Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Richie Farmer/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Ian Rose via FACBot (talk) 14:13, 13 May 2015 [1].

Richie Farmer[edit]

Nominator(s): Acdixon (talk · contribs) 15:41, 3 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The tragic story of a hometown hero turned basketball icon who parlayed his fame into political office (Commissioner of Agriculture, naturally!) but abused the public trust and now sits in federal prison. This article just passed a GA review with few issues, and I hope to take it to FA status and claim a much-delayed WP:FOUR award. (I created the article a few days after joining Wikipedia in 2006!) Acdixon (talk · contribs) 15:41, 3 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comments on sources:
    • Overall the formatting is good. Things are quite consistently formatted.
    • A concern I do have is the level you've relied on the Lexington Herald-Leader for your sources. The first footnote that isn't an article from that paper is n57. I estimate that you've used that paper for 220 of your sources out of the 262 footnotes, or about 84% of your citations. I'm not saying that the paper isn't a high-quality reliable source, but this level of reliance for a state-wide politician makes me wonder if you've truly surveyed the full literature about the man.
      • I used the NewsBank access I have through my library. It has the Herald-Leader, but unfortunately, not the (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Those are the main papers in the state. It also has the Messenger-Inquirer, which serves Owensboro, the third largest city in the state by population until Bowling Green passed it last Census. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 02:25, 4 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • Speaking again of n57, etc, where is The Messenger-Inquirer published? It's fairly standard, in my experience, to list a publication location for newspapers unless the city is part of the newspaper name. For the Lexington Herald-Leader, the location is obvious: Lexington. For The Messenger-Inquirer, we have no clue. You can easily add this with |location= in the citation template. The same applies to The Kentucky Post in n117, etc.
      • Done. I didn't know including location was standard practice. I will do that from now on. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 14:18, 5 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • In n89, you missed a "|" character, so the newspaper name and parameter is appearing on the end of the article title.
    • In n96, no newspaper name has been provided.
    • On n182, I think you have a typo. Shouldn't "Couch a True Diaper Dandy in New Role as Father..." be "Coach a True Diaper Dandy in New Role as Father..."?
    • On nn201&204, no location for The Gleaner, and no page number.
      • Location fixed, but NewsBank omits the page number in the Gleaner, for some reason. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 14:18, 5 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • For n262, WKYT is listed as the publisher. As with newspapers, a location should really be provided.
    • Several headlines are using dashes to separate the title from the subtitle. Isn't it more common to use a colon for this? Did the Lexington Herald-Leader actually use a dash? (And according to The Chicago Manual of Style, if there is a second subtitle, it would be separated from the first with a semicolon.)
      • I can only say how NewsBank renders the titles, which actually appears to use a hyphen to separate title from subtitle. I figure that's short for a dash, since there is no dash key on the keyboard. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:01, 8 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Image question: are there really no photographs of the man that can be used? As it is, the article is woefully under-illustrated, with just a photo of his former coach and his retired jersey. Have you tried contacting the university to see if they have a photo they'd be willing to license? The state government? Checked Flickr and similar photo-sharing sites to see if anyone has posted any photos that could be licensed?

    Imzadi 1979 → 17:12, 3 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

    • I have not searched Flickr or contacted UK or state government about licensing an image, but I have searched for his federal mugshot, which would be PD, but I couldn't find that. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 02:25, 4 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
    • @Imzadi1979: Very sorry to have been so long about addressing all of these. I expected to have plenty of time to work on them on vacation, but I got here and discovered the wi-fi is garbage. Got my first truly reliable connection this morning. Will be glad to follow up on items that require it. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:01, 8 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. I did the Good Article review for this one, and all my quibbles were resolved there. Good luck! --Coemgenus (talk) 14:20, 4 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Support I've done review and would love to support it, Since it should must have few more images (original) of different location that will make article bit more interesting to readers. --A.Minkowiski _Lets t@lk 06:28, 6 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Mike Christie[edit]

Support. This is FA quality; there's an issue outstanding but it's a matter of editorial judgement and I think it can be left to an RfC. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:19, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

  • "Currently an inmate": need "as of 2015" for statements like this.
  • You have "See also: 1991–92 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team" for Farmer's senior year; any reason not to do this for the other three years you cover?
    • Only because I didn't realize someone had stubbed them in. 1991-92 was a defining year in UK basketball, so I knew it would have an article. Added the others. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • "defending tournament champion Alabama, who was without forward Andre Perry": might be an ENGVAR thing, but shouldn't this be "which was"?
  • I'm no expert on basketball, but with a college career like Farmer's I would have expected some mention of the NBA, either to say that Farmer was not interested or to otherwise explain why he didn't enter the draft. Or was Farmer's performance not at the level of players who end up in the NBA?
    • The only mentions I saw of the possibility of an NBA career for any of The Unforgettables was Sean Woods, who got some interest from the Indiana Pacers. Farmer was beloved and a good shooter, but the truth is he was a bench player until halfway through his senior year. He is also on the small side for an NBA player at 6-feet even, and at that height, you have to be really quick off the bounce or have some other absolutely outstanding quality to make it in the NBA. I don't think he ever seriously got a look. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • As far as I can see you don't name Farmer's girlfriend in the last sections of the article; any reason not to? I see her name in this story, for example. Another story, here, indicates her name has changed since then. That story mentions she also was found guilty of ethic violations; perhaps that should be mentioned?
    • I had all that in at one point in my draft, but I became concerned about possible BLP issues and wanted to keep the article focused on Farmer as much as possible. You're the second one to raise the issue, though, so perhaps it merits another look. Would you consider supporting (or at least not opposing) this nom, and after it closes, we can open an RFC to get some broader input? Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
      Yes, happy to support (and have done so above). I do think this is worth asking others about, but it's peripheral to the article. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:19, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Any reason not to include links to online versions of your sources where possible? Not an FA requirement, just a suggestion.
    • I found them all in subscription-based NewsBank. I'm not sure how many are available for free online. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The prose is in excellent shape. I made a couple of minor edits; please revert as needed. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:48, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your review. It's always good to have your comments. Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:34, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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