College Football Truth

Don't do that

Don't change my talk entry on The U. It is generally bad practice to remove someone else's submissions from discussion pages. If you want to change the article, do so with some good logic, rather than simply reverting my contribution to an old version that is clearly not indicative of what "the U" really means. Dpodoll68 (talk) 19:10, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

The U

Your article contribution is far too POV. I think we both agree that "the U" is something that many institutions lay claim to, and your contribution insinuates that Utah is the most-talked about and oldest, neither of which are anywhere close to true. I am not a Miami backer, and far from it. In fact, for me, "the U" is Minnesota. But I think the section on Miami is relevant to today, as evidenced by users pointing out that they came to the page solely to find out who Michael Irvin was talking about when he says "the U." I think your contribution would fit best in an article entitled The U (Utah) that branches off from the main article. In fact, I will go ahead and do that.Dpodoll68 (talk) 21:24, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

You clearly have an agenda with posting the article the way you do. It is so slanted toward Utah that it is not even funny. That is why I created a separate article with a focus on Utah. Never once did I say that "The U" refers to every institution (which I could argue, because I have heard practically every state school referred to as such at one time or another), and I have certainly never even heard of Utah being referred to as such. Your entire edit history revolves around the University of Utah, so you clearly are showing your bias in this article. As I've stated before, in my eyes, "the U" refers to the University of Minnesota, but I didn't mention it in this article, because that would be irresponsible and pushing my point of view, which is strictly forbidden by Wikipedia rules. I mean, come on, you keep putting a big picture of the block U, which somehow is supposed to show that Utah has some claim to "the U" simply by virtue of the fact that the state's name starts with a U. Why don't I just start posting that "the U" solely refers to Minnesota, and litter the page with U of M references? That would make about as much sense as what you continue to do. Dpodoll68 (talk) 14:19, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I will address your post point-by-point:

"Your claim that they have greatness in all of their athletics is a joke"

- I never once said that, anywhere. Show me where I said anything even remotely insinuating that. What I said was, "Miami has sent a great number of alumni on to play professional sports," and "these current and former athletes have a great deal of visibility, thus linking the term with the University of Miami in the minds of many," both of which are verifiable facts and are indisputably true.

"You clearly have some tie to Miami or you wouldn’t care so much."

- I have no tie whatsoever to Miami, and in fact, I loathe the University and everything it stands for. As evidenced by previous posters to this article, many in the present associate "the U" with Miami because of its constant use by Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, et al, and have come to the page to determine which school they were referring to, since it is often not clear during the reference. I was born and raised in South Dakota, and have lived in Minnesota since 1998. The whole point I am making with the article you keep posting is that your bias is causing you to make the entire lead of the article about Utah, which is clearly POV. The point of posting articles is to disseminate factual information, not to espouse your agenda.

"The big picture of the U on the mountain is highly applicable. It isn’t the only reason they are referred to as the U but it depicts it well nonetheless."

- The only thing this shows is that the name of the state of Utah starts with the letter U, as you have alluded to in the Utah/BYU discussion (further evidence of your bias towards the state of Utah). Are you going to try and claim that the state/university of Utah own the letter U based on these grounds, like you are trying to claim is the case with "the U"? Each case makes equally no sense.

"Regarding the issue of any university being referred to as the U is not valid"

- Again, your reading comprehension skills are sorely lacking. I never once said this, nor even implied it. What I said was that the term is almost universally used in reference to state schools, which is indisputably the truth. By definition, two state schools cannot be in close proximity, since they are in different states.

"However, Utah is unique, as I have explained so many times and it deserves to be written. With Utah it referees to “UTAH” versus the other main University within close proximity, “the Y” or BYU (as well as 3 other Universities within 100miles). Utah is the one of the only, if not the only, university in the nation that begins with the letter “U” and has been known nationwide as the U for over a century."

- This is a valid discussion, which is why I have created the separate article, The U (Utah), which is linked to on this page. To make the main article all about Utah, when it is without question true that several other institutions use the phrase as well, cannot be tolerated and is clearly POV.

"Why not put both stories in. It doesn’t make any sense otherwise."

- I have done exactly that. I have created pages that reference both Utah and Miami's use of "the U," and linked to them from the main article. I am in no way saying that Utah does not use "the U"; it clearly does. However, to say that it is "unique" or "original" or that it owns "the U" because its name happens to start with the letter are all just plain wrong. Using the rationale that it is called "the U" because of Utah may be true, but that doesn't mean it owns the term. By that logic, Miami would call itself "the M," as would Minnesota. Dpodoll68 (talk) 16:35, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Your recent edits

Hi there. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. If you can't type the tilde character, you should click on the signature button located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your name and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you! --SineBot (talk) 00:49, 2 October 2008 (UTC)