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Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

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  • #1

    It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

    http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...45/1004/SPORTS

    I'm still waiting.


    Twenty four and now 48 hours after the demolition derby/gunfight at Club Rio, I'm still waiting for somebody -- like, say, Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird -- to stop hiding behind prepared statements and words of familial support and come right out and say what needs to be said:

    "THIS IS GARBAGE, WE ARE EMBARRASSED BY WHAT OUR PLAYERS DID, AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO TOLERATE ANY MORE. AND BY THE WAY, WE'RE REALLY SORRY.''

    When do we hear that?

    From Bird, specifically?

    Because if I remember Bird's rousing postseason post-mortem news conference, he made quite an issue of seizing control and ensuring that last year's lack of professionalism would never again be tolerated on his watch.

    What did he say?

    Yeah, here it is:

    "I've got to take more responsibility for the way these players (behave),'' Bird said last season after the Pacers were mercifully removed from the postseason by the New Jersey Nets. "After noticing the fans' frustration, I think it's up to me to take the next step and make sure these guys make the change. If they can't make the change, we've got to make the change. We just can't have that. It's not what this franchise is all about. So I'll have to do more. I probably should've done more last year. But I don't like to walk into the middle of the season and sort of discredit (coach) Rick (Carlisle). But I know what I have to do and I'm going to do it.''
    Like, how about now?

    The minute Stephen Jackson, who is probably quite lucky to be alive after his run-in with the likes of "Fingers'' and "Dino,'' returns from his assorted injuries?
    In reality, there's not a lot the Pacers or Bird can really do to the Rio Boys. For now, there are no legal penalties looming -- maybe famous attorney Alan Dershowitz can explain the whole no possession charge for marijuana thing to me -- so the league won't penalize them and the team can't penalize them. There's no curfew, so it's not like they can be fined for staying out past their bedtime. Bad judgment isn't a fineable offense, last I checked.

    Bench them? What purpose does that serve? Right now, Tinsley is your top point guard, a frightening prospect under the best of circumstances.

    What can be done, though, is something symbolic, something from Bird, who, despite his hit-and-miss record as a basketball executive here, still has a name that means something important in this area: He simply has to speak openly and honestly to the fans here -- no mincing words, no public relations -- and just speak from the heart.

    Forget rolling out Jackson, whose words just don't mean anything anymore. Or Tinsley, who has never made any connection with this town, or Marquis Daniels and Jimmie "Snap" Hunter, who have made one heck of a lousy first impression.

    Just Bird, saying all the things his coach and his players couldn't or wouldn't say the past two days, stepping up the way he failed to after The Brawl two years ago and after Ron Artest's trade request last year.

    Is that so difficult?

    Really, who else is going to do it?

    Not team CEO Donnie Walsh. At this point, he's a lame duck. He doesn't have the personality or the stomach for it. For all the great things he has done over the years, he has been guilty of falling too far in love with players in recent seasons, committing too many dollars and years to guys who didn't deserve the deal. Tinsley through 2011? Really? Jackson, you should know, is here through 2010. Little wonder whatever trade efforts the Pacers may have made this summer didn't go anywhere.

    Carlisle isn't going to bring down the hammer, either, not even with the security of that new contract and new job title. He made that abundantly clear the day after the incident, when he was exceedingly soft on his players, chiding them only for making an error in judgment by being out so late on a training camp night.

    When I asked him about the guns, he dismissed the question as a legal one he was ill-equipped to answer. And when I asked about the pot police found in Tinsley's car, he said he never confronted his erstwhile starting point guard about the subject.

    Personally, if I had a point guard who is A) supposed to be taking charge of a new, up-tempo style and is B) always sick and/or hurt, I'm going to be asking him some questions about the pot the cops found in the passenger door. But that's just me.

    Later, he noted that Jackson was exceedingly emotional and contrite about the episode, and said he wondered if Jackson's lack of more serious injuries was some sort of "karmic'' result of his genuine desire to leave the establishment and avoid a confrontation.

    I don't expect the players to do anything beyond what they're already doing: That is, circle the wagons. Family is family. Hey, they supported Artest, even through gritted teeth. When a reporter asked new locker room elder spokesman Darrell Armstrong on Friday about the message the Pacers are sending, Armstrong responded, "What? You've never been to a strip club?''
    The reporter countered, "Not with guns and drugs in the car.''

    Armstrong said, "Well, that's just speculation.''

    Um, no, that's not speculation.

    Larry, the floor is yours.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

    HELL of an article. I agree 100% here.
    STARBURY

    08 and Beyond

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

      Typical Boob Krapitz.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

        Originally posted by Robertmto View Post
        HELL of an article. I agree 100% here.
        I haven't checked, but I do wonder if you were as critical of Arenas this summer as you seem to be of the Pacers.

        Looking at the situation it seems our players were victims more then anything else.

        Regards,

        Mourning
        2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

        2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

        2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

          Kravitz simply falling in line with those who conflate this whole incident (in which our guys allegedly did nothing wrong) with talks and publicity about the team's attitude/image/discipline etc. regarding their basketball-related activities.

          Change the law and/or team policy to restrict something they did and we can discuss this. If you don't like Jack for his on-court baggage, fine. Argue for a trade. But don't confuse Club Rio with that argument.

          Bad judgment in one's personal life in this type of context is not something that can be policed. Holding these guys to such high standards in their personal lives as those being bandied about in terms of what happened Sat. is akin to reducing restricting their personal freedoms based on the laws of the land.
          I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

          -Emiliano Zapata

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

            Some of us don't expect any apology from the team. This mob mentality, and specifically the "anger" is disgusting.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

              If I'm the Pacers I'm scrambling to put together a mailing to anyone who's on a ticket list from the past 5 years asking them how this would influence their ticket purchases/game attendance. Or I might hire a firm to call them.

              We know there's a ton of screaming in letters to the editor, e-mails to TV stations, etc. But there's the massive weight of the silent majority.

              It's a business and the Pacers will have to view what they do with Jackson as a business decision. They may even want to wait a week or two until the uproar has died down and then make contacts.

              In the short term, I wouldn't expect much beyond ultra-general statements. But being as this is Indiana, I expect trading him will be the decision they have to make - if it was NYC it might be a different story.

              But maybe I'll be surprised.
              The poster formerly known as Rimfire

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article



                (Translation for newbies: "Look at me, look at me! Woody Page's got nothing on Bob Kravitz! Look at me!")
                Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                  The Pacers just have to do one thing: Win ballgames.

                  Cures all ills.........
                  PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                    Originally posted by Mourning View Post
                    I haven't checked, but I do wonder if you were as critical of Arenas this summer as you seem to be of the Pacers.

                    Looking at the situation it seems our players were victims more then anything else.

                    Regards,

                    Mourning
                    That guy (roabertmo) got put on my ignore list long ago, you wont miss anything by doing the same.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                      This guy's an idiot. Smoking weed leads to being sick and injury-prone? Did an adult write this article? He needs a lawyer to explain to him that you can't get charged for having a negligible amount of marijuana in the vehicle, that could have come from anywhere, including a valet? What a complete fool.

                      I don't know why this guy is (and several here are)obsessed with crossing his arms and saying "APOLOGIZE!" like that's going to magically make everything sunshine and rainbows. What exactly must they apologize for? Shouldn't he be demanding that the punks who started this whole thing apologize? Without them, this would have never happened.

                      And I like how this guy indicts Daniels and Hunter. Hell of a first impression? They didn't do ANYTHING. I can't believe people get paid to right garbage like that.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                        this artical sounds like some punk wrote it.
                        i think yall r taking this too seriously, yall need to relax, we should support Jaxx as fans.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                          Originally posted by Mourning View Post
                          I haven't checked, but I do wonder if you were as critical of Arenas this summer as you seem to be of the Pacers.

                          Looking at the situation it seems our players were victims more then anything else.

                          Regards,

                          Mourning
                          He wasnt, not at all.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                            Originally posted by !Pacers-Fan! View Post
                            this artical sounds like some punk wrote it.
                            I don't think Jax works for the star.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: It's time for Bird to take control of situation - Kravitz Article

                              Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
                              This guy's an idiot. Smoking weed leads to being sick and injury-prone? Did an adult write this article? He needs a lawyer to explain to him that you can't get charged for having a negligible amount of marijuana in the vehicle, that could have come from anywhere, including a valet? What a complete fool.

                              I don't know why this guy is (and several here are)obsessed with crossing his arms and saying "APOLOGIZE!" like that's going to magically make everything sunshine and rainbows. What exactly must they apologize for? Shouldn't he be demanding that the punks who started this whole thing apologize? Without them, this would have never happened.

                              And I like how this guy indicts Daniels and Hunter. Hell of a first impression? They didn't do ANYTHING. I can't believe people get paid to right garbage like that.
                              Wow. I'm sure I'll get my wrist slapped for writing this, but you are an immature, ignorant fool.

                              Comment

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