Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Richard Langton


 * 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   delete.  MBisanz  talk 04:13, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Richard Langton

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Biography of a failed candidate for state office, hence does not meet WP:POLITICIAN. The remaining claim to notability rests on the assertion that the subject is "a two time Professional Bowlers Association champion". However, a Google search on PBA.com only renders trivial scores.. Therefore, also appears to fail WP:ATHLETE. Crusio (talk) 23:24, 6 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Neutral, until enlightenment occurs After reading the Professional Bowlers Association article, I'm unclear whether this person meets WP:ATHLETE, and am hoping someone familiar with pro bowling can enlighten us. WP:ATHLETE says "People who have competed at the fully professional level of a sport, or a competition of equivalent standing in a non-league sport such as swimming, golf or tennis". This shows him qualifying for an invitational PBA tournament -- does this mean he was competing at a fully professional level? I'm hoping someone familiar with professional bowling will come along and enlighten us, or references will appear for the two claimed championships.-- Fabrictramp |  talk to me  00:02, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Athletes-related deletion discussions.  --  Fabrictramp  |  talk to me  00:02, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions.  --  Fabrictramp  |  talk to me  00:04, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment This result list, for instance, mentions a first prize of $2500. I doubt anyone could make a living from that, so I actually have my doubts as to the "professional" in the PBA title. In any case, WP:N is a guideline, not a binding policy, and as I understand it, "People who have competed at the fully professional level of a sport" is often taken to mean as "everybody who ever entered the field even for a split second", hence hundreds of stub articles on obscure college football players. Now that the Pokemon people have brought their house in order, perhaps the sportspeople could do something similar. Other guidelines accept notability is established if someone is clearly over the mean of his group (e.g., WP:ACADEMIC, which does not simply declare notable all "People who have worked at the fully professional level of a field of science"). Somebody not even winning regional tournaments in a sport that itself is not among the most notable ones, is not notable in my book. --Crusio (talk) 00:27, 7 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I think we're on the same page here. I'm not convinced what I'm seeing is "fully professional", which is why I'm not saying keep.-- Fabrictramp |  talk to me  00:42, 7 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Comment As noted above, Langton is not notable under WP:POLITICIAN since he failed to win the office for which he ran. The difficult issue is WP:ATHLETE. To qualify under that provision, I think, the article would need to show that Langton had "competed at the fully professional level". The PBA website is informative. That organization is quite different from, say, the National Football League. There are 3 membership levels: Junior, Standard, and Full. You show that you are a good bowler, and then YOU PAY THEM to get in; they don't pay you. Thus, being in the PBA is not really sufficient to provide the needed "professional level" qualification under WP:ATHLETE. If the article's author can show that Langton has earned his living as a PBA bowler I believe the article should stand. Lacking that, though, I recommend Delete. Tim Ross   (talk)  13:35, 7 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Delete - The PBA is the sanctioning body for tenpin bowling. But it is unclear what level Langton is competing at.  Based on the results, he is competing in a regional tour and not a national tour.  As such, it wouldn't be competing at the highest level.  As for whether this is fully professional, I don;t think that matters in this case.  PBA national tours would probably the highest level in the sport.  Note that a Google News search turns up evidence of coverage about his bowling exploits, but looking at specifica examples indicate the coverage is not substantial. -- Whpq (talk) 14:49, 8 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Delete - This article seems like it's some kind of attempt at self-promotion by the subject of the article. Langton is not a celebrity by any means and it is difficult to justify why he merits his own Wikipedia entry. Not to mention: what a creepy photo! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.174.20.60 (talk) 14:17, 10 March 2009 (UTC)


 * 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.