Talk:Jason McElwain

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Contents 1 Marked for Deletion? 2 Updates 3 Updated 4 Feel Good Stories 5 Questionable Material... 6 Statement removed: 7 Autism

[edit] Marked for Deletion?

While I agree this article needs cleaning up, it is a bit harsh to mark this for deletion, rather it might be tagged as a stub. I suspect that Jason will be included in 2006 encyclopedia yearbooks.

You're right; this is definitely not speedy deletion material. He's received a lot of coverage in the news, and with the possible movie deal(s) any attempts to take the article to WP:AFD or speedy it will probably be unsuccessful. CSD A7 - the template which was applied to this article - said that the article has to not assert importance (or significance) of its subject in order to qualify for speedy deletion. This article does a pretty good job at asserting significance and importance, so it's safe from at least speedy deletion. Since the template was placed by an anonymous editor, it might have been an edit by somebody who, my guess is, either didn't understand CSD well or who was just vandalizing the page. --Idont Havaname (Talk) 00:34, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Updates

Instead of stating that he "never played in a high school basketball game", I changed that to "varsity basketball game". According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Feb 24, 2006, "three years ago, when, as a sophomore, Jason dressed for a junior varsity game. He was fouled on a 3-point attempt and wound up sinking all three free throws." [1]

[edit] Updated

Changed some grammer to make it flow better. Mcc9 19:57, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I removed some NPOV gaffs, some original reaserch and some leading information today. 1) Saying "he will graduate" implies that graduation is certain, its not. Not due to his autism, but due to the fact that he's a student and his status for graduation won't be determined until MUCH closer to the end of the school year. 2) Removed "would be an amazing feat even for an NBA player" due to being original research as no such standards exist. 3) Removed "is seen as an inpiration to all, autistic or not" I'm sure there are some out there who weren't particularly inspiring by this story. Personally, i feel that its a great story, but the inclusion that he's an inspirtation to all violates NPOV and OR. If you feel that my edits were biased or inappropriate, please discuss. Batman2005 20:26, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Feel Good Stories

I added a new category called Feel Good Stories to the bottom of the article. I believe the concept of a feel good story is established enough in western cultures to justify an article. I do not believe this violated wikipedia's NPOV policy in as much as all stories enventually (true life or fictional) end up being categorized. Sysrpl 07:47, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Category:Feel-Good Stories has been listed for deletion, FYI. I personally feel it's inherently POV. The concept itself may deserve an article, but categorizing other articles as feel-good stories just can't be done without inappropriately displaying POV. Powers 17:01, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Questionable Material...

There's been quite a bit of...not vandalism, but material of questionable encyclopedic value that has been posted on here recently. Most notably that "his name was mentioned in the same sentence as the ESPY Awards" and that "its rumored that john travolta called him." These are all well and good, but they need sources people! I read the one about the ESPY Awards and it said that a spokesperson at ESPN said it was possible he could be nominated for an ESPY...this would be encyclopedic if he WAS nominated, not that some spokesperson who has nothing to do with the nomination process says he could be. As for the Travolta claim, that's really outlandish to post without a source and reads like pure fantasy. Batman2005 04:27, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

The Travolta rumor needs a source, I agree. But don't lump that in with the ESPY sentence, which was sourced. The fact that his name has been mentioned -- by an ESPN spokesperson, no less -- in connection with the ESPYs is fairly relevant. It doesn't fall under "crystal ballism" because it doesn't say he will be nominated for an ESPY. It's just a reflection of the high amount of buzz surrounding him right now. Anyway, I didn't revert your removal because I could really go either way -- but please be careful how you characterize it (your misquote is significantly different from the actual sentence). Powers 12:52, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Apologies for the misquote, I didn't take time to re-read the source. I will disagree with its fairly relevant though. The ESPN spokesperson has no way of knowing what will be nominated for ESPY awards, nor did she indicate a category or specific award that this person could possibly be nominated for. As I said, you and I COULD be nominated for ESPY Awards. Granted we probably won't be, but we COULD be. Is this mere possibility significant enough for entry in an encyclopedic article? No. The actual sentence as I remember it was the spokesperson speaking off the cuff to reporters and said basically that its possible that he would be nominated for an ESPY. Now, if he IS nominated...lets include that, but saying he COULD be nominated is crystal ballism at its finest. Batman2005 17:52, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

For the record, here's the quotation:

"Jason's story is exactly the type of event we like to celebrate at the ESPYs," said ESPN spokesperson Keri Potts. "I think he's definitely under consideration in several categories, including most inspirational performance and best game. Everybody at the network has been buzzing about what he did. He's definitely on our radar."

Agreed it's not much, but she DID mention two categories, and it's a heckuva lot more than one could say about you or me. I think that's an unfair comparison. I see it the same as saying a movie is "Oscar-worthy". Lots of films garner Oscar buzz before the nominations come out; this is very similar. Powers 20:30, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for clearin up that quote, I agree with the point about films garnering buzz about the oscars and then when reality sets in there is no nomination. Regretablly, I think this story will be much the same. It'll get shoved aside for some other sensational story in a few weeks and most people will forget about it. I still don't think at present it warrants inclusion in an encyclopedic article though, as we should be concerned with facts, not speculation about what awards might possibly be given. Batman2005 21:03, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I haven't a clue as to wiki's editing procedures and such, i would just like to suggest that the link to J-Mac's mySpace be deleted as it seems for one irrelevent not to mention it's something private that the whole world shouldn't have a link to. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.204.106.77 (talk • contribs) .

There's nothing private about mySpace. The whole point is to be public. That said, however, I agree it's not relevant to the article. Powers 12:23, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

MySpace is quite relevant to this article, it is a biographical article, not an article about an event. His MySpace is essentially an online profile of himself. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.67.121.171 (talk • contribs) .

Eh, I'm not convinced, although you do have a point. I guess to some extent it depends on what's there, but I don't have much interest in looking. =) Powers 01:27, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Statement removed:

'... his mantra, "Stay Focused", which is a horrible mantra for an autistic child' - a very inappropriate, not to mention POV, statement. Removed with indignation. ▫ UrbaneLegend ^talk 12:32, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

Not to mention that autism != ADHD or anything like that. If anything, people with autism tend to be TOO focused. =) Powers 15:40, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Autism

GUYS?? This is ridiculous. NOWHERE in this article does it state that he is autistic. THAT IS THE ENTIRE REASON WHY THIS IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE STORY. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.82.9.81 (talk • contribs) .

"autistic" is the thirteenth word of the article. Powers 14:02, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

SO the DUDE IS AUTISTIC AND PLAYED BASKETBALL FOR LIKE 4 MINUTES. BIG FREAKING DEAL!

Um, no. What's notable is that he scored twenty points in those four minutes. That's called making the most of your opportunity. Anson2995 16:02, 12 November 2006 (UTC)