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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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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.

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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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It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

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  • It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

    Fans are getting restless and discouraged. The team has become an after thought even in its own local media. Nationally we are irrelevant. Even some of our sunshiners on this board are starting to wonder and that is really a bad sign. So where is the front office and leadership of this team. It sure would be nice to hear from them. Get some reassurance that they are still on the job. That they actually have a plan. I am really sick of hearing the same old lame lines coming from the same old people who continue to get the same old results. Last night Vogel was asked in the post game about Rudy Gay going off and his answer is we really miss PG. Sounds like a coach without a clue who has no real answer. I am starting to wonder if Bird has lost all his competitiveness and is just collecting paychecks. I still have no idea what Pritchard does, or has done to help this team. Stand up Bird and be the voice of this team and get it some help somehow. That is what you are paid to do or could it be that we have been tanking all along and just keeping it a secret. I really don't think we have to tank because this team is in the tank already.

  • #2
    Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

    Relax, it's just a game of basketball. Nobody went into this season expecting anything more than maybe a first round exit, so this is really not to be expected. Between the injuries and everything else, this season is just not meant to be. We have an off-season and Paul George coming back next year, so I believe brighter days are ahead.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

      This is what happens when your All Star goes down for the season. It recently happened to the Bulls and Hawks.

      We'll be fine next season. We'll have a decent pick (which I hope we move) and PG will be healthy
      "So, which one of you guys is going to come in second?" - Larry Bird before the 3 point contest. He won.


      Comment


      • #4
        Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

        Slow it down there! We have 2.5 months left in this disaster. Don't go calling for change when we are so close to a lottery pick in the draft. Its not like Bird of Pritchard can do anything trade wise with this team. I'm not sure any team would want David West at this point for anymore more than poo poo platter players. We just aren't competitive this year. If we were hovering around .500 then I think alot of our players would have value for trades.

        If Hibbert plays out the rest of the season well then they can probably find a pretty good trade in the draft.

        Though I could also see Bird exercising extreme patience in wanting to know how this team looks with PG back and you won't see a big trade until next season. You look around the league and teams like OKC fell off a cliff when Durant and Westbrook went down. Cleveland lost like 8-9 straight when Lebron was injured. So yea MVP caliber players make a huge difference in the Win Loss column.
        You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

          I do agree with you that the right thing for Bird to do would be to give a mid season state of the team address. Anyone with common sense knows the adversity that this team has gone through starting with PG this summer but the number of injuries we've had beyond that is hard to even believe. Vogel and this core could use a vote of confidence and that's what I would expect from Bird. The fans need to be told the one thing they don't want to hear and that's to be patient. It's one of Bird's biggest strengths as an exec.
          Why do teams tank? Ask a Spurs fan.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

            I feel you, I really do. However in this case I just know that Bird is in a very hard place and there really isn't anything to say. If anything he might want to throw Frank a bone and let everyone know he is doing the best he can with what he has, however even doing that sends a message that the players just aren't good enough.

            I know some people want them to come out and just admit the season is lost and there are a couple of reasons why they can't. First and foremost they still have to sell tickets and while there certainly are some of us who understand and even value the fact that this season was lost before it started there are tons of central Indiana fans who are more like BillS and loath what they perceive to be as quitting. That type of talk might work in Philly or other markets, it probably is not the best strategy for the Indianapolis market. Two, they don't believe it themselves. I guarantee you that they are still thinking they can reach the 8th seed.

            Everybody knows what we have right now is not working but unless they have a solid game plan to change it there just really isn't much to say.

            Now I say all of that saying that I understand and know why they aren't talking, however like you I like accountability. That really is what made me accept Bird as the lead front office guy, he spoke straight and seemed intent on changing what was the problem back then. Now not so much, however this time around he can't use Walsh as any type of excuse. This team is all Bird from front to back so to say things aren't working is to say that his mixture has not worked. It's a lot easier to talk straight when you didn't create the issues.

            On top of that the one over riding topic would be injuries and let's be honest while everyone would agree with that, it can't be denied, it also comes across as excuse making and that could back fire on them.

            So overall while I understand your point and even personally agree with it I can see why they are not doing it.


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

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            • #7
              Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

              Yes, Bird is the lead guy, but can't he deflect blame to Pritchard? I have to be honest, when I heard Pritchard was joining the front office, I was thinking and hoping we would be more active and a player in free agency. I haven't see much of that.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                Originally posted by joew8302 View Post
                Yes, Bird is the lead guy, but can't he deflect blame to Pritchard? I have to be honest, when I heard Pritchard was joining the front office, I was thinking and hoping we would be more active and a player in free agency. I haven't see much of that.
                Pritchard can only do what Larry let's him do. For that matter who knows if last seasons Evan Turner & Andrew Bynum acquisitions aren't the masterwork of Pritchard, that is the case then I am content for him to just sit there at games and look stoic.


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

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                  Ya lets secure our top 5 pick before we start calling for changes that might make us competitive.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                    Well it's February, so we have like 2 weeks to see what they do. I think it'll be interesting because the trade deadline this year falls during All Star Break, which has now been extended until February 20th. Only 4 teams play on the 19th.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                      It's kind of weird though. When Rose got injured the Bulls still made the playoffs and gave other teams trouble. Even after they lost Deng, who was a key guy. With us, it seems like we've been through a total collapse. I didn't expect us to be good, but with crappier rosters we played fine and even made the playoffs (think 10-11, when we had Collison, Price and Dunleavy)
                      Originally posted by Piston Prince
                      Bobcat fans telling us to cheer up = epic fail season
                      "Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                        I don't see Bird doing anything before the trade deadline, Really not much in the off season regarding the starters. What I see is the SOS of re-arranging the deck chairs with the 2nd unit, and hearing the SOS (Same Old Stuff) of the new players and existing players aren't use to each others play most of the season as we've heard for the last umpteen years.

                        I expect Bird to give it the conservative one more year with the starters hoping both Georges health returning will make the team a contender next season. I've re-signed myself to this scenario and if Bird does make some real changes b4 next season I could be pleasantly surprised. IOW, I'm not expecting much, and I am concentrating my focus on a really good player from the draft. That's about all I can hope for now. JMOAA

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                          Originally posted by Pacerized View Post
                          I do agree with you that the right thing for Bird to do would be to give a mid season state of the team address. Anyone with common sense knows the adversity that this team has gone through starting with PG this summer but the number of injuries we've had beyond that is hard to even believe. Vogel and this core could use a vote of confidence and that's what I would expect from Bird. The fans need to be told the one thing they don't want to hear and that's to be patient. It's one of Bird's biggest strengths as an exec.
                          I agree, I would like some sort of statement from the fron office. A few years ago when Bird said he had a 3 year plan, we all knew that he was waiting for either Murphy and Dunleavy's contracts to expire or to be able to trade them. It made it more bearable for us fans because we had an idea as to what the FO was waiting for.

                          Now I would just like to hear done kind of rough plan. Are we going with the same core for one more year? Are we looking to make some moves which may include trading some of the core? Just throw us some kind of bone.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                            The front office is doing everything it can. It offered Lance a mint and he decided to walk. It is now setting itself up to recoup the lost talent with a high pick in the draft. There is nothing it can do to overcome losing Paul George. But let's raise this thread up again if we are still sub .500 at this time next year.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: It's time for the front office to stand up and be heard:

                              Originally posted by Peck View Post
                              there are tons of central Indiana fans who are more like BillS and loath what they perceive to be as quitting.
                              I would certainly say that the crowd at the game last night was not upset during the comeback attempt because they preferred a loss.

                              You kind of have to cater to the people actually buying tickets and attending the game rather than the ones who talk tank but have no intention of buying tickets until the team starts winning.
                              BillS

                              A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                              Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

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