School can't call team Cougars because it offends some women

Sensitivity and political correctness regarding the names of athletic teams has officially reached a ridiculous peak.

KSTU-TV in Utah reports that a new high school's hope to call its team the Cougars was rejected because . . . wait for it . . . the Victorian-minded members of the school board thought it would be offensive to some middle-aged women.

Cougar, of course, has become a working term for older women who chase considerably younger men. But long before that usage inspired Courteney Cox's ABC sitcom "Cougar Town," the noble cougar served as a mascot for Washington State and the University of Houston.

And also for the college that has had more athletic success than any other in Utah -- Brigham Young, where the emphasis on morality has resulted in one of the nation's strictest codes of conduct.

Alas, it appears that won't help the Cougar cause at Corner Canyon High in the city of Draper when it opens in 2013. Despite Cougar getting the top support with 23% of the vote in a poll of future students the board said no.

Instead, they'll be known as the Chargers.

Unless, of course, someone decides that would be offensive to people who use credit cards.

(H/T Prep Rally)

UPDATE: A copy of the board's minutes was forwarded to us. It notes that there were many calls and emails from parents and others opposing Cougars, in part because of "the negative double entendre of the word 'cougar.' " But it should be pointed out that Cougars also was rejected because it was decided that mascot and the new school's blue-and-white colors were too close to those of BYU.