Cambridge Uni cheerleaders in naming FAIL

Cambridge University students have indicated that they may, as is commonly believed, be a trifle out of touch with the mainstream of modern life. It appears that the uni's cheerleading team is known as the "Cambridge Cougars", despite the fact that its members are neither especially attractive nor old - and several are not even …

[Tom 7]

surely some mistake?

four male students who prove handy for tossing the girls

[SuperTim]

Cougars?

I suppose you are sure that the word Cougars only refers to "my best mate's mum". I couldn't just be a nice name? Given that we dont tend to call older womedn Cougars in this country, i doubt they thought it was a problem. They were just trying to avoid being called the "cambridge toffs"

Your writing team need to spend less time watching american high school comedies and more time recreating interesting lego based scenes.

[Richard 81]

Not sure I understand

Why would they all have to be hot and female to be worthy of the name Cougars? Fair enough they aren't in fact a group of large cats, but I don't think I've ever seen a cheerleader squad that actually looked like its namesake. Frankly they'd be even less attractive if they did look like cougars and their gender wouldn't be of any significance at all.

Also, the seven girls shown in the Telegraph's piccy aren't exactly monsters.

I think someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Eh, Lewis?

[ForthIsNotDead]

And...

...the IT angle is?

Wouldn't mind if it was like the Berlin Wall article on today's reg, which was lovely.

Sorry to be a misery; just don't see the point. I mean, who blimmin' cares?

[Ian K]

That's sweet

I see the Oxford Sirens have designed their site as a homage to the late lamented GeoCites. Bless.

[Anonymous Coward]

stupid name choice

At least sirens has a nod to classics, but Cougars are not a native species to the British Isles.

(insert your own rant about Yanks and monoculture here)

[Glyn 2]

history

Apparently cheerleaders were originally blokes...though I'm sure it was girls who first wore those little skirts...well one hopes

[Eddie Edwards]

Cougars

Shiiiit, James Delingpole is a bit of a cock, isn't he? Ha ha, let's turn a blind eye to female paedophiles in the classroom - after all, we're all UP FOR IT, aren't we lads?

Until I read his article, I thought a cougar was a member of the cat family, and hence could easily be male, or minging.

But now I find out it's a phrase used by tossers to make their sexual boasts just topical enough to print in a newspaper.

What a funny language English is!

[Jimmy Floyd]

Eh?

I know this is published in Bootnotes but I'm still struggling to see the point of this article; except that perhaps:

a) Lewis gets much of his information from The Torygraph, and is annoyed at the pointlessness of their article ('cos it is pretty pointless).

b) A little-known definition of a "cougar" happens to not to relate to the animal in question but does lend itself to some kind of tenuous link between young women and older women (apart from the obvious).

c) Ummm.....

[Sarah Baucom]

The cat, maybe?

First of all - IT angle? Second - there are plenty of teams/groups/clubs called the Cougars. It might be odd for a British university's cheerleading squad to name themselves after a cat that lives exclusively in the Americas, but that definition makes much more sense than naming themselves after 40+ women who go for young men.

[Craig 12]

hurr durr

I can't believe this counts as newsworthy at el reg... The word cougar clearly has more awesome meanings.

[Steve Evans]

Errr,

So the Torygraph is in touch with mainstream modern life is it?

That might be why I'd never heard of cougar being used in that way either... Maybe you should try picking on Ford too whilst you're at it. They've named a car cougar, and that was after having a series of models named after your magazine collection you hide under the bed.

As for the team, well okay, they might not be miss world, but they're not that bad, it's nice to see females in good physical shape and without a gut hanging out over their jogging bottoms these days!

I guess the fact you could actually have an intelligent conversation with them counts for nothing in your books (the ones hidden under the bed).

[Jason Togneri]

Um

I, too, had to look it up: "a woman over 40 who sexually pursues younger men, typically more than eight years her junior" (found on Wikipedia via Google define: search, after a good number of other definitions. Hum. Doesn't make the article any more humourous, or indeed make it make any more sense. What a waste of time.

[Graham Bartlett]

@Eddie the eagle

"after all, we're all UP FOR IT, aren't we lads?"

Er, I think most lads between 14 and 20 probably are, yes. Unless there's been a sudden change I've not heard of, the majority of boys *do* reach 18 as virgins, because societal expectation is that the man chats up the woman, and at that age most don't have the confidence or experience.

Although I do agree that the gentleman in question is a male domesticated fowl and should have been told to cluck off...

[Anonymous Coward]

What?

Don't you lot have anything better to do than ramble on about subjects you clearly know nothing about?

The reality of competitive cheerleading is very different from the sort of thing you see in films or at NFL games. Most squads include men, and no pom-poms are involved. Division 2 is actually fairly lowly - the top division is 6.

[Justabloke 1]

Moderatrix allow me....

Ahem.... Bootnotes you fuckwits! Its in BOOTNOTES.

mind you still a pretty pointless article... altho' I'd suggest the sirens are niceer to look at.

;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Merkin trash

Isn't Cheerleading an American tradition at sports events? Yeah? Lets keep it that way.

[Senor Beavis]

Not the worst Cambridge Uni naming decision...

There was of course the ill-fated Netball Team

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdotted

so try this for the Oxtord one.

http://www.oxfordsirens.co.uk.nyud.net:8080/photos_091.htm

[Mark McC]

Thank goodness for the comments

Without them I'd have no idea what this article was supposed to be about. A quick straw poll of the other 11 people in the office reveals that none of us (of varied age/sex) were aware of a cougar being anything other than a large cat.

On a similar note, did you know that Fulham FC have the nickname The Cottagers? Fnarr, what where they thinking, eh? Gonna sign George Michael to play up front, lads? He has great ball control an' luvs a bit o' dribblin' round the rear defence.

See? Making jokes about similarities to slang terms is neither big nor clever nor funny. Except I imagine slighly more people have heard of cottaging. Seriously, cougar?? Are you sure this wasn't just made up for the purposes of the article?

[Anonymous Coward]

Fnar fnar

Every word in the English language has unfortunate sexual connotations: teabag, bear, seed, pole, rod, mother, facial, rubber, manhood, weapon, hole, ejaculate, discipline, fist, tadpole, otter, chickenhawk, starfish, ass, carpet, man-juice, buggery... Check on Urban Dictionary. If you ban all words with a double meaning, what would we be able to say?

[salerio]

Male Cheerleaders

Is not a break in tradition at all. The most famous being one George W Bush.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Graham Bartlett

In need of a "sarcasm detection" refresher course, perhaps?

@Eddie Edwards (original post) - nice!

As for the word 'Cougar' having more connotations in American rather than English, I guess it is relevant since the august establishment in question started copying Americanisms such as cheerleading. It all sounds ghastly...

[Anonymous Coward]

Cougars?

So where are the furries?

(It's the addition of the sensuality of fur to a willing, intelligent, partner. And the stroking pussy jokes.)

[Baying Lynch Mob]

@Merkin trash

``Isn't Cheerleading an American tradition at sports events?''

Yup. Round these parts, women are permitted to play sports, rather than being expected to chant from the sidelines while adopting a shape that one above commenter finds pleasing to look at.

[Anonymous Coward]

@By Baying Lynch Mob

Funnily enough those sporting English girls aren't usually attractive enough for a Cheerleading team.

AC and running for the door

[Graham Bartlett]

@FacePalm

Sarcasm = saying one thing whilst meaning the opposite. Which is what Eddie was using to say he disagreed with the Torygraph writer, and which I did indeed detect.

In need of a "clue detection" refresher course...?

[Anonymous Coward]

Cougar?

I'm a man and I try to pick up women 8 years or more younger than me. Does that make me a mounting lion?

-----------

@ ForthIsNotDead "...the IT angle is"

Gimme an 'I', gimme a 'T', what that spell?

-----------

re Icon: http://www.uwbadgers.com/spiritsquad/cheer.html

[Anonymous Coward]

Disappointing

Cougar doesn't appear to be an acronym.

[Ken 16]

cambridge tossers

for the men?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bring it on!

Surely you have seen that excellent Kirsten "T T T Torrance" Dunst talent vehicle that was "Bring it on" (first not sequels) .. plenty of male cheerleaders in there for the high tossing.

[Anonymous Coward]

Preserves

In order to give some balance, might I remind people that Chivers, of jam fame, are

based in Cambridge, although to be slightly more accurate, they are in Histon.

But who has heard of Histon, it's not really in the same league as Cambridge is it,

oh hang on...

[Anonymous Coward]

@Graham Bartlett

"after all, we're all UP FOR IT, aren't we lads?

Er, I think most lads between 14 and 20 probably are, yes. Unless there's been a sudden change I've not heard of, the majority of boys *do* reach 18 as virgins, because societal expectation is that the man chats up the woman, and at that age most don't have the confidence or experience."

I thought paedophilia was more about the abuse of power, and the destruction of innocence by the (much) older person, rather than simply whether the victim is 'up for it' or not?

[Richard 102]

Washington State University

... is called The Cougars.

There are some very odd team names here in the colonies. There are the usual things you'd suspect: big scary animals like Lions, Bears, Tigers, etc. You get names like Spartans, Warriors, Giants, etc. Bulldogs is common, given that they are tenacious strong dogs, and Blue Devils/Red Devils/Blue Demons/etc are more common than you'd think. Indian names used to be common but those have, sadly, largely gone away. Oddly enough, Florida State University is known as the Seminoles, and the Seminole nation is happy that they continue with the name. It's good publicity for them, the university works with them to keep things inoffensive, and there are financial benefits to the tribe as well. The irony is that the NCAA, which is the organization that regulate intercollegiate athletics, is trying to get rid of all Indian names, but they are based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Then again, there have been years when the entire Boston Celtics NBA team is black, and no one says anything about the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, so whatever.

But there are some that make you laugh or scratch your head. A high school in Illinois is known as The Wooden Shoes. (Dutch settlement, I'd guess.) Purdue University is known as the Boilermakers because the city of Lafayette, IN, once had the largest boiler factory in the US and you had to be strong to work there. My graduate school, Colorado, was the Buffaloes ... which is not only a euphamism, but also strikes fear into opponents by suggesting an image of a large herbivore pooping on the prairie dogs. My favorite has to be the University of California at Santa Cruz, known as The Banana Slugs.

[disgruntled yank]

names

Once every few years I pop out of the cave and encounter a new bit of pop culture. Usually I feel like the groundhog, inclined to go back in and sleep a bit. Last year's introduction to the expression "cougar" was no exception.

@Baying Lynch Mob: Well, yes, I do remember Virginia Wade, and a few years ago there was the movie "Bend it Like Beckham". Since then, I can't say that the athleticism of the British female has particularly come to my attention, as compared to the American, Russian, Chinese, etc. There are three young woman on my street who row for their high school--a fourth is in her first year of college.

@salerio: And before that, John Reed....

[LaeMi Qian]

Yesterday I did't know this meaning of 'cougar'.

Now I are one.

(Actually, it will be another few years before I qualify, and I'm not sure I go for the 'good looking but rather immature' type anyway - been with too many of them in my own facile years).

[pjnola]

@Baying Lynch Mob

"Round these parts, women are permitted to play sports".... explaining the stunning international success of England's womens' football (soccer) teams, track teams, basketball teams.... um, any team?

[Anonymous Coward]

Damn Cheerleading

now I remember again why I can't stand some of the US institutions - this is one. The bloody jocks dumping on the geeks and all that along with ultimate sport sucess the Yanks have never been that far from Communism - for the greater good of the country and all that crap. Funny how the two arms of politics, the right and left are sooo alike.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pointless article.

Given that us Brits don't use the word 'Cougar' in that way, those cheerleaders probably didn't even think of this when creating their squad. Americans call trousers 'pants', but we don't write a news article laughing at how you mistake your outer clothing for items of underwear. This article really is on the same level as doing that.

[Corvidae]

Lots of lols

Hi!

I'm Sean and I am a Cambridge Cougar! Many of your astute readers have noticed that we are, indeed, named for the animal, and not for the hot older women. Apart from that very very slight inaccuracy, I found this article to be massively funny.

Sean

ps. Not hot! How dare you! :P

[J 3]

@Corvidae Sean, Cambridge Cougar

If you're a Cougar, your handle (Corvidae) is named after the wrong animals, then!

Where has the bird icon gone? Oh, well, none of them are the right family anyway...