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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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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.

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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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How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

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  • How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

    To be completely honest, I thought the situation were were in post-brawl was pretty much the worst a franchise and team could be in, and it couldn't possibly get any worse.

    I was wrong.

    This team is a mess, and it may take a complete house-cleaning to fix it up. This is so disheartening, to be on the verge of something special, just to see the players that claim they're all about "team" completely abandon that concept on the court.

    It's a very painful time to be a Pacers fan. I just feel like we've become what we hate.

  • #2
    Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

    This team is a mess because management was incapable of doing what was necessary to fix the team after the brawl and before this season started.

    OR they were brilliant to let the fans (and themselves) see what a mess the team was in before making the necessary changes, this way the fans are demanding change. If we didn't see the mess, many may have thought that changes made in the off-season were not necessary.

    Whatever the deal is, it truly is a mess.

    But I'm confident that we can make a run and be competitve during the playoffs. That's been enough for 10 years, why not 1 more?
    “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

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    • #3
      Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

      Good point Shade. I was thinking about this earlier today. This feels a lot like the post brawl period.

      I must say though, I'm disgusted by the Pacers first half tonight. No effort what-so-ever. Looks like they don't want to be there at all.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

        Stephen Jackson needs to be traded for someone who gives a damn about playing this game.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

          Well lets see what happens in the second half.

          The team looks like it only want to play the last 16 minutes or so.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

            I just woke up - did something happen with Ron?
            The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

              Yes... Ron was traded for one of those 3-Packs of Planters Christmas Peanuts.
              "He wanted to get to that money time. Time when the hardware was on the table. That's when Roger was going to show up. So all we needed to do was stay close"
              Darnell Hillman (Speaking of former teammate Roger Brown)

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                Originally posted by Shade
                To be completely honest, I thought the situation were were in post-brawl was pretty much the worst a franchise and team could be in, and it couldn't possibly get any worse.

                I was wrong.

                This team is a mess, and it may take a complete house-cleaning to fix it up. This is so disheartening, to be on the verge of something special, just to see the players that claim they're all about "team" completely abandon that concept on the court.

                It's a very painful time to be a Pacers fan. I just feel like we've become what we hate.

                Once we've had the benefit of time, say 3-4 years from now, you will look back on this time and wonder why you ever really thought that.

                This team was always on the verge of something special, however it was always on the verge of totall collapse as well.

                I've always been a Walsh basher, I won't even try to hide that. However I will say this for him.

                I honestly believe he let his better judgement for character players go to the back burner for a chance to win an NBA championship.

                I will not fault him for that.

                I faulted him for all of those years in the 80's & 90's for doing the exact opposite, but I truely believe he wanted to go out on top.

                I think he still does. But that is why he put up with some of this stuff, that is why he took on players that in no way would he have brought to or at the very least have kept on the team back in the day.

                In other words, I'm trying to be nice to Donnie & say while it is his fault how the team was put together, I don't blame him for trying. In fact I salute him for trying.

                Now as to how this all feels?

                Right now, it feels pretty damn good.

                But then again I was never an Artest fan. I wanted to be & I tried everything in my power this season to praise every move he made on the floor. But at the end of the day I just could never seperate bad Ron from good Ron like some of you could.

                Are we title contenders? I don't know. I think things have to be settled about Artest & see who is going to be on our team & how we are going to play before I make that call.

                But understand this, I was never convinced we were title contenders anyway before the season & as the season went on it became clear we were not in the upper tier of teams. We're playing great right now, but we haven't played any great teams since the trade demand.

                We'll get a better glimpse coming up this week.

                BTW, am I the only person who is starting to wonder how safe Rick's job is with Bird right now?

                Yeah I know they are best buds & all, but that comment Bird made in the Boston paper about how he thought Ronnie should be allowed some leaway on bad shots made me start to wondering....


                Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

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                • #9
                  Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                  Originally posted by Peck
                  BTW, am I the only person who is starting to wonder how safe Rick's job is with Bird right now?

                  Yeah I know they are best buds & all, but that comment Bird made in the Boston paper about how he thought Ronnie should be allowed some leaway on bad shots made me start to wondering....
                  No, you are not.

                  -Bball
                  Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                  ------

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

                  -John Wooden

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                  • #10
                    Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                    The difference between now and the brawl is that the current situation was completely predictable - not the specifics but it was a 100% guaranteed lock that Ron Artest would do something to disrupt the team - just like it's a 100% guaranteed lock that he'll do something - eventually - to disrupt his new team.

                    In one way the brawl was predictable too since even then I thought Ron had become more trouble than he was worth. But I don't think anyone on the planet though Ron's behavior could result in that much damage to a team. What's happening now is more in the "business as usual" category while the brawl was special. There we saw Ron Artest at his finest - I doubt he'll ever have quite as much impact on an NBA team again.
                    The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                      Originally posted by Peck
                      I've always been a Walsh basher, I won't even try to hide that. However I will say this for him.

                      I honestly believe he let his better judgement for character players go to the back burner for a chance to win an NBA championship.

                      I will not fault him for that.

                      I faulted him for all of those years in the 80's & 90's for doing the exact opposite, but I truely believe he wanted to go out on top.

                      I think he still does. But that is why he put up with some of this stuff, that is why he took on players that in no way would he have brought to or at the very least have kept on the team back in the day.

                      In other words, I'm trying to be nice to Donnie & say while it is his fault how the team was put together, I don't blame him for trying. In fact I salute him for trying.
                      I think you're a little off. Well, way off actually. Donnie is a fiercely loyal person. He believes in the good in people. He had faith in Ron. It's as simple and as complicated as that. I believe that came before anything else, including winning a championship. Donnie sometimes leaves himself open to being taken advantage of because of these traits. In a way, I guess, it's like not wanting to believe the worst about your own children and having those parental blinders on when it comes to them. And you can tell by his comments, in his determination to trade Ron now, even though he said he doesn't feel betrayed, he does.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                        Originally posted by Harmonica
                        I think you're a little off. Well, way off actually. Donnie is a fiercely loyal person. He believes in the good in people. He had faith in Ron. It's as simple and as complicated as that. I believe that came before anything else, including winning a championship. Donnie sometimes leaves himself open to being taken advantage of because of these traits. In a way, I guess, it's like not wanting to believe the worst about your own children and having those parental blinders on when it comes to them. And you can tell by his comments, in his determination to trade Ron now, even though he said he doesn't feel betrayed, he does.

                        Ok, so your saying Walsh wasn't trying to win a championship?

                        Actually I was only partly talking about Ron with my statements above. I also include bringing in Steven Jackson, who everybody knew was a headcase before he got here.


                        Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                          Originally posted by Peck
                          Ok, so your saying Walsh wasn't trying to win a championship?

                          Actually I was only partly talking about Ron with my statements above. I also include bringing in Steven Jackson, who everybody knew was a headcase before he got here.
                          I think he is always trying to win a championship, but I don't think that was the overriding reason he stuck with Ron for as long as he did. I honestly believe he thought Ron could change and that an environment of understanding and support would help. Now, I also think he would have shipped Ron out of here if he thought he could have gotten equal trade value for him. And he and Larry kept holding their collective breath hoping Ron could keep it in check long enough to do just that. That to me was a gross miscalculation on their part. Their risk versus reward assessment was way off, in my opinion.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                            Here's my view:

                            The common theme post-11/19 was "shame on them." The team fed off the "us against the world" motto.

                            The common theme post-Artest seems to be, "shame on us." The team is winning, but it's in spite of Ron, not because of him. The level of enthusiasm is clearly different.

                            It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                            Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                            Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                            NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

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                            • #15
                              Re: How does the current situation compare to the brawl?

                              Originally posted by Peck
                              . We're playing great right now,

                              What in the world are you watching. Maybe I an taking your words out of context. But the Pacers are hardly playing great. The Knicks are horrible right now and the Pacers first half against them was horrible and I was disgusted.

                              Pacers were bad against the Celtics. They were OK against the Jazz, but only OK.

                              If the Pacers play the next 4 games like they have the past three they will go 0-4.

                              Comment

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