Wikipedia:Peer review/Ralphie/archive1

Ralphie
Any comments. I just heavily expanded the article. I'm looking to head for GA and eventually FA once Ralphie IV retires in a year. Any comments or questions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. -- MECU ≈ talk 19:42, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Nmajdan
Good start for the article. Not too far away from GA quality. Some quick suggestions: Thanks for all your great comments Nmajdan! -- MECU ≈ talk 01:18, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Who says being a Ralphie Runner is coveted?
 * Removed this. This part was from before I edited it, and I doubt I could find a source for this, though I did remove the other line with this that "they are like any other sport with tryouts" where I do have a source and some information about how they get to become a handler, but I figured this was about Ralphie and putting that in may be a bit excessive. Though it may be needed for FA? (MECU)
 * Is 25 mph normal for a female bison, or does the university have some special criteria for determining the next Ralphie?
 * According to American bison, they can run up to 35 mph, so 25 isn't special. I do have a source that says Ralphie IV was clocked at 20 seconds to run from one endzone to another, doing the conversion math that comes out to about 25 mph. I don't know if they have some special criteria. I think just getting one donated free is half the battle as buying one would be cost prohibitive. Ralphie IV is set to retire in a year so they should be getting another one ready so there will likely be information about that soon. (MECU)
 * Need references in the "Pre Ralphie era" section. Mainly the last sentence. Also in the 2nd para in that section.
 * Done (MECU)
 * The sentence "Live buffaloes continued to make appearances at CU games irregularly" could use some help. I understand what you're saying but having the word continued and irregulary just throws it off. Maybe something like "Live buffaloes continued to make sporadic appearances at CU games."
 * Agreed. I like using sporadic. (MECU)
 * First sentence in Ralphie II doesn't make sense.
 * I added a verb, that should help (I added "made her debut") (MECU)
 * There isn't a lot of citations for the older material. I'd like to see a source for the second sentence in Ralphie III.
 * Done. (MECU)
 * Is there a wikilink for Senator Lacy?
 * Nope, though I'll leave it redlinked since a state senator is worthy of an article, especially since she passed this important resolution! (MECU)
 * Fix the hypens inside of the quote template.
 * I'm not sure exactly where you mean, but there was -- above the quote and I changed into a long dash. Is that what you meant? (MECU)
 * Hmmm..... I could've sworn you had 13-year-old in the second WHEREAS when I reviewed it. But now its just 13yearold. Nevertheless, I think it needs spaces or hypens.--NMajdan &bull;talk
 * Facts in the first para in Ralphie IV needs to be cited.
 * I shall work on this. All that will be referenced! (MECU)
 * After "1,300 pounds" please provide the metric equivalent per MOS.
 * Done, thanks. (MECU)
 * Per WP:MOSNUM, you should use the same level of precision for these two numbers. You use 1,300 pounds so instead of 589.67 kilograms, you should probably round that to 590. Also, the measurement in parentheses should be abbreviated, so change it to kg. (See here.)-NMajdan &bull;talk
 * Thanks for pointing out how exactly to do that and covering my laziness. -- MECU ≈ talk 02:48, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
 * "The mere existence of Ralphie causes fear in opposing players." I don't know about that sentence from an encyclopedic point-of-view. The players were scared cause its a 1300 pound wild animal and they don't want to be in front of it.--NMajdan &bull;talk 21:27, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
 * If you look at the source for that, the article talks about how some of the opposing players were talking about how they wouldn't go near her at the game, before they had even seen her! I would call that "the existence causes fear", but I do see your point. I guess it's a little homerism on my part, but I do think the sentence can be reworked into something more encyclopedic. Perhaps "Players have stated they were afraid of being run over by Ralphie. Some are even afraid to approach her." Using the same cite? It would tie better with the next sentence that someone actually did get runover. -- MECU ≈ talk 01:18, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Please see automated peer review suggestions here. Thanks, APR t 22:10, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Johntex
I am curious as to who pays for the upkeep for Ralphie. Does it come out of the athletic department funds? Buying a bison is not that expensive. A calf costs between $1,500 and $2,500 which is about twice the cost of a steer. They eat mostly grass. In fact, they eat a higher percentage of grass than any other large grazer - the domesticated cow requires a higher percentage of nutrient rich feed. You do need a fair amount of space for grazing, obviously.

So, I am thinking the major costs would be in things like vet visits, transportation, etc. In the case of UT's Bevo, the rancher who owns the Longhorn steer offers the steer for free to UT and the rancher still keeps the steer when the steer is not appearing at functions. As far as I know, they pay for all the upkeep and vet bills etc. I think the Silver Spurs pay for the transportation to games and the like - probably with money from donations and appearance fees.

Anyway, I mention all this because it might enhance the article to know more about the financing behind Ralphie.

It is a good article. Keep up the good work. Johntex\talk 05:40, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, this is already addressed, although not to the level of detail you provided above, in the article. Under Ralphie IV, the last paragraph talks about the Ralphie Fund started in 2002 by Stromberg who donated her life savings when she passed. More detailed information about her (Ralphie, not Stromberg) care would improve the article though. -- MECU ≈ talk 13:07, 15 March 2007 (UTC)