Talk:Turtle racing

Total Rewrite Needed
I think this article needs a complete rewrite by someone knowledgable on the subject. There is no mention of the 600+ turtle races held at county fairs and other festivals which descend from the 101 Ranch turtle race in Oklahoma, nor the ecological impact these events have. There is an overemphasis on turtle races held at bars, of which there are just a few, and an overemphasis on historical "one-off" turtle races that don't impact the current situation. Any objections to the article getting a makeover?

--Terrapene1 (talk) 04:29, 29 October 2023 (UTC)

Untitled
I don't believe this should be deleted. I created the article because it is a real sport, has generated some controversy, and is interesting. It mightn't be found in encyclopedia britanica and might due with a listing on the unusual articles page, but with a little more edit it could turn into a gem. Chooserr 03:21, 19 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Also this page also contains one of the possible reasons for speedy deletion, recreation of a deleted page. But I made an entry on the user's (Neutrality(?)'s) page, explaining why it shouldn't be deleted. Chooserr 03:25, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, one way or another, the page requires citations; it doesn't sound like an encyclopedia article at all right now. Natsirtguy 03:09, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, i for one just used this page to find out about the race to the Galapogos, so it serves a purpose for some...

Removal of "In Popular Culture" section
I don’t feel that that Conan O’Brien’s skit using turtles strapped to toy cars should be included in the article. Conan called the skit a turtle race but that doesn’t mean that it is one. The skit used turtles strapped to radio controlled cars. If two horses were put in trucks that were raced against each other, would that make it appropriate for the horse racing article?

Perhaps one reason why this was included is because turtle racing is not clearly defined, but it is not as obscure as people seem to think it is. Turtle racing, in the opinion many people, is an event that is held at county fairs and other festivals. Turtles are released in the middle of a circle with the first turtle to exit the circle being the winner. The events all seem to be descended from an event that was held in 1924-1931 in Oklahoma (although that one used the name terrapin derby, which has fallen out of use). There are dozens of turtle races held in U.S and so many wild turtles are used that biologists are concerned they may be harming turtle populations. I haven’t had time to work on the article much, but there is a fair amount to add. Please visit the following link, http://theindependent.com/stories/082805/new_turtles28.shtml

72.173.3.220 (talk) 16:45, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Activists?
For the rubber turtles part, isn't possible that they're using rubber turtles in place of real ones for practical reasons? Judging from the photos, they ARE literally dumping hundreds into a pool and they are easier to maintain since you don't have to feed them. Juts thought I drop my 2 cents. 69.224.95.74 (talk) 06:39, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

more refs available
If you do a search under turtle racing you can come up with a lot more newspaper articles on midwest races. Some are reffed within Painted turtle (at "turtle racing"). Sorry, I can't do much more to help. I read or type for a while but then my head hurts after. Love what you are doing and keep up the good work, funny man!
 * Thanks for the tip, BTW I love the alliteration. Qrsdogg (talk) 20:12, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I think this article probably isn't a reliable source though. Qrsdogg (talk) 23:19, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
 * A little medication (distilled) helps the enjoyment! TCO (talk) 00:16, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
 * I guess it's as good a reason as any to drink on May 23! Qrsdogg (talk) 03:44, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

C class woo hoo!
Mighty turtle is advancing! I think we could totally get this thing to GA (even FA, but I'm kinda down on that process).TCO (talk) 00:19, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
 * GA Is totally attainable, I mean look at Underwire bra. Nothing against the article, just proof that this is GA-able.--NYMFan69-86 (talk) 00:31, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Would be fun to get a video and probably pretty doable. hmm...wonder if I could request that of a bargoer. TCO (talk) 00:54, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, I think there are great things ahead for this article. I haven't put too much time in on it yet but there seems to be a ton of sources out there. It just seems wrong to quickly edit an article on turtle racing. Qrsdogg (talk) 03:38, 11 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Do it in a way that is fun, man. Think it is so cool that I suckered you into messing with it ans then so cool to see how you progress it.TCO (talk) 03:56, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Wiki-links
I'm happy that such nice work is being done on this article! Such an interesting little topic. The article's shaping up well, but I do have one rather small concern: I don't think terms such as Number and Paint need to be linked. Keep up the great work!NYMFan69-86 (talk) 01:26, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

darn sleepy Americans! :(
Liked that part.TCO (talk) 20:15, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
 * The same thing seemed to happen during overtime at the Hockey final at the Vancouver Olympics. Qrsdogg (talk) 20:56, 15 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I guess you could work on the story of the mistreatment of octopi by Detroit fans. ;) TCO (talk) 21:29, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

finding info
how you doing on finding info?

I did a Google books search and there are a few books, but usually just with a page indicated and kinda referring to some town doing a race as sort of news of the weird.

A google scholar search gets not much. There is an interesting patent, I guess:

TCO (talk) 20:58, 18 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Thus far I've found most of the sources via Google news archive, I didn't find much on Google books either. Some of the articles have been pretty helpful, I didn't realize how far back I could search on there. There are a ton of fairly minor articles out there on it, so it takes some work sifting through to find the helpful ones. Good find on the patent though. Qrsdogg (talk) 22:06, 18 January 2011 (UTC)


 * How do you search backwards in Google news? I always just get last month or so.  TCO (talk) 22:26, 18 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Options on left
 * Top Stories
 * More sections ▼
 * All news
 * Images
 * Blogs
 * Any recent news
 * Past hour
 * Past day
 * Past week
 * Past month
 * 2007-2009
 * 2005-2006
 * 2002-2004
 * 1991-1994
 * 1980-1989
 * Archives <<===This is the one you want! ( http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=turtle+racing&sa=N&tbs=nws:1,ar:1 )
 * Sorted by relevance
 * Regards, SunCreator (talk) 22:31, 18 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Man, that helps with a lot. And thanks for the B grade on Capture.  BTW, Wehwalt goes drinking at a place that has turtle races.  Trying to get a video out of him.TCO (talk) 22:44, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Canadian better than International (more common)
I was just going off a couple articles (ours on town, and one on the web) that called it ITD. But Google was 1300 to 71 for "Canadian Turtle Derby" versus "International Turtle Derby". Good catch. TCO (talk) 20:49, 25 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I think we should have just a bit more on the Canadia Turtle Derby. It seems to have been a pretty huge deal in Canada (even hear it referred to in different contexts).  at least saying the years it ran.  I got distracted cause I was trying to understand the statue. Not all that needs to come in here.  Probably what I will do is build up the content (para or two with sources) in Boisevan article.   Then we can import a factoid or two with references over to here (at least the year ended...I'm not clear why it ended either...PC concerns or just ran out of juice?).  Would put some different content (a sentence or so) into the painted turtle article.  As a 28 foot painted turtle that is a road side atraction is "notable" although some of the other aspects fit better in Boissevan (history of the statue and such).TCO (talk) 13:20, 27 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I found this article on a google scholar search for "Turtle Derby", apparently "Turtle Derby" occurs in an article titled "Recurrent Symbols of Nationalism in Canada". I can't seem to access it though unfortunately. Qrsdogg (talk) 17:30, 30 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Primary link http://www.boissevain.ca/visitors/turtlestatue.htm
 * Some inf here, incase your not come across it earlier. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JAClxZX2OIUC&pg=PA203&dq=%22Turtle+Derby%22&hl=en&ei=falFTa2WLIOYhQer7LnlAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=3&ved=0CD8QuwUwAg#v=onepage&q=%22Turtle%20Derby%22&f=false Regards, SunCreator (talk) 18:17, 30 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I have googled stories about politicians in Canada and the story referred to Turtle Derby as just sort of a term (I think they were calling the ministers turtles). IOW, it is notable enough to be used as a quip, without having to explain.TCO (talk) 19:02, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Turtle racing for GA
There are a lot of problems with this article, which will prevent it (in my opinion) from becoming a GA. The very first sentence: "Turtle racing is an popular event in which spectators typically place turtles in the center of a circle and watch them walk around until one of them crosses out of the circle." An popular event? Who says it's popular? Popular with whom? If spectators are taking part in the event by placing turtles in the circle then they're hardly just spectating.

I'd suggest taking a look at a similarly whacky "sport", ferret legging, which is a GA, and taking some guidance from that. Malleus Fatuorum 01:23, 26 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Good points, I'll check out the ferrets. Qrsdogg (talk) 01:30, 26 February 2011 (UTC)