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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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Boyle, Brawl, and Baseball

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  • Boyle, Brawl, and Baseball

    its been mentioned before about mark doing baseball play by play this summer, but i kinda enjoyed this article...

    http://www.billingsgazette.com/index...s/30-boyle.inc

    Setting the 'Pace:' New Mustangs radio voice taking break from NBA gig
    By MIKE SCHERTING
    Of The Gazette Staff

    The beer showered down, the cup that contained the beer came next, and then Mark Boyle thought: This is trouble.

    Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest, the target of the beer shower, got up from where he was laying on the scorer's table and bolted into the stands.

    The events that followed, captured on video, have been broadcast and rebroadcast. But for all the punches, chairs and whatever else was thrown during the much-publicized NBA brawl between the Pacers and the Detroit Pistons last November, Boyle may have taken the biggest blow. And all he was doing was trying to help.


    "As soon as (Artest) got up - and this is not, by the way, the brightest thing I've ever done - but when he tried to go in, I tried to tackle him," says Boyle, who, as the voice of the Indiana Pacers radio broadcasts the last 17 years was right near the table where Artest had been laying. "He flattened me and I broke my back in five places. So, lesson learned. I like the guy, and I wish I could have helped him, but next time he's on his own.

    "It was not a cool scene, not at all. In fact when we left the building - in most NBA buildings the team bus parks inside the building - when we were on the way out they told us that we should leave the building with our lights off in case anyone tried to shoot us. Which we didn't do it and no one shot us, so I guess they were overreacting. But you know when you hear, 'Hey, on your way out of here you might get shot,' it's not a very comforting feeling."

    Boyle shouldn't come across such dramatics this summer. After being in the radio business since 1978, where he got his start at KATL in Miles City, Boyle will take a stab at professional baseball by broadcasting the Billings Mustangs games on KBUL (970 AM) and on the Internet (www.billingsmustangs.com).

    The Minneapolis native says this is a one-time thing, that he's not making a career switch, not at this point in his life. He got into broadcasting to do baseball, his passion, but his career took another path instead, leading him to the NBA. So for a guy who's fished for piranha in the Amazon, done two speaking performances with the Indianapolis Symphony and competed in the U.S. Open chess tournament, all it would take to send him on his way to do a baseball season was getting permission from the Pacers and from his wife, Janette (who is from Miles City).

    With permission granted, Boyle fished around and hooked up with Mustangs general manager Gary Roller. Boyle arrived in town earlier this week, and has been spending his time getting acclimated to the Mustangs and the Pioneer League, as well as the Mustangs parent club, the Cincinnati Reds.

    His five broken vertebrae have healed for the most part, and his doctor has given him clearance to make the long bus rides.

    On Wednesday, while watching the Mustangs work out at Cobb Field, Boyle, who didn't miss a Pacers' broadcast despite his injuries from the brawl, spoke about a variety of topics:

    On how his peers reacted to his decision to do baseball this summer:

    "It was surprising to me. I thought most people that I interact with on a regular basis would think it was crazy or stupid or both. I was surprised at how many guys thought it was cool. My peers are guys who have done in some cases baseball, and some of the guys in our league do Major League Baseball, and even those guys thought it was cool. On some level it seems to me even those of us who work in different sports, somehow there's something about baseball that captures all of us. ... I was really surprised at how many guys came up to me unsolicited and said, 'I hear you're doing baseball, that's pretty cool.' And even at this level, where obviously we're not going to be facing the same accommodations (as in the NBA) and things like that, they saw nothing crazy about it all. In fact, some of them said 'I wish I could be doing that.' Everybody was at least curious and most of the guys were really quite supportive. I thought I would be the only one who thought it was cool."

    On why he is doing this:

    "That's why I got into broadcasting, I wanted to do baseball on radio. I think, just talking to young kids in my profession now - I'm in my late 40s - I think I'm the last generation that got into broadcasting, if you're a play-by-play guy, to do baseball on radio. Now guys want to be TV anchors, or they just want to do television. I've done some, but that's not why I got in, and I never really had any interest in it and I don't particularly enjoy it. But radio baseball, from the time I was a kid listening to games at night, punching around the dial, seeing if I could get games from Chicago or Detroit or wherever, I just thought, 'Those guys have such cool jobs.' I'm not complaining about the job I have, that would be foolish. My career just didn't go in that direction. I've always wanted to do it, so finally I thought I could, if the Pacers would let me and my wife would go along with it, I could do a short-season league. That's where the idea came from, and the Pacers were supportive and so was Janette, and so I started sniffing around to see what I could find out and this is where I wound up."

    On adjusting from the 'high life' in the NBA, to a bus league like the Pioneer League:

    "On the one hand, I wasn't born in the NBA, I haven't been staying in five-star hotels and had ridiculous amounts of per diem since I was born ... I've been in bus leagues and I've slept on buses but it was a long time ago when I was younger. So, yeah, I'm curious. I don't think I'm going to have any problem staying in hotels that aren't the Four Seasons or the Ritz, but these long bus rides might be a challenge. But to me, it's all part of the process, I wanted to experience the whole thing and doing baseball every day, part of that is going through the lifestyle that everyone else experiences. In an ideal world, yeah, I'd rather stay in a Ritz, who wouldn't? But this is what it is. At least they're not making us camp out."

    On how he'll adjust to doing baseball:

    "I think from a professional standpoint, I'm always looking for challenges and I don't consider this simple, that I'm just going to wander in here and master this. I'm not saying the other sports are easy, but I feel baseball's the most difficult. It takes the most skill, it's the most challenging. With basketball, it's constant action. (Basketball's) not easy, I'm not saying that, but you don't have pacing, you don't have dead time, you don't have to be able to weave in stories and observations and anecdotes. ... From a professional standpoint, I'm not looking go anywhere (in baseball) other than here. I'm not looking to change career midcourse, but I think it's a real challenge, and I don't think it's easy to do and I'm curious, to tell you the truth, to see if I can even do it."

  • #2
    Re: Boyle, Brawl, and Baseball

    Originally posted by foretaz
    So for a guy who's . . . and competed in the U.S. Open chess tournament . . .
    I just want to point out that someone might think that sounds good but it's nothing at all. Anybody on the forum could play in the U.S. open. All it takes is a USCF membership and the entry fee.

    Now if he would have come in say the top ten then there would be bragging hosannas.

    Good article otherwise.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Boyle, Brawl, and Baseball

      Who could forget the cut face from the attempted save on Ron Artest, but getting a messed up back is serious stuff. I forgot about that. Props to Mark for not missing a game through it all.

      Boyle is one of my favorite sports announcers of all time. The guy is a pro's pro and much brighter than the average bear. I couldn't help enjoy the mention that Boyle still "likes" Artest, but the next time Ron gets involved with a fan, he is on his own.

      Boyle: "I like the guy, and I wish I could have helped him, but next time he's on his own."

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Boyle, Brawl, and Baseball

        Good article.

        If only he had been able to successfuly stop Ron.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Boyle, Brawl, and Baseball

          I think Mark Boyle is a real Indiana treasure....

          Referring to a Rik Smits dunk: "like some kind of enormous prehistoric bird..." (or something like that....

          "Ding dong, the witch is dead"

          So many priceless quotes.
          "If you ever crawl inside an old hollow log and go to sleep, and while you're in there some guys come and seal up both ends and then put it on a truck and take it to another city, boy, I don't know what to tell you." - Jack Handy

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