User talk:Dirtlawyer1/Archives/2012/February

May I have a vowel, please?

I realize that my last edit summary probably comes across as snarky, and not clever, as had been my intent. I apologize if I gave offense to you or any other of Florida's alumni. HuskyHuskie (talk) 12:55, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Not a problem---thank you for cleaning up after me. I've edited something like 300 All-American football player articles in the last two weeks, and the quality of the existing writing in many of them is amazingly poor—like the text was written in crayon by a fanboy. So many things to fix, in fact, that it's easy to overlook one's own typos in the process. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 13:03, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Dirtlawyer: Concerning David Larson's page: you had said that Jake Larson as David Larson's son has no merit. I believe you are implying that Jake Larson is an individual who has accomplished nothing. However, I do have reputable sources that report that he indeed has earned merit in the following areas: Space Engineering. He has designed footwear that contains gravitational capabilities, and they come in sandal form. I would ask that you please stop reverting edits on David Larson's Wikipedia page, as I am sure you do not know him personally as I do. Thank You. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.83.178.201 (talk) 03:44, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

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Abby Wambach

Hi, I don't agree with removing "Abby" from the lede. Where does it say that Abby is the most common, or most common American, shortened version of Abigail? Even if it is, consensus is for football articles to always include the used name in this manner. Eg. Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones (footballer), Danny Welbeck, Ben Amos etc.

That's my understanding anyway? Perhaps we could ask at the football taskforce for a third opinion. Clavdia chauchat (talk) 17:14, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Clavdia, the better practice, and the one which is increasingly common across most sports and bios generally is not to include the nickname as a quoted phrase in the middle of the subject's full name in the first sentence of the lede when the nickname is a common dimunitive or obvious short-form nickname of the subject's Christian or middle name. I will include the nickname when it's not obviously derivative of the subject's actual name (e.g. Harold Leon Sebring was oddly known as Tom), or I will separately restate the full nickname as an "also known as" following the subject's actual full name when the nickname is very long or consistents of mor than one word. This latter approach also works well when the subject has more than one nickname (see Al Rosen).

I work principally on the bios of former Florida Gators athletes, which by necessity means I work across multiple WP sports projects, including those for the University of Florida and its Gators sports teams. The WP:University of Florida and WP:Gators uniformly follow this practice, and few others seem to have an actual rule on point, other than WP:Golf which also uniformly follows it. The better practice seems to be to omit obvious derivative nicknames when the nickname is already included in the article title and infobox header. Otherwise, it unnecessarily breaks up the first and only statement of the subject's actual full name without really adding any additional information. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 17:50, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

WP:football uniformly follows the practice of adding nicknames, as far as I can see. Not sure how other taskforces, or our own opinions on "better practice" are relevant TBH. Clavdia chauchat (talk) 18:23, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Please keep in mind that these American soccer bios are the subject of more Wikiprojects than just WP:Football. Wambach's bio is subject of WP:Univeristy of Florida, WP:Gators, and most importantly, WP:BIO. "Best practice" is not my opinion but reflects the current trend at FA and GA review to avoid redundant nicknames in the lede. Regards, Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 21:53, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Category:Tennessee Volunteers athletic directors

Category:Tennessee Volunteers athletic directors, which you created, has been nominated for discussion. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. Mike Selinker (talk) 14:54, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

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