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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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Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

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  • Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

    Bottom feeders look to be players next summerBy Chad Ford
    ESPN Insider
    Archive

    Wait until next year.

    That's the mantra being pushed in Charlotte, New Orleans/Oklahoma City, and to a lesser extent, in Atlanta and Chicago, now that all of the top free agents have found homes and all four teams have little to show for their efforts this summer. The Lakers take this exercise one step further, telling everyone to wait two years as they prepare to make their big splash in the summer of 2007.



    Chances are Big Ben will keep doing the dirty work in Detroit.
    What they do have, along with several other teams, is a boatload of cap space with which to work next year.

    Assuming the cap stays at around $50 million, a number of teams will be looking at a lot of cap room next summer. The Bobcats, Hawks, Bulls and Hornets all will have more than $10 million in cap space at their disposal.

    Will they really want or be able to use it? Every year, free agent dreams always seem to come up a little short. Sure Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady bolted for new homes in 2000, and Steve Nash stunned the Mavericks last summer when he left for Phoenix. But on average, top-tier free agents rarely defect from the hometown team. Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant and, this season, Ray Allen and Michael Redd all came close. But usually it's second-tier free agents, such as Joe Johnson and Larry Hughes (although they're paid like superstars in their new contracts), who bolt.

    Next season should be no different. Only one superstar, the Pistons' Ben Wallace, is available and the chances of his leaving Detroit are very, very slim.

    The second group has a number of talented unrestricted free agents who will be looking for greener pastures next season -- headed by the Kings' Peja Stojakovic, the Bulls' Eddy Curry, the Sonics' Vladimir Radmanovic and the Hawks' Al Harrington.

    The restricted free-agent class is shaky. Yao Ming and Amare Stoudemire, the two stars from the class, are in the process of being locked up with long-term deals with the Rockets and Suns. The rest of the group is well ... unproven. That might make them available, but remember, going after restricted free agents in the summer is always a dicey proposition. Only three top restricted free agents changed teams this summer. The Hawks had to overpay for Joe Johnson and the Clippers followed form by letting restricted free agents Bobby Simmons and Marko Jaric walk.

    Here's Insider's first sneak peek at the free-agent class of 2006. Sorry if this list doesn't generate a ton of season-ticket sales in Charlotte or Atlanta.

    Top 10 2006 Potential Free Agents
    Key: (R) = Restricted free agent | (PO) = Player Option | (ETO) = Player Early Termination Option


    1. Ben Wallace, F/C, Pistons
    The skinny: The Pistons will do everything in their power to re-sign Wallace to a long-term extension before he hits free agency next summer. Wallace is still the top post defender in the NBA, is an amazing rebounder and shot blocker, and brings with him some real intangibles. Wallace did just turn 31 years old and can't keep it up forever. Offensively, he's still way below average and the free-throw problem was as bad as ever last season. But he remains a vital cog in the Pistons' engine -- one they can't afford to lose.


    2. Peja Stojakovic, F, Kings (ETO)
    The skinny: Last season it appeared to be almost a forgone conclusion that Stojakovic's days in Sacramento were numbered. The Maloofs, who are suddenly getting a little budget conscious, knew he wanted max-type dollars once his contract came up. Stojakovic was upset that the team didn't re-sign Vlade Divac, didn't always get along with Chris Webber, and started off the season in a major funk. However, the Kings traded Webber and Stojakovic ended the season on a tear.



    Can Peja lead the new-look Kings to a title?
    Now, with the additions of Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Bonzi Wells, the Kings appear poised to challenge again for the Western Conference title. If Stojakovic can get them there, expect the Maloofs to reward him with a nice, fat contract. If he doesn't, it might be the excuse they need to break up the team and move in a different direction. Either way, chances are Stojakovic, who turned 28 in June, gets paid next summer.

    3. Eddy Curry, C, Bulls
    The skinny: Unless his heart problem is worse than he's letting on, Curry shouldn't sweat his summer-long standoff with the Bulls. GM John Paxson knows what he's doing. There is no market for Curry this year and he's not about to overpay. Paxson knows that there is no way the Bulls, or anyone else except Isiah Thomas, are going to give Curry a long, guaranteed contract until they feel comfortable with his heart situation. Since the Knicks are hopelessly capped out, there's no place for Curry to go but to take the Bulls' one-year tender, play his butt off this season and prove to GMs that his heart (both figuratively and literally) is just fine. If he does, the Bulls might be the first to step up to the table and offer a huge deal.


    4. Tayshaun Prince, F, Pistons (R)
    The skinny: After three years in the league, Prince is still flying under the radar. That's thanks, in part, to his no frills games, and also due to his largely anonymous role on a team loaded with anonymous, but deadly-effective players. Prince had a real breakthrough after the All-Star break averaging 17.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg and shooting nearly 49 percent from the field.

    He has the wingspan of a 7-footer, is a fluid athlete, and can both defend and score. He still needs to be more assertive (his disappearing act against San Antonio in the Finals didn't help his cause) but if Joe Johnson can get $70 million for a desperate team under the cap ... who knows? The Pistons will work hard this summer to lock up Prince to an extension. It's going to take Richard Hamilton money (6 years, $56 million), maybe more, to get it done however.


    5. Nene, PF/C, Nuggets (R)
    The skinny: He's 6-foot-11, weighs 260 pounds, is an amazing athlete and just turned 23 years old. That alone is enough to turn just about everyone's head. After a disappointing season plagued by injuries, coaching changes and rotation issues, Nene is hoping that this is the season that he takes his game to the next level.

    Concerns about his relative lack of rebounding and injury woes didn't stop a number of teams from trying to acquire him via trade this summer. The Nuggets tried to use him as bait to pry away Paul Pierce, and will continue to see if his upside can land them the star two guard they desperately need. If he stays in Denver all season and has a good year, he could be one of the hottest names on the market.

    6. Al Harrington, F, Hawks
    The skinny: The future for Harrington in Atlanta is questionable, both this year and beyond. The team is going young and drafted a player with the No. 2 pick in the draft, Marvin Williams, who plays the same position as Harrington. Look for the Hawks to try to find a home for Harrington before the trade deadline, especially if the addition of Joe Johnson doesn't translate into more wins.



    Al Harrington looks like the odd man out in Atlanta.
    Next year, he'll likely be a hot commodity. Though he's never put up big numbers, even in Atlanta, he's only 25 years old and averaged 17.5 ppg and 7 rpg last season. Given how thin the market is, that should be enough to get Al paid next season.

    7. Vladimir Radmanovic, F, Sonics
    The skinny: The chances of Radmanovic's staying in Seattle next season are slim to none. The minute that he took their one-year tender offer, the wheels of his departure were set in motion. Unfortunately for the Sonics, they'll be unable to trade him this season, which means they might lose him for nothing.

    Radmanovic wants to start and he was looking for upward of $80 million over six years to do it. The Sonics couldn't satisfy either demand (not that we blame them). The question is, will anyone else next summer? After reportedly getting into a locker room brawl with one of his own teammates at the European Championships, he's already off to a rocky start this season.


    8. Jason Terry, G, Mavs
    The skinny: Terry is coming off a very solid season for Dallas. After beginning the season on the bench behind rookie Devin Harris, he came on toward the end of the season and ended up posting an impressive 18.33 PER for the season. Terry shot over 50 percent from the field, 42 percent from the arc and kept turnovers to a minimum. However, he just turned 28 years old, and most GMs still feel that he's more of a combo guard than a true point guard. That could limit his value on the open market next summer.


    9. Caron Butler, F, Wizards (R)
    The skinny: Butler's career has been all over the place. A nice rookie season in Miami. An injury-filled sophomore campaign. A trade to the Lakers last summer and a subsequent trade to the Wizards this summer leave Butler on unsteady ground. Last season, Butler was an effective scorer for the Lakers, especially when Kobe Bryant was out of the lineup.

    Knowing what Larry Hughes was able to do despite the ball-hogging ways of Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison should give him hope of a potential breakout season.


    10. Joel Przybilla, C, Blazers
    The skinny: He's still an offensive liability, but last season Przybilla turned himself into a rebounding and shot-blocking machine for the Blazers. He ranked seventh in the league in blocked shots per game despite averaging only 24 mpg. And his rebounding rate (rebounds per minute) had him ranked in the top 10 in the league. Given the dearth of centers in the draft and in the open market, Przybilla could cash in big-time if he keeps it up this season. At just 25, he still has some upside left in him.


    Others to watch:

    Unrestricted: James Posey, G/F, Miami (PO); Matt Harpring, F, Jazz; Keith Van Horn, F, Mavs; Lorenzen Wright, F/C, Memphis; Speedy Claxton, PG, Hornets; Tim Thomas, F, Knicks; Kelvin Cato, F/C, Magic; Marc Jackson, C, Nets (ETO); Bobby Jackson, G, Grizzlies; Nazr Mohammed, C, Spurs; Sam Cassell, PG, Clippers, Bonzi Wells, SG, Kings.

    Restricted: Mike Dunleavy, F, Warriors; Drew Gooden, F, Cavs; Chris Wilcox, F, Clippers; Jared Jeffries, F, Wizards (R); Fred Jones, G, Pacers (R); Jiri Welsch, F, Bucks (R); Trevor Ariza, F, Knicks (R).
    PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

  • #2
    Re: Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

    Gosh I hope it takes alot for the Pistons to resign Tayshaun and Big Ben.
    Sorry, I didn't know advertising was illegal here. Someone call the cops!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

      Originally posted by TruWarier
      Gosh I hope it takes alot for the Pistons to resign Tayshaun and Big Ben.
      18 to 20 million next season, 100 million plus over the life of both their contracts. I think Prince gets done before the season starts.

      Pistons have no choice. They've got to sign them both.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

        WOW - SHAGS HITS 1,000 POSTS!
        “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

        “If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.” - Catherine Aird

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

          Originally posted by Los Angeles
          WOW - SHAGS HITS 1,000 POSTS!
          A thousand posts is nothing! We have two posters who have over two Billion, and one that has over 6 million. After that it drops down to a more sedate twenty thousand.

          My question. What's the point of post counts when some are obviously padded?

          I know some posters requested that they get to add their old post counts when the site changed, some even added their posts from the RATS board. Thus Shade with twenty thousand plus posts is in the Vicinity of actual count. The others are bogus and I wonder why they are permitted. What's the point?

          While I'm on my soapbox. (grin) I thought I would address the shorthand used on here. Mark Boyle just recently asked what RATS meant. That's the acronym that someone on here coined for the STAR forum. If you can't figure it out its STAR spelled backwards.

          That got me to thinking that this site probably frustrates new posters, even some that have been here for a while. What we should do is quit using shorthand so what we write can be understood. Of course that will never happen. Personally I'll try to do better.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

            either that or add a page explaining the acronyms
            So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

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

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Insider Request: 2006 Free Agent List

              Originally posted by Will Galen
              A thousand posts is nothing! We have two posters who have over two Billion, and one that has over 6 million. After that it drops down to a more sedate twenty thousand.

              My question. What's the point of post counts when some are obviously padded?

              I know some posters requested that they get to add their old post counts when the site changed, some even added their posts from the RATS board. Thus Shade with twenty thousand plus posts is in the Vicinity of actual count. The others are bogus and I wonder why they are permitted. What's the point?

              While I'm on my soapbox. (grin) I thought I would address the shorthand used on here. Mark Boyle just recently asked what RATS meant. That's the acronym that someone on here coined for the STAR forum. If you can't figure it out its STAR spelled backwards.

              That got me to thinking that this site probably frustrates new posters, even some that have been here for a while. What we should do is quit using shorthand so what we write can be understood. Of course that will never happen. Personally I'll try to do better.

              Another Complaining Release by WG, brought to you by Soap. It may smell good, but we promise there are little aliens inside EVERY soap bubble. Guaranteed.
              Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

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