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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**"

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"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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Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

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  • Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

    ...Didn't see this coming...
    http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/13...-with-andretti
    Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

    ------

    "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

    -John Wooden

  • #2
    Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

    Call me crazy, but I like his chances to drink the milk.
    "Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

    "And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

      A lot will depend on weather I think... Rossi had a few races under his belt to get acclimated. Alonso will just have May (and a special practice/test). If the weather is good and he gets lots of track time it will help.
      Especially if it was like last year with all the race condition testing going on. He'll be able to run in traffic, practice the draft/tow with his teammates... measure the Chevys... etc...

      Definitely there's no doubt an Andretti car can win. ...Unless Chevy is sandbagging and has a beast of an engine to unleash come May.
      Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

      ------

      "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

      -John Wooden

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

        Alonso is saying all the right things and was great during his interviews from Barber yesterday. Definitely moving the needle to have him coming to run the 500 next month.
        He's making himself somebody you root for with the attitude he's showing.
        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

        ------

        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

        -John Wooden

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

          If you had asked me 10 minutes before this was announced "would there be anything you can think of that would get you to watch the now pathetic 500" I would have said not a chance in hell, they would have to dump the formula nippon crap cars and deliver real racing again which they seem incapable of doing.

          Once I heard Alonzo would be running, well I am watching. I have not watched since the last legitimate 500 back in 1994 so it will feel weird.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

            Alonso seems fairly pleased. It has me wondering if he's not considering a near future in Indycar.
            Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

            ------

            "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

            -John Wooden

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

              Originally posted by Bball View Post
              Alonso seems fairly pleased. It has me wondering if he's not considering a near future in Indycar.
              He has to be miserable in F1 right now.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                Originally posted by Ragnar View Post
                If you had asked me 10 minutes before this was announced "would there be anything you can think of that would get you to watch the now pathetic 500" I would have said not a chance in hell, they would have to dump the formula nippon crap cars and deliver real racing again which they seem incapable of doing.

                Once I heard Alonzo would be running, well I am watching. I have not watched since the last legitimate 500 back in 1994 so it will feel weird.
                1995 was the last legitimate 500. It was so competitive back then that Penske couldnt even get in with Fittipaldi and Little Al, who collectively accounted for the three previous wins!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                  Point of order... I believe the 500 has been fairly legitimate for a few years now. There's a pretty good argument that there's a huge window and problem from 1996 up until some point around the time of reunification. But for the last few years it's been solid on the track. It's probably as competitive as it ever has been from 1-33. Certainly the top half are all very solid and as strong as ever.

                  I'm a big believer that the aerokits were a move in the right direction and that it's a mistake to go away from them. Although not a mistake to have new cars next year.
                  Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                  ------

                  "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                  -John Wooden

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                    Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                    1995 was the last legitimate 500. It was so competitive back then that Penske couldnt even get in with Fittipaldi and Little Al, who collectively accounted for the three previous wins!

                    My bad you are correct, Villeneuve won the last legit 500. I remember watching Penske pull out the backup cars to try and qualify it was astonishing. I think their chassis that year was bad, it did not have to be as good the year before because they had a good 300 hp on everyone else in 1994. I think the backup cars were older Lolas but they just could not get it all to work.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                      Originally posted by Bball View Post
                      Point of order... I believe the 500 has been fairly legitimate for a few years now. There's a pretty good argument that there's a huge window and problem from 1996 up until some point around the time of reunification. But for the last few years it's been solid on the track. It's probably as competitive as it ever has been from 1-33. Certainly the top half are all very solid and as strong as ever.

                      I'm a big believer that the aerokits were a move in the right direction and that it's a mistake to go away from them. Although not a mistake to have new cars next year.

                      Maybe they lost me so long ago that I would not know if they went back to being legitimate, I do think they need to dump the formula nippon cars before they are going to be even remotely legitimate. Do they allow actual competition in the engines yet?

                      Here is what it will take for me to watch again:

                      More than one chassis manufacturer. Say the wings can be this big and this high but other than that open.

                      More open engine rules I realize you have to say this much boost and this displacement but other than that, it should be up to the manufacturers to figure out how to get the most out of them. I want to see those 1,000hp monsters again.

                      Is Tony George completely out? What about his lieutenants?

                      Road races do they have more than one or two?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                        George is chairman of the board of Hulman & Co. As of last year. I don't know if he makes any real racing decisions or if he sticks to Clabber Girl.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                          Originally posted by Bball View Post
                          Point of order... I believe the 500 has been fairly legitimate for a few years now. There's a pretty good argument that there's a huge window and problem from 1996 up until some point around the time of reunification. But for the last few years it's been solid on the track. It's probably as competitive as it ever has been from 1-33. Certainly the top half are all very solid and as strong as ever.

                          I'm a big believer that the aerokits were a move in the right direction and that it's a mistake to go away from them. Although not a mistake to have new cars next year.
                          It's definitely been more entertaining in recent years. There are some really talented drivers in the series. I still think it looks way too much like NASCRAP draft racing, but it's definitely better than it was 20 years ago.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                            Originally posted by Ragnar View Post
                            Maybe they lost me so long ago that I would not know if they went back to being legitimate, I do think they need to dump the formula nippon cars before they are going to be even remotely legitimate. Do they allow actual competition in the engines yet?

                            Here is what it will take for me to watch again:

                            More than one chassis manufacturer. Say the wings can be this big and this high but other than that open.
                            Honda and Chevy provide engines.
                            Dallara makes the tubs while Honda and Chevy produce the aerokits (thru contractors) which essentially is everything that bolts on the tubs so the cars are different between Honda and Chevy and the teams have several choices of bits and pieces to add and take away (for different aero desires (balance and downforce levels).
                            But next year they go to a new car with fixed aero. On one hand, the new car should look pretty good. It should be sleeker looking and more reminiscent of an early 90's style. Safety, performance, and looks were design goals. On the other hand, the look between Honda and Chevy will return to being the same as far as aero goes. Engines will remain different.

                            There is some more serious talk than normal about a 3rd engine coming onboard in the next couple years.

                            More open engine rules I realize you have to say this much boost and this displacement but other than that, it should be up to the manufacturers to figure out how to get the most out of them. I want to see those 1,000hp monsters again.
                            Well, you'll get no argument from me there...

                            Is Tony George completely out? What about his lieutenants?
                            I think George has been relegated to the background in a major way. Mark Miles is head of the company and Jay Frye is over the racing end of things and by all accounts has done a great job.
                            George is never seen nor heard from during a broadcast or when racing news is reported.
                            TGBB is still around but they've morphed his role and job and he doesn't seem to be the face of stupid decisions any longer... or the face of anything. Yesterday was the first time I'd seen him on TV in years.

                            Road races do they have more than one or two?
                            Natural terrain road courses:
                            Barber
                            Indy Grand Prix (revamped IMS F1 road course (the Mickey Mouse section is gone and the track is improved over the F1 configuration)).
                            Mid Ohio
                            Watkins Glenn
                            Road America
                            Sonoma

                            There's talk of Portland returning to next year's schedule.
                            As for street courses:
                            St Petersburg
                            Long Beach
                            Toronto
                            Detroit (2 days, 2 races).

                            Note: The races are not necessarily in order of their appearance on the schedule. They are in the order that I could recall them
                            Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                            ------

                            "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                            -John Wooden

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Alonso to run 2017 Indy 500

                              Originally posted by Bball View Post

                              Natural terrain road courses:
                              Barber
                              Indy Grand Prix (revamped IMS F1 road course (the Mickey Mouse section is gone and the track is improved over the F1 configuration)).
                              Mid Ohio
                              Watkins Glenn
                              Road America
                              Sonoma

                              There's talk of Portland returning to next year's schedule.
                              As for street courses:
                              St Petersburg
                              Long Beach
                              Toronto
                              Detroit (2 days, 2 races).

                              Note: The races are not necessarily in order of their appearance on the schedule. They are in the order that I could recall them
                              Looks like they have a lot of the old champ car tracks/circuits I have been to Mid Ohio, Road America (I love tracks with elevation changes I have not been to Long Beach though) and Belle Isle (I assume thats the Detroit race.)

                              No Surfers Paradise? No Montreal?

                              Comment

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