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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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Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

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  • Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

    Read Kravitz article from this AM's Star


    7 days Archive

    June 12, 2005

    Ugly? Game 1 of Finals was gem

    We are approaching just the second game of the NBA Finals tonight, and already, the whining has begun.

    Even more remarkable, it isn't Larry Brown doing the whining.

    This is unwatchable basketball.

    Nobody can shoot anymore.

    These two teams represent everything that stinks about the current NBA game.

    Remember when teams scored 69 points by halftime?

    Well, I have an admission.

    I loved Game 1 of this series.

    I loved the fact that for three quarters, nobody had more than a half-second to shoot before a defender was in his face.

    I loved the fact that after one of the highest-scoring seasons in recent history, the NBA Finals has come down to the league's two most disciplined defensive teams.

    I loved the energy, the raw toughness, the enthusiasm and selflessness both teams showed when trying to shut the other down.

    So the TV ratings are going to be down. Anybody surprised? There's no New York or Los Angeles. If TV ratings were a true measure of a program's quality, then "American Idol" would go down as the greatest show in the history of civilization. Just because people aren't watching in huge numbers doesn't mean it isn't wonderful fare. And just because people are watching doesn't mean it's any good.

    Your Honor, I give you "Dancing With The Stars."

    Explain this to me: Why don't we appreciate defense in the NBA?

    We appreciate it in other sports.

    In football, a 10-7 game is an epic battle in the trenches, a pitched battle deserving of the John Facenda "Voice of God" treatment.

    In baseball, nothing is celebrated more than the stirring austerity of a 1-0 pitchers' battle.

    In the NBA, though, if you don't have the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks running up and down the floor, lighting it up and scoring 125 points a night, the game is dull and basketball is doomed to a grisly fate.

    You know what I loved about Game 1?

    There were no cheap baskets. Every shot was contested. Every fast break was thwarted by remarkable transition defense. Every foray to the basket was met by physical resistance -- at least until the end, when Manu Ginobili took over.

    Each score was a small, hard-won victory, a tortuous test of will and fortitude. Want these two points? Fine. But a price will be paid.

    Maybe defense is just too subtle to be properly appreciated. Let's be honest: We'll never see one of those "Street Ball" videos featuring incredible defensive rotations and weak-side help. The only time defense gets its moment on the highlight shows, it's when somebody blocks the shot, sends it 15 rows into the stands and does the requisite I'm-the-man pose.

    (Does anybody remember how Bill Russell blocked shots and made sure to keep them in play?)

    As someone who vaguely remembers the 1970s and early 1980s, let me remind you why the NBA was so roundly criticized back in those days.

    Nobody played defense.

    Until, perhaps, the fourth quarter, when defense was entirely optional.

    Scores were 125-123 and critics chafed at the pickup feel of the games, lamenting the dearth of defensive intensity.

    So what will make everybody happy? Is there a magic number?

    The good news was, scoring increased this season, and after watching the Pacers and Pistons bludgeon each other for six games last year, it was a necessary change. Last year's Eastern Conference finals wasn't basketball; it was Greco-Roman wrestling.

    This year, though, a lot of the hand-checking and off-the-ball nastiness was expunged from the game, thanks in large part to the decision to enforce those rules.

    So you had the Suns. And the Mavericks. And the Kings. And the Celtics.

    This has been a little bit like the last NFL season, when scoring went through the roof and Peyton Manning threw 49 touchdown passes.

    When the playoffs rolled around, the unstoppable offensive teams took the pipe, and New England was left standing as champion once again.

    Now, at the end of a relatively high-scoring NBA season, we see again, defense wins championships.

    Consider, when the Cleveland Cavaliers were looking for the right man to mold LeBron James and that young team, they turned to former Pacers associate coach Mike Brown, who specializes in defensive play. LeBron has sold the tickets. Now the Cavs understand, to reach the playoffs and go further, they have to improve defensively.

    (In a quick aside, here's hoping Mike isn't saddled with Larry Brown as his boss. There is nobody in basketball who is worse suited for that job than Brown. Ask anybody who has worked with him: Every two days, he wants to trade the entire team. He is flighty, impatient and impetuous, and he would not only be a poor choice in that job, he would spend plenty of time looking over Mike Brown's shoulder.)

    Anyway, Game 2 is tonight, and it figures to be another one of those 78-71 slam-fests with lots of blocked shots and knee abrasions.

    Maybe you're wishing for more high-altitude ballet. Maybe this is boring you to death.

    Me? I'll take seven games.
    =================

    and then read UB's 1st post in his own thread about defense

    Well the TV ratings are in and game #1 ratings are down 24% from last year game #1.

    I heard all day long yesterday from media member after media member about how "unwatchable" the Spurs v Pistons game #1 was.

    On "Outside the Lines" last night they spent 20 minutes not talking about anything other than how unwatchable this series is and why the ratings are down.

    It is strange because many argue the NBA needs more substance, more defense, more teamwork, more teams and less stars. Well that is exactly what this series gives us. And the ratings are down and the media is whinning like a bunch of 3rd graders.

    I think the defense being played in this series is the best I've ever seen. Why can't fans enjoy that. Why can't they enjoy seeing blocked shots, great help defense, help asnd recover, you know the stuff that wins games. I hope next season the Pacers defense is as good as these two teams. Yes I said it the Pacers defense needs to get better perhaps even more so than their offense.

    One thing that really bugs me is when people suggest that these two teams just aren't very good because the scoring is down. What are they saying the wrong teams are here, that the Spurs and Pistons aren't the two best teams.

    There are so many issues involved in this, I realize I'm all over the place.

    But let me get to this. Why is defense a bad word in the NBA when in Football it is celebrated and in baseball pitching is celebrated.

    Here is a good article on this topic.


    http://www.detnews.com/2005/pistons.../A01-211511.htm


    There was little time or space in this one, and that doesn't figure to change as the series unfolds. Before it even began, there was the typical national hand-wringing about the Pistons' and Spurs' defensive styles. It's as if some observers worry the Pistons' muddy handprints will ruin the NBA's showcase event. What they decline to note is, the muddy handprints are what set Detroit and San Antonio apart from the rest of the league.

    Here's a thought. Maybe if other teams -- hello Miami, hello Phoenix -- relied less on flash and more on mash, they'd show up in these events more often. It's funny because almost every other sport celebrates defense, but in the NBA, it's a nasty word.

    The flash came before the game, when actor Will Smith took the floor for a singing, dancing show. Oh, there was some flash during the game, like when Billups dribbled toward the hoop, faked a behind-the-back pass to freeze defender Robert Horry, then swept in for the layup. That was an ohh-ahh moment, a classic big-game play by Billups, the reigning Finals MVP who tried desperately to keep the Pistons in the game.

    Most of the moments from both teams were more eww-ahh, unless you crave blocked shots and missed shots. The low score couldn't have pleased viewers who prefer their basketball as some sort of athletic ballet. This definitely was not ballet. This was more like square-dancing, in clogs.

    The Spurs can do that to a team, though, make a guy just disappear. Before the Pistons were the defensive scourge of the NBA, it was San Antonio's role, winning the title in 1999 and 2003.
    +++++++++++++++++++


    Same person? Makes me wanna go HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.
    Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

  • #2
    Re: Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

    It doesn't show UB = Kravitz
    It does show Kravits knows where to look to get ideas and content


    So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

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

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

      Originally posted by indygeezer
      Same person? Makes me wanna go HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.
      Uncle B was on the star board before Kravitz came to Indiana. Hence, I agree with Able.

      Plus, Uncle B loves Artest and Kravitz is trying to run him out of Indy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

        Originally posted by Will Galen

        Plus, Uncle B loves Artest and Kravitz is trying to run him out of Indy.
        This is exactly what I'm thinking.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

          If UB really is Kravitz, then remind me to punch him in the face at the next forum party.
          Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

            Originally posted by Kegboy
            If UB really is Kravitz, then remind me to punch him in the face at the next forum party.
            for me while you're at it.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Proof Positive...UB is Bob Kravitz

              Well now we know what it takes to get you to a party!

              [giggle]

              Buck? Better wear your cup and a hocky mask to the party just to be safe!

              [grin]

              Comment

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