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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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Something overlooked about Reggie

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  • #16
    Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

    Originally posted by beast23
    Since Reggie is now retired, I'll fess up.

    I know the man... casually. We live in the same area and have a few acquaintances in common. When I run into him, we exchange hellos, I wish him luck and we head our separate ways.

    I've never seen Reggie be rude to anyone, especially kids. But Reggie often does have a tight schedule to keep, and there are times that he has an associate along to help him keep tract of the time and his additional obligations. During those times, it is unfortunate, but at some point he must cut things short and leave.

    In fact, more often than not, whenever kids are involved, Reggie is very gracious with his time and his attentiveness. And those attitudes and actions are well known, particularly in his work at Riley's Burn Center, in children's wards at local hospitals and at local elementary schools.

    As for the smirk, is it not possible that someone has misjudged his facial expression? I find it hard to believe that Reggie would react to a compassionate and appreciative remark with a smirk. Unless the comment was delivered with sarcasm.

    With Reggie, it's garbage in - garbage out. You disrespect him, and he might very well have a sharp comeback for you. You treat him with respect and I assure you he will treat you the same.

    That's not to say that Reggie does not PREFER that fans maintain a certain distance. It is a rare athlete now days that doesn't prefer distance and privacy. It's just that I've never heard of Reggie being rude, even when his space was invaded, as long as it is done in a polite manner.
    Just as a little counter, I'll repeat a couple of stories I shared a while back.

    My sister-in-law was a red coat back in MSA. Ya, know, an usher. She'd never followed basketball her entire like, but something about Reggie caught her fancy and she started following the Pacers. Becuase of that, she started working at MSA.

    So, anyways, I'm at Sakura on Keystone for a late lunch with my wife, Sis-in-law and mother-in-law. There was no one else in the restaurant other than a guy at the sushi bar. We're halfway through eating when Reggie comes in along with some girl, along with Tank Thmopson with some REALLY hot girl. They sit down and order. My sis figures since no one's around, she'd ask Reggie for an autograph since she started following the team because of him.

    So she goes up to his table, apologizes for bothering them, but tells him she's an usher at MSA and started there because of watching him and it would mean a lot to her if he could sign an autograph for her. She apologized several times for bothering them. Reggie wating till she finished and simply said, "I don't sign autographs", then looked at her like, We're done here."

    She was a bit bothered by that.

    So, a year or so later I'm at the old Sports bar downtown on Meridian. I'm in a corner up front. Since I worked security there at the time, I managed to hog the small elevated section and we kinda used it as our own little VIP. Reggie comes in and stands up in my section. my sis was with me again and after much debating, she asked me if I'd ask him for an autograph. As descretely as I could, I leaned over to him, told him about about her and what she did, told him I worked security at MSA (a small fib. Some of my friends did.) and that if he could descretely sign an autograph for my sis, it would really thrill her. His response? "I don't sign autographs" We had no further conversation, despite him standing right next to me.

    Ah well.
    Hey! What're you kicking me for? You want me to ask? All right, I'll ask! Ma'am, where do the high school girls hang out in this town?

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

      Wow, Scott.

      I guess all I can say is I'm surprised. But, I would add that I'd really be totally shocked if this would have happened to a child.

      I've never heard Reggie say that he doesn't sign autographs. But then again, I've never asked for one.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

        Maybe he just doesn't want to sign autographs? Did you ever ask him for a picture? I'd think he would do that.
        Sorry, I didn't know advertising was illegal here. Someone call the cops!

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

          Originally posted by 31 Forever
          I'm sorry I just have never seen him do it. I still love Reggie, he was a great basketball player and made the Pacers so fun to watch. I just don't think we need to be making him out to be a God or something. I still think he is one of the greatest players of all time....Look at my name

          WOW you call yourself a Pacers fan? To Pacers fans Reggie is a God.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

            Originally posted by PCC87
            WOW you call yourself a Pacers fan? To Pacers fans Reggie is a God.
            Don't even start, I already said I was a fan of Reggie. This is just something that bothered me about him. I'm sorry I don't worship the ground he walks on.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

              Originally posted by PCC87
              WOW you call yourself a Pacers fan? To Pacers fans Reggie is a God.
              Nice sig.

              Hopefully the Pacers really will 'own him' by next season.
              You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

                I normally just lurk around here, but I wanted to share my Reggie story. I was a Junior in HS and one of the Seniors was a ballboy ( and later a trainer trainee) and invited Reggie to one of our games. He showed up watched the entire game from left field and after the games signed autographs for all who wanted them, then said thanks for letting him watch and left. What more can you expect? Not much as far as I am concerned. Reggie was, is, and always will be classy.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

                  One simple rule. Don't bother athletes when they are out to dinner. It is their time to be away from the game. Just don't.

                  The other scenario surprises me somewhat.
                  The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

                    None of Skaut Ech's stories of Reggie surprise me. If I was your sister or you, I would also feel as if Reggie was a jerk. When treated that way by a celebrity of any kind after years of supporting him, it is hard not to feel a little bitter towards the person.

                    From my perspective, I see it as two occurrences where an adult is asking a celebrity for an autograph. I agree with ABADays--- it's best not to ask a celebrity for an autograph when he or she is out at dinner. If you have to say, "I'm sorry to bother you, but [I think I deserve an autograph from you even though you are obviously busy with family/friends]," then I think an easy, "I don't do autographs" is understandable. Obviously he does do autographs--- check him out at most games--- but it's probably much nicer than what he wants to say, like "can't you see that I am out with a girl here?"

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

                      Originally posted by BustedPants
                      None of Skaut Ech's stories of Reggie surprise me. If I was your sister or you, I would also feel as if Reggie was a jerk. When treated that way by a celebrity of any kind after years of supporting him, it is hard not to feel a little bitter towards the person.

                      From my perspective, I see it as two occurrences where an adult is asking a celebrity for an autograph. I agree with ABADays--- it's best not to ask a celebrity for an autograph when he or she is out at dinner. If you have to say, "I'm sorry to bother you, but [I think I deserve an autograph from you even though you are obviously busy with family/friends]," then I think an easy, "I don't do autographs" is understandable. Obviously he does do autographs--- check him out at most games--- but it's probably much nicer than what he wants to say, like "can't you see that I am out with a girl here?"
                      Oh, I didn't say I considered him a jerk because of it. I will say what bothered me about the restauranty deal is that no one would have known. The place was empty.

                      My brother and argue about the autograph thing all the time. From his perspective he thinks this:

                      When an athlete goes to eat and gets him meal comped, he doesn't mind. When he gets VIP at the niteclub, or drinks for free, he's not putting up a fuss. When he gets special discounts for purchases, he's not complaining. He works very few hours for comparatively ridiculous pay. Preferencial treatment is a way of life for these guys, but on the occassion that he may want to have a meal out, he feels the right to turn folks down? Well, that doesn't sit right with my brother. He feels with all the perks they have, that's just something they should deal with. If they want privacy, they have the money to have just about any meal, with personell to serve it, to their home.

                      Personally, I was disappointed becasue both requests were done discretely where people couldn't have looked over and went, "Reggie's signing autographs!! Let's get one."
                      Hey! What're you kicking me for? You want me to ask? All right, I'll ask! Ma'am, where do the high school girls hang out in this town?

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

                        Originally posted by Skaut_Ech
                        Oh, He works very few hours for comparatively ridiculous pay. Preferencial treatment is a way of life for these guys, but on the occassion that he may want to have a meal out, he feels the right to turn folks down? Well, that doesn't sit right with my brother. He feels with all the perks they have, that's just something they should deal with. If they want privacy, they have the money to have just about any meal, with personell to serve it, to their home.

                        "

                        That is a whole new topic but I completely disagree about "works for few hours for comparitively ridiculous pay". He is getting payed
                        what the market things he desrves and
                        what the Simons think he deserves

                        As far as working hard, professional atheletes, especially the fit onew, work their tail off. We see just the game, but there is a lot more that goes along with it. They have immense pressure, little time, not much privacy. I always wish, if I ever become a millionare, I should be an anonymous one.

                        If Herb Simon ever went to Burger King in a Honda Civic, nobody would recognize him. These atheletes get approached all the time and get a little tired of it. I sometimes buckle under my own pressures and snap at my family members. I understand where Reggie is coming from and also understand your sister being jilted. It does leave a bad taste in your mouth.
                        ANDY: I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy winning or get busy losing.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Something overlooked about Reggie

                          Also, at games, Reggie is very very focussed or "zoned in as he calls it". He does not even hi five or low five people when walking in and out of the locker room. His eyes are looking at something and he appears oblivious of his surroundings.

                          If you notice him, he has a very high concentration level and he does not appear casual. Maybe that is his way of staying focussed. This is my impression after watching about 100 games (road and home).

                          So if he does not sign at games, I do understand. In general, my philososphy on this is -

                          It is great if an athelete takes the time to sign an autograph, if he does not I won't hold it against him. I do understand he has lot of other things on his mind.
                          ANDY: I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy winning or get busy losing.

                          Comment

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