, the Cougar choice was far preferred to other options, which included the Chargers, Diamondbacks, Falcons, Raptors, Broncos, Bears and Cavaliers. > > The reason why the future student body gravitated toward Cougars is pretty clear: Area collegiate power BYU uses the Cougar as its mascot and enjoys an enormous fan base of area residents and those who follow the Mormon faith (BYU is a Mormon institution). > > Still, the Canyons School Board refused to accept the Cougar as a mascot out of fear that it might offend older women. In the current edition of the Webster Dictionary, the second definition for cougar sights a slang terminology that refers to “a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man.” > **[New school can’t be Cougars because middle-aged women might be offended](https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/school-t-cougars-because-middle-aged-women-might-161402778.html)** > > Students at a new Utah high school are facing disappointment after their choice for a new school mascot was rejected for one of the strangest reasons possible: Board members deemed it might be seen as offensive to middle-aged women. Continue reading... Actually, I think I’d like to see a team called the Cougars with a team mascot that looked like a cartoony sexy middle-aged lady. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/2 "2012-01-20T13:36:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, I think I’d like to see a team called the Cougars with a team mascot that looked like a cartoony sexy middle-aged lady. I know of some guys in Indiana in a softball leauge with just this name and imagery. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/3 "2012-01-20T13:49:22Z")
maybe something like the San Diego Chargers’ logo for the hot flashes I sure wouldn’t wat to suit up and go against a team of bitter divorced women. After they sack the quarterback, they take half his house away from him. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/4 "2012-01-20T13:59:55Z")
My college’s mascot is the cougars, although it has been long before the present day definition of “cougar.” This is a college run by nuns and used to be an all-women school. It’s also a huge improvement on the “Highlanders,” which it had up until about the 70s (although it amuses me to think of sporting events with a bunch of nuns in full habits on the sidelines, screaming “THere can be only one!”) ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/5 "2012-01-20T15:07:46Z")
My kid’s high school mascot is the cougar. All the mom’s go around sporting “Cougar Mom” shirts at the games. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/6 "2012-01-20T15:14:05Z")
Ironically, Utah might be the one state where cougars in the wild actually outnumber their urban namesakes. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/7 "2012-01-20T15:15:52Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > My kid’s high school mascot is the cougar. All the mom’s go around sporting “Cougar Mom” shirts at the games. I’ve seen sweatshirts with pictures of “Hello Kitty” on them, with “Hello Cougar” written on them instead. Worn by middle-aged ladies, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/8 "2012-01-20T15:15:59Z")
I would love to see a high school team called the “Sluts”, with cheerleaders with deliberately bad makeup and no panties. Every single male student would come to (and come at!) every single game. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/9 "2012-01-20T15:27:04Z")
If not Cougars, why not Mountain Lions or Pumas? It’s the same cat, just without the middle-aged lady context. BTW, this is utterly bogus thinking. Shame on you for being so dumb, Corner Canyon High! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/10 "2012-01-20T15:28:01Z")
Chargers is bad too. It promotes accumulating debt on credit cards which is an irresponsible thing to promote to high schoolers. Falcon can be crossed off the list also. It’s too close to the cuss word ‘fu\*kin’. It’s irresponsible to have kids wearing t-shirts that say “we’re falcon awesome” or “I’m falcon crazy”. Raptors? Nah. Too close to the word rapture. And that’s just blasphemous. And besides, raptors are dinosaurs which go against creationism. Diamondback? As in “give me that diamond back!” Now we’re promoting divorce, which goes against the sanctity of marriage. Can’t have that in our schools. Bears? Broncos? Well that’s just plain exploitation of animals. You really don’t want to upset PETA. Which leaves us with Cavaliers. How irresponsible can you get? Sending the message to high schoolers that it’s okay to have a cavalier attitude about everything. Be careless and arrogant? Is that what we want to tell our kids? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/11 "2012-01-20T15:50:39Z")
:rolleyes: [QUOTE=Some yahoo] In the current edition of the Webster Dictionary, the second definition for cougar sights a slang terminology that refers to “a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man.” [/QUOTE] So the author/editor(s) of this piece _went to a dictionary_ to look up “cougar,” but they still used “sights” for a citation? Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/12 "2012-01-20T15:51:28Z")
“Cougars Outlast Bucks.” “Cougars Pounded By Gamecocks.” “Stay tuned for the Husky-Cougar wrapup.” … and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/13 "2012-01-20T15:53:54Z")
Just get away from animals entirely… The Canyon Gash. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/14 "2012-01-20T18:22:01Z")
I’m surprised that the reason given is that they don’t want to offend middle-aged women. I would think that a more legitimate reason is that they don’t want a mascot that is a currently popular slang term with a sexual component. That, at least, makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/15 "2012-01-20T18:29:13Z")
They should have just mentioned not wanting to offend rock and roll singers from Indiana as a reason. That would have made as much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/16 "2012-01-20T18:46:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Chargers is bad too. It promotes accumulating debt on credit cards which is an irresponsible thing to promote to high schoolers. > … > Raptors? Nah. Too close to the word rapture. And that’s just blasphemous. And besides, raptors are dinosaurs which go against creationism. > … Chargers are also a large decorative dinner plate so it also promotes overeating. But Raptors are birds of prey and have been referred to as such long before Jurassic Park. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/17 "2012-01-20T19:24:13Z")
But raptors sounds kinda like rapists, if you squint, and we certainly don’t want to go around glorifying them. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/18 "2012-01-20T19:32:05Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > But raptors sounds kinda like rapists, if you squint, and we certainly don’t want to go around glorifying them. Raptor, rapture, rapist… it’s the same damn word. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/19 "2012-01-20T21:34:51Z")
I can’t wait until the Cougars play the Trojans. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124/20 "2012-01-20T21:38:13Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Raptor, rapture, rapist… it’s the same damn word. Reminds me of the _It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia_ episode where Charlie is on a date and wants to impress the woman by telling her that he’s a philanthropist, but he gets garbled and tells her that he’s a “full-on rapist.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-use-cougars-as-mascot/610124.md?page=2)