Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Travis Cole

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) czar · · 05:14, 30 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Travis Cole[edit]

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I see one or two sources out there, but not enough to establish notability. There is no inherent notability assumed by playing in af2, a minor league of a minor league. – Muboshgu (talk) 05:06, 23 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Sportspeople-related deletion discussions. czar · · 05:47, 23 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of American football-related deletion discussions. czar · · 05:47, 23 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Minnesota-related deletion discussions. czar · · 05:48, 23 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

~~Weak delete~~. Keep. The subject did not receive any major college awards, and never played in a major professional football league, and therefore does not rate a presumption of notability per WP:NCOLLATH or WP:NGRIDIRON. While I found numerous hits in a Google News Archive search, the overwhelming majority of those articles are routine coverage or trivial mentions from one of the two hometown newspapers that cover University of Minnesota sports. If we stretch the general notability guidelines to say that such routine coverage in the hometown papers qualifies as in-depth coverage in multiple, independent reliable sources, then virtually every college quarterback in America, regardless of mediocre accomplishments or the lack of major awards or honors, should be given a presumption of notability. Here's hoping we don't stitch another Frankenstein monster of GNG notability out of a collection of relatively insignificant coverage in a university's hometown newspapers. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 21:48, 23 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Changing vote in light of Cbl62's research below. For the record, I note that 16 of the listed sources are from two newspapers, the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, both of which are also the University of Minnesota's hometown newspapers. Multiple references from a single source count as one source for notability purposes. Having said that, I trust Cbl's judgment (and proven track record) with regard to other listed sources that I cannot view because they are off-line or behind website paywalls. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 00:24, 30 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. Google news archive turns up many articles about Cole from major metropolitan daily newspapers, including St. Paul Pioneer Press (32nd largest newspaper in USA by circulation), Minneapolis Star Tribune (17th largest newspaper in USA by circulation), The Oregonian (19th largest newspaper in USA by circulation), and The Arizona Republic (14th largest newspaper in USA by circulation). Will try to list several of the best examples, if time permits tomorrow. But these do not constitute routine coverage in small town papers. They are feature stories in some of the largest newspapers in the country. As a starting QB for a Big Ten team (for parts of the 2000 and 2001 seasons), it is not surprising that he got a lot of coverage, more than enough to pass WP:GNG. Cbl62 (talk) 05:55, 24 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Here are some examples of non-routine coverage of Cole in mainstream media sources spanning the decade from 1998 to 2008: (1) Cole Steps Right In at Minnesota, The Oregonian (available at newslibrary.com), 10/6/00; (2) Cole Is Blossoming As a College Quarterback, The Oregonian, 12/16/99; (3) Cole Finds Foothill a Perfect Fit, The Oregonian, 12/17/98; (4) Cole Comfortable as QB, The Daily Collegian (Penn.), 10/11/00; (5) Stopping Gophers Will Be Tall Order: Minnesota Quarterback Travis Cole Makes The Offense Dangerous by Land and Air, York Daily Record (Penn.), 10/5/00; (6) Cole Move Up to Backup QB, Arizona Republic, 1/11/06; (7) Dorados' Travis Cole out for rest of season, Valley Central, 7/19/08; (8) QB looks to resurrect career with RGV, The Monitor (Texas), 3/29/08; (9) Mason Lucky To Find Even-Tempered Cole, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 12/28/00; (10) Cole Short On Memory, Long on Confidence, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 10/15/00; (11) Calling on Cole, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/30/00; (12) Cole Isn't Satisfied Being U's No. 2 Quarterback, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 8/16/00; (13) Gophers QB Shuffle Nothing New To Cole, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/6/01; (14) Travis Cole among 18 free agents, The Vindicator (Ohio), 4/23/02; (15) Cole Steps Into QB Job, Expects Passing Marks, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/30/00; (16) Cole To Start, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/8/01; (17) Cole Takes Reins, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/26/00; (18) Cole to start at quarterback against Illinois, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/25/00; (19) Cole to Lead Gophers: Senior Quarterback Gets Another Crack at Purdue, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/26/01; (20) Two-sport Cole in demand as practices overlap at Minnesota, Minnesota Daily, 4/4/01; (21) Cole Plans To Test Arm on Mound In Baseball, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1/18/01; (22) Cole regains coach's confidence, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10/15/00; (23) Cole Gets Dose of Noise: Vikings Game Is Taste of What Awaits, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 10/12/00; (24) Calling on Cole, He's not the prettiest quarterback to watch, but those who know Travis Cole predict he'll come through in his first start for the Gophers, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 9/30/00; (25) Cole Proves He's Capable, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/3/00; (26) Cole, Gophers Could Be Cozy Fit, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 2/1/00. Cbl62 (talk) 06:54, 24 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep not every college football athlete is notable--many are not. However, typically quarterbacks of Division I programs generate enough press the pass WP:GNG. Based on the research above, it looks like this particular player passes that guideline.--Paul McDonald (talk) 18:47, 25 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Weak keep (and cleanup) - per Cbl62's exhaustive list of sources, I suppose he's notable. Article still should be cleaned up, but that's not the purpose of AFD. Go Phightins! 02:24, 27 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.