Wikipedia:Peer review/Calgary Stampede/archive1

Calgary Stampede

This peer review discussion has been closed.
I have also nominated this as a good article, but the end goal is featured article status in the hopes that it might appear on the main page for the Stampede's centennial in July 2012. Prose quality and article flow are two things I am most interested in; Most articles I have written work in straight chronological order, so I am interested in knowing how well this article reads given each section is a different topic that does not necessarily flow from the previous. Also, I am interested in what should be added: For anyone who knows of the Calgary Stampede, am I missing anything? And for people who don't, is there anything that you would be looking for that I haven't thought of? Thanks! Resolute 01:55, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Ruhrfisch comments: I think this looks pretty good and thought the organization was good - thanks for your work on it. Here are some nitpicky suggestions for improvement with an eye to FAC.

• Two dead links and an access date needed here
• In the lead, some reviewers like to have references for direct quotes and extraordinary claims - "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" and other direct quotes may need refs in the lead, as well as the world's largest rodeo.
• Language - perhaps "The Stampede's roots go back to 1886" or something similar in The Stampede's roots are traced to 1886 when the Calgary and District Agricultural Society held its first fair.
• Missing word? Big Four, as they came to be known, viewed the Stampede as a final celebration [of?] their life as cattlemen.[7]
• Tighten? In 1922, it approached Weadick in the hopes he would join his Stampede with the fair and hold both in conjunction.
• I think that a film exposes people to its subject, not the other way around The 1925 silent movie The Calgary Stampede used footage from the rodeo and exposed the event to people across North America. so perhaps something like The 1925 silent movie The Calgary Stampede used footage from the rodeo and exposed people across North America to the event.
• Perhaps During the war Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition ceased operations, but the Stampede remained active and offered the public an escape. instead of While Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition ceased operations during the war, the Stampede remained active and offered the public an escape from the war.
• I think both here implies they were there together, perhaps each is meant (they were each a marshal, but separately) in Bob Hope and Bing Crosby both served as parade marshals during the 1950s,[13] ... (so "...each served as a parade marshal during the 1950's...")
• Would it help to say Leduc was/is an oil well? Also not sure if it would be better to split this into two sentences? The discovery of Leduc No. 1 in 1946 along with major oil reserves in the Turner Valley area ushered in a period of great growth and prosperity[.] as Calgary was transformed from an agricultural community into the oil and gas capital of Canada.
• Perhaps make clear that the Stampeders played at/in the Stampede grounds? The board of directors operated the Calgary Stampeders hockey team, which won the Western Hockey League championship in 1954 and helped establish the Corral as the centre of Calgary's sporting world.[20]
• Does this need a "the" (or is that standard for Canadian English?) During [the?] Stampede, acts such as...
• "each" instead of "during the"? ...and was converted into a 24-sheet curling facility during the [each?] winter.[22]
• "recent" can become out of date quickly, although here the year for the attendance figure helps date it. Attendance plateued around 1.2 million in recent years, with the current record of 1,262,518 set in 2006.[25]
• First paragraph of Stampede Park section needs at least one ref. I also wonder if the image could be a little larger.
• I think this sentence is combining two idea that don't really belong together The park is serviced by Calgary Transit's light rail system as well as neighboring property owners who rent parking spaces during the 10 days of the festival. light rail can service a park, but I do not see who property owners renting their yards for parking is service in the same sense. I also think transport and parking need a better connector - perhaps something like The park is serviced by Calgary Transit's light rail system; limited parking on site is supplemented by neighboring property owners who rent parking spaces during the 10 days of the festival.
• It was not clear to me what exactly Victoria Park was - assume it was a park, but was it a neighborhood?
• In Events - I think it would help to say somewhere (here?) when the Stampede usually takes place - is it always the seoncd week in July?
• Might help to add the year or some time indicator here - assume it has not always had exactly 170 floats The event features dozens of marching bands, 170 floats and hundreds of horses with entrants from around the world,[31][33] and combines western themes with modern.
• MOS says to provide metric and English units - since Canada is officially metric (SI), that should go first. The {{convert}} template is useful. All livestock for the rodeo events come from the 22,000 acre Stampede Ranch located near the town of Hanna.[42]
• How is the first tarp advertisement different from the first tarp auction? The first advertisement on the tarp cover of a chuckwagon was made in 1941, Lloyd Nelson became the last person to win the Rangeland Derby without a sponsored wagon in 1956 and the first tarp auction was held in 1979.[53]
• Tighten? Indian Affairs again unsuccessfully sought to ban native participation in 1925,[73] but they have otherwise remained an important part of the event since. Not sure if the last bit needs a ref
• I would explain earlier what the Young Canadians do/did performing (sing and dance?)
• Contradiction within the article In 1986 and 2002, for instance, six horses were killed as a result of crashes.[92] but later the article says Following a particularly deadly Stampede in 1986 where nine horses died in chuckwagon racing incidents alone – including five horses in one spectacular crash ... Which is it?
• I think technically she is now "Catherine Duchess" of something or other Several groups petitioned Prince William and Catherine Middleton to cancel their planned attendance during their 2011 tour of Canada.[98][99]
• Did the 9 horses pushed into the Bow River die? If so, might want to say so
• Tighten While the Calgary Herald simply stated a refusal to run the ad, ... to something like While the Calgary Herald simply refused to run the ad,
• I am not really sure what this means Civic leaders have consistently supported the Stampede's impact on the city.
• I would move the Rangeland Derby image up one paragraph so it overlaps the next section less.
• The end of the article needs more images. Looking on commons there are many - I was particularly struck by File:Bull-Riding2-Szmurlo.jpg and File:Blacksmith.JPG and think I owuld try to add them or other striking images to the article. Bull riding is sometimes criticized as animal cruelty so perhaps it oculd go in that section. The blacksmith image might go in the section where the balcksmiths are mentioned if there is room, or perhaps it could go in the end (Caption could be something like "Tourists who come to see the blacksmith competition and other aspects of the Stampede spend millions each year"
• Please make sure that the existing text includes no copyright violations, plagiarism, or close paraphrasing. For more information on this please see Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-04-13/Dispatches. (This is a general warning given in all peer reviews, in view of previous problems that have risen over copyvios.)

Hope this helps. If my comments are useful, please consider peer reviewing an article, especially one at Wikipedia:Peer review/backlog (which is how I found this article). I do not watch peer reviews, so if you have questions or comments, please contact me on my talk page. Yours, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 04:48, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for the review! I suspect I will implement pretty much every prose-related suggestion you have made. I agree on the need for more images. I wasn't aware of the blacksmith competition image, and definitely will add it. I am also heading to the grounds during this week's Stampede for more pictures - specifically one from Native Village, a better midway image and hopefully an anti-rodeo protest, if one is happening when I am downtown. If I cannot get such an image, your suggestion on the bull riding image has potential. Thanks again! Resolute 22:59, 8 July 2011 (UTC)

I found some images on Flickr of chuckwagon races. File:Calgary Stampede.jpg is my favorite, especially if it were cropped a bit, but there are also File:Calgary Stampede 2.jpg and File:Calgary Stampede 3.jpg Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 01:41, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

Those images aren't bad, but I already have an image of the Chuckwagon races. And while I may be biased since it is my photo, I like the current one best. I also have plans to add more images that show a variety of events at the Stampede. I added a protest pic to the Animal Welfare section and an image of Indian Village from my travels today. I expect to head back down for a few more tomorrow or during the week, which should result in a good balance of images throughout the article. But thanks for the suggestions! Resolute 00:39, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

I like the photos of the tipis and protesters (and the blacksmiths) - thanks very much. The photos I found were just suggestions - my thought was that most of the Animal welfare section was on the chuckwagon races and the first image I found on Flickr seemed to show some of their speed and perhaps danger. Since bull riding is mentioned in the article but not shown in a photo, perhaps it could be another photo in the Animal welfare section (since it has been criticized too). File:Bull-Riding-Szmurlo.jpg is another striking image I found on Commons and is from the Stampede too. Please let me know when this is at FAC. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 04:15, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

I shall try to remember, and thanks for your suggestions. A tie down/calf roping image would probably be better, if one can be had, as that is the other rodeo sport that most upsets animal welfare groups. Resolute 04:38, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, from reading the article that (tie down photo) seems best - since the balcksmiths photo is used in its section, perhaps a bullriding image could be used in the city relations section. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 03:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Brief comments from Nikkimaria

• Tie down roping or tie-down roping? chuckwagon or Chuckwagon racing? Stampede or the Stampede? Check for consistency
  • Thanks for the reminder. Between my taking over a year to writes this, and others making changes of their own, I should have thought to check for this.
• Spell out "%" in article text
• Include both authors for Dixon refs?
  • Ahh, yes, I should fix that too.
• Need page numbers for newspaper articles without weblinks (ex. ref 29)
• Check for consistency in citation formatting
  • As with above, thanks for the reminder
• Is the event criticized for any reason unrelated to animal welfare? Nikkimaria (talk) 21:26, 9 July 2011 (UTC)
  • I have been looking for articles that document the minority of Calgarians who criticize the Stampede for a variety of reasons (cost, hate the Cowboy culture, etc), but have come up empty thus far. This is something I want to add before an FA run though. Thanks for the suggestions! Resolute 00:39, 10 July 2011 (UTC)