Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

What TV Show Did You Last Watch

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

    I thought tonight's Dexter was pretty good. Talk about a lot happening fast...
    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

    Comment


    • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

      Is anybody watch The Walking Dead? No? Go watch it now. I don't care what you're doing or whether it's on or not. Drop everything that you are doing and go find a way to watch it.

      Comment


      • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

        I've always been facinated by TV ratings. Often surprised by what people watch.

        But looking at this link, total viewers matters very little, it is the age of the viewers that determines how much is paid for an ad. And explains why shows are cancelled.

        http://adage.com/article?article_id=146495#mon

        I won't bore you with the numbers. But a show like NCIS which has a much older audience, although it is the highest rated drama on TV and has about twice as many total viewers as a show like Glee - a 30 second ad for NCIS costs $150K, while a 30 second ad for Glee costs $272K. That is a huge difference and reason being Glee does great in the 18-34 age grouop and pretty well in the 18-49

        Similar thing with the Office vs CSI. CSI has a lot more total viewers. But a 30second spot ofior CSI is $147K and for the Ofice it is $213K
        Last edited by Unclebuck; 12-06-2010, 08:55 AM.

        Comment


        • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

          Not surprising, but ****.

          FX cancels 'Terriers'
          BY ALAN SEPINWALL - Quality was incredibly high, ratings were pathetically low for underdog detective drama

          FX sold "Terriers" with the tagline "too small to fail." It's a line that has sadly proved ironic, as FX has decided not to renew the show for a second season, due to ratings that could only charitably be called "small."

          The finale drew 784,000 viewers, which was one of the show's bigger audiences. Many episodes averaged around 500,000, and that number just isn't viable, even on basic cable. Even when I wrote my Save "Terriers" piece, I feared deep down that even FX president John Landgraf, one of the business' biggest champions of quality TV, couldn't rationalize keeping the show around.

          Landgraf is actually doing something fairly rare in the business: he's doing a conference call later this afternoon to discuss the cancellation - and no doubt to lament the fact that it didn't do well enough to stick around. Because as you and I have said many, many times, the show itself was fantastic, and deserving of a much better fate and bigger audience.

          I'll have a second write-up after the Landgraf call, and possibly with some comment from Shawn Ryan and/or Ted Griffin if they're available. But like I said in my review of the series finale, we still have these great 13 episodes, and we'll still always have Hank and Britt in the pickup, waiting to decide whether to go straight or turn left. And that's something.

          http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-al...ncels-terriers
          This is the darkest timeline.

          Comment


          • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

            Originally posted by avoidingtheclowns View Post
            Not surprising, but ****.
            Well hell....

            FX deserves some of the blame though for this because I did not think the advertisements for the show met the reality of the show at all.

            Also I know this is going to sound crazy but I think the theme music for the show was awful. Did not fit the show at all & in fact if I never actually watched the show the music would lead me to believe that it was some other type of show altogether. Way to light hearted for the actual content of the show.

            But that is just me.

            Sadly this ended up being a kick @ss show but like you said not suprising. Kind of like Rubicon, even though it was a good show you could see the writing on the wall.


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

            Comment


            • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

              Yup. The marketing was screwy. And the name was terrible. Though I had no problem with the opening credits music - I had no idea that type of thing would really be that important to (potential) viewers. I was just talking with a friend about how the music over the Human Target opening credits was changed from season 1 to season 2. I was saying how ridiculous it was for a producer to suggest "You know what would save our ratings? New theme music!" But maybe they were onto something.


              They were onto the idea that it could work. They obviously weren't onto an idea what would end up improving Human Target's ratings.
              Last edited by avoidingtheclowns; 12-06-2010, 12:50 PM.
              This is the darkest timeline.

              Comment


              • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                Originally posted by avoidingtheclowns View Post
                Yup. The marketing was screwy. And the name was terrible. Though I had no problem with the opening credits music - I had no idea that type of thing would really be that important to (potential) viewers. I was just talking with a friend about how the music over the Human Target opening credits was changed from season 1 to season 2. I was saying how ridiculous it was for a producer to suggest "You know what would save our ratings? New theme music!" But maybe they were onto something.


                They were onto the idea that it could work. They obviously weren't onto an idea what would end up improving Human Target's ratings.
                Yea, I never thought about that but in retrospect you are 100% correct the name Terriers was horrible.

                A good theme song may or may not make a show but it can't hurt. There are some shows who's music stood the test of time and automatically is identified with the show and ususally the actor/actors for the rest of time.

                Going back in time who to this day can not hear the haunting whistling at the beginning of the Andy Griffith show or the drum beat and then music entrance of Hogan's Hero's. Or the haunting melody of Hill Street Blues or the up tempo beat of Miami Vice or the dramatic opening of The Soprano's?

                A show will stand and fall by it's own merits usually, but a great intro goes a long long way.


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

                Comment


                • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                  Originally posted by Peck View Post
                  Damn straight.

                  Spoiler Spoiler:
                  Spoiler Spoiler:
                  Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

                  Comment


                  • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                    Originally posted by Kegboy View Post
                    Spoiler Spoiler:
                    Spoiler Spoiler:


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

                    Comment


                    • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                      Too bad about Terriers; I liked it. I dug the opening music, but I agree it doesn't fit terribly well. Still fits 100x better than the ridiculous title, though.

                      Comment


                      • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                        Originally posted by avoidingtheclowns View Post
                        Not surprising, but ****.


                        Freaking figures. If I love a show, it's doomed. every week I can't WAIT to watch terriers. I have to agree with your guys. Stupid title. A title needs to be evocative. Terriers, quite simply had a stupid title. And the theme song. Annoying. I totally agree that a great intro can go a long way.

                        That being said, the three shows I can not wait to watch each week and Fringe, 30 Rock and Terriers.

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

                        Comment


                        • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                          Originally posted by count55 View Post
                          I thought this was a really good post.



                          But, this one is total bull****. Weak sauce.
                          I don't get it?

                          Oh, I see now. Strange, need to put the other TJ back in his cage.


                          Comment


                          • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                            So, The Walking Dead, better freakin' get picked up for more seasons. That show is just awesome. The finale had so much emotion cranking in it.

                            The story by Jenner about TS-19 really was extremely well done. I didn't see that twist coming at first.


                            Comment


                            • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                              Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                              So, The Walking Dead, better freakin' get picked up for more seasons. That show is just awesome. The finale had so much emotion cranking in it.

                              The story by Jenner about TS-19 really was extremely well done. I didn't see that twist coming at first.
                              It has been picked up for a second season with 13 episodes

                              Comment


                              • Re: What TV Show Did You Last Watch

                                Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                                It has been picked up for a second season with 13 episodes
                                I'm hoping that we don't have to wait until next October for Season 2 to begin.

                                Loved the storyline with Jenner. Perhaps in future seasons people will argue that it was a throw-away storyline. It would seem there were a couple of eps already with some throw-away storylines. But they work in a way that will not have people bemoaning those episodes like they did for Lost. The finale do much for me in terms of character development, but it didn't matter. The central stories themselves are riveting, whether the issues are revisited or not.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X