Oddly, my DD was a "Cougar" too............but all sports have the females as "Lady Cougars".
Let's say I ask you to meet me at the Cougars basketball game tonight, you accept. I go to the girls game at Halls high, you go to the boys game at Central high.
Which one sounds more honorable? Meet me at the girls basketball game or meet me at the Lady Cougars game?
To me, the girls basketball game sounds more honorable than the Lady Cougars game. Lady Cougars sounds like a version of the real thing, which is the Cougars. The girls teams are no better or worse than the boys teams, so why add a 'compliment' or 'qualifier' to one team's nickname and not the other?
I understand that people have taken pride in the Lady Vols and Lady Rams and Lady Cougars over the years, and that's fine. I appreciate the tradition. But this thread has demonstrated that a lot of people don't care for the 'Lady' attachment and view it as patronizing. So why have a nickname that could be divisive? Everybody will be proud to be a Cougar. Not everyone will appreciate being the Lady Cougars. If I were the principal of a new high school opening, I think the decision on Lady would be a no-brainer.