Lady (mascot)?

Your example is one of the rare programs that has a separate identity. I would use them as a case to use Lady when its officially part of the name. Not to brand every team a Lady.

 

Thanks, everyone. The official team name is Springfield Podunks, but they like to call themselves the Lady Podunks and I think even had it on their uniforms a couple years back. I've never used it and I've been editing it out the couple of times my writer has mentioned "Lady." Like others have said, I feel that it sets them apart, but not in a good way.

 

I think in that case, if they self-identify as Lady Podunks, that's what you go with. But you should ask the athletic director and/or coach to see what they wish to be called.

 

Right on, MM. It's not our job to decide what a team wants to be nicknamed.

 

Rather than call the coaches/AD, I'd go with the nicknames listed on the website or in publications by the state association and leave off Lady unless the team specifically lists it.

 

I guess it depends on what part of the country you live in. I honestly don't know of a single program in our immediate area that doesn't use Lady.

In one case, we have street signs as you enter town "Home of the Lady Rebels, 4-time state champions" and there is a sign in front of the school that says the same thing as well as being painted on the gym wall.

Apparently the tournament hosted in town each year known as the Ladies' Classic has been going by the wrong name for 22 years.

 

You're really stuck on this all-or-nothing kick, aren't you?

 

Not a lot, but a few. My favorite is the Palco (Kan.) Lady Roosters. I guess they didn't want to be the Hens. Of course Delaware doesn't mind calling it's men's teams Hens.

 

This isn't nearly as clear-cut as some have said here, on both sides.

There are some schools that take a great deal of pride in their "Lady" programs, and it's not a back-of-the-bus kind of deal. NOT calling them the Lady Whatevers in those cases means you're not calling the team what it wants to be called; and you're not calling it by the official name.

If a school has Lady Wildcats plastered all over its programs and uniforms and "Home of the Lady Wildcats" painted on the gym walls, how do you justify not calling the team that.

If they DON'T officially use that name, it's clear. You shouldn't simply be adding "Lady" to a school nickname because it's the girls/women's team. But if that's what they call themselves, that's what they need to be called.

In my opinion, of course.

 

The girls' teams at Vicksburg (Miss.) High School are called the "Missy Gators" ... I shit you not.

 

You solve that with a bugger above the headline that says women's (or girls') basketball.

Or in agate, you'd have a bold women's basketball (or some papers have a little one-column logo to break up sports and grayness).