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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

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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From our host, Able.....

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  • From our host, Able.....

    It got barried in one of the other threads but it was such a profound question that I think it deserves a thread of it's own.

    This is something I gave no thought to whatsoever, until he asked it but now he has got me thinking & I'll be honest I don't know the real answer.

    Why was Ron Artest given part of the co-captaincy & not Al Harrington?

    Is there really a lot more going on behind the scenes with Al that we don't know about? Is it just an attempt to coddle Artest? Is it because Ron shows more leadership?

    There are so many things to think about with this, I just am really curious.

    Does anybody have a clue?

    Oh, btw just so I don't dissapoint Btown.

    The Brad Miller trade sucked.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

  • #2
    Re: From our host, Able.....

    Because three's company, four's a crowd.
    Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: From our host, Able.....

      Ummmm - because he deserved it?
      The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: From our host, Able.....

        Ummmm - because he deserved it?
        How so?


        Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: From our host, Able.....

          I think they did it to show him how important he is to the team. He has been very good this year and they were rewarding him for that.


          Also he is for the most part the second best player on the team so that may have had something to do with it. I have never heard of a 6th man being made a captain.


          BTW Peck I know this is coming a little late but I love your avatar. All the german I know I learned from Hogans Hero's

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: From our host, Able.....

            I think Ron has been a model player and teammate this year. He showed he could overcome bad habits. He cares only about winning. He has been a peace-maker in many instances on the court. There aren't many who give 100% the percentage of the time he does.
            The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: From our host, Able.....

              I think Ron has been a model player and teammate this year. He showed he could overcome bad habits. He cares only about winning. He has been a peace-maker in many instances on the court. There aren't many who give 100% the percentage of the time he does.
              Ron has been benched once already by the coach for conduct detrimental to winning (or something like that).

              How can you equate that with being a leader?

              I'm not saying your wrong, I'm just asking if it really doesn't have more to do with Al.


              Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

              Comment


              • #8
                I think the writing is on the wall....and its been there...

                I really beleive the writing has been on the wall for a Harrington trade for a long time now. Al himself if the off-season was even saying he wouldn't be surprised if he was traded. I agree with several other posters on here. J.O. should be starting and playing power forward, we need a banging center who is an offensive threat for J.O. to become an inside out scoring threat. If you follow that logic that locks Al into competition for small forward because we all agree JO is the better fit at the power forward spot, not to mention the Pacer mngmt. has got him locked here as the marquee player for years to com. That leaves Al in competition against Artest, whose play at both ends is better than Al's. The Pacers are still weak at the point especially on the defensive end. Al is a star caliber player and should be starting on somebody's team, he should not be coming off the bench. In my opinion the best move the Pacers could make is trading him for either a potent Center or a high caliber guard. This isn't a slam on Al, I think he will be an All-Star someday, its just business! We don't need two All-Star power forwards!

                Edit: which is why I think Ron got the "Capo" tag and Al didn't. They are setting Ron up to be another franchise player and are waiting for the right opportunity to ship Al. I think Al knows it and expects it. Even though I have absolutely no proof of that at all. (pretty bad when you have to edit the post to explain the basic point of the discussion isnt it )
                "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post."

                --Jack Nicholson as Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: From our host, Able.....

                  If it were directed at all toward Harrington - I think that would a huge display of pettiness.
                  The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: From our host, Able.....

                    Well the question was somewhat rethoric, but ok:

                    Al is not on the plotter for the coming years. It is as simple as that.

                    JO and Ron are the core, Reggie is the honourable old man waiting to see his replacement grow into his role and will keep shooting the lights out till then (one or two more years) Freddie could well be that person, but so could another dark horse we don't know about yet.
                    JB, unless he really comes out is a bust and will be ready to be traded either this summer or next Feb, if they decide to give him another chance the coming season, something I'm not really convinced of.

                    Tins will be the PG of the future for this team, and yes I do think he will come along a lot more then we have yet seen, just hope they give him an extension early next season if possible, because IF he shows his talent in his contract year he will cost to much, we might have a glut in guards in the East, but the West has a shortage, those who doubt Tins come playoff time: in the first 4 games before he was injured he played:
                    38 min FG: 0.643 3Pt .750 FT 0.500 Reb 3.5 Ast 9.250 St 1.00 Pt 11.750

                    considering that such was a serious upgrade over the second half of the season, we need not worry.

                    Leaves the C spot open, the C by committee is not an option in the longer run, Jeff can't in all reality be a starter, his energy is limited and Pollie is a nice guy who's coming along but not a full fledged starter and JO at C is simply costing us to much production from him and is dissalowing us to sploit his talents to the max.

                    In that "starting" rotation is simply no room for Al, IF JB ever comes out then his competition for minutes will be even worse so in all reality Al is not a "staying" player.

                    Ron is, or it is at least the intention of the P's management because even from the business end of matters, he is the real deal, a steal in monetary sense of the word as well seeing his salary, for a number of years to come, who would#ve ever believed it if they told you we would have the defensive player of the year, an All Star for that amount of money locked up?

                    Al on the other hand (perhaps rightly so) feels he deserves more, more money, more minutes, more starts, perhaps a captaincy, perhaps an All Star election, the guy is young and wants the same JO has. it is that simple.

                    That was perhaps one of the reasons they played it low-key, the announcement of Ron becoming a captain, but no matter how you look upon it, Al will not be happy about it.

                    Al's not showing in the game Tuesday was perhaps due to rust, but as far as I understood from Slick he was simply not going at it, and not defending as well, which is not the first time he said something like that.

                    Yes there is more to Al and the P's then we know, think or can fathom, let's just hope it doesn't ruin our second half

                    So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                    If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                    Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: From our host, Able.....

                      Good post. Hope it doesn't come to pass that this is true.
                      The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: From our host, Able.....

                        Al on the other hand (perhaps rightly so) feels he deserves more, more money, more minutes, more starts, perhaps a captaincy, perhaps an All Star election, the guy is young and wants the same JO has. it is that simple.

                        That was perhaps one of the reasons they played it low-key, the announcement of Ron becoming a captain, but no matter how you look upon it, Al will not be happy about it.

                        Al's not showing in the game Tuesday was perhaps due to rust, but as far as I understood from Slick he was simply not going at it, and not defending as well, which is not the first time he said something like that.

                        Yes there is more to Al and the P's then we know, think or can fathom, let's just hope it doesn't ruin our second half

                        How are you privy to what Al thinks and feels? Are you saying that the Pacers down played the captiancy to spar Al's feelings or simply just not tell Al? How do you know that there is more going on than there is?

                        You can knock his play, suggest that we need a different part than what Al gives but why the conspiricy theories and wild speculation on the player's character?
                        "They could turn out to be only innocent mathematicians, I suppose," muttered Woevre's section officer, de Decker.

                        "'Only.'" Woevre was amused. "Someday you'll explain to me how that's possible. Seeing that, on the face of it, all mathematics leads, doesn't it, sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: From our host, Able.....

                          I think it is as simple as this. Artest is a better player than Harrington.

                          If Reggie retires and the Pacers want to keep three captains and AL is still here then I would assume AL will be named the third cap't

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: From our host, Able.....

                            Al doesn't start, captains are usually starters.

                            Why make it another opportunity to view Al in a negative light?

                            The kid can't even get a day off from being a whipping boy.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: From our host, Able.....

                              SOrry, did not mean to kick the man lying down.

                              This was NOT an "anti" Al statement, no way, I respect the guy, he has talent and the fact that he has no-show days makes him even human.

                              I can not see into his brain, just read what he says in interviews and what is confirmed by others from speaking with him.

                              On the other hand, I'm not an idiot, I don't follow the leader and sometimes draw conclusions that are neigh on correct.

                              I never even insinuated he should start, he asked / demanded it.
                              He has been here longer then Ron, handpicked talent and so on, friend of JO? (if that is still the case) and yet he does not make it to Cap and I know he doesn't start but still.

                              I was not trying to kick Al, or insult him, I was just concluding that he has limited reasons to stay here at the end of the year if starter and perhaps All Star is a goal he has set himself, which would be the right goal for every NBA player, whether he gets there or not, because on this team baring great surprises he will not be a starter for the next 4 years.

                              FOR AL it would be better to move on for all those same reasons that it would be better for the P's to trade him.
                              He gets a starting job with all the benefits that go with it and we can get ourselves a good C, because that is the very least value Al has.

                              If he does not get a trade then I fear he might become an unhappy camper and that would not be good for chemistry.

                              Reasonable thoughts, very simple and mathematically sane.

                              Please do not think I have something against Al, I don't, no matter how much I can biotch when he doesn't show like against NO, he remains a very fine player and a great talent. Unfortunately talents like that are not happy playing second fiddle to long otherwise this team with him as 6th man and a decent C would be a perennial finalist the next 10 years.
                              So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                              If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                              Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                              Comment

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