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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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Article on Laker fans

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  • #1

    Article on Laker fans

    No love for Laker fans

    No love for Laker fans

    By Matthew Graham
    Special to Page 3

    In L.A., celebrity protocol reigns supreme. If Ashton Kutcher wears a Von Dutch hat, I have to be ripped off for $50 to keep pace. If Paris Hilton has a crummy, little rat dog, every trendy lunch spot has to cater to these creepy little canines like they're British royalty.


    Jack Nicholson's been courtside at Lakers games from waaay back in the day. True fan.Nowhere is this need to fit in with the cool kids more obvious than with the Los Angeles Lakers during their annual playoff run.

    I have to be tortured every year, as the big names come out of the woodwork pretending to care about the only franchise in L.A. that matters. Denzel, Sly, Leo, Tobey, Ashton and Demi, Will and Jada, the young studs from "The OC," Cameron and Justin, and of course king Jack, all flock to the Staples Center for their complimentary courtside seats that they'll never pay a penny for.

    (For the record, I truly believe that Jack is an actual diehard Laker fan, unlike the rest of them. However, Jack is part of the problem, not the solution. If Jack were David Hasselhoff, maybe being a Laker fan wouldn't be so damn cool.)

    These A-Listers are a bunch of frauds. I adore Denzel Washington, the Oscar-winning actor, but Denzel "The Laker Fan" ... I despise. Notice that he's always wearing a Yankees cap as well. Let me guess, his favorite football team is the Cowboys. Please. If you want me to take you seriously as a sports fan, you have to like a team that's not so fashionable (unless of course you grew up in L.A., which is never the case).

    Bill Murray, from Chicago, always shows his love for the Cubs. Always. He wouldn't be caught dead rooting for a team that wears purple and gold!

    Ben Affleck, who couldn't act his way through a high school play, at least shows some real heart for his Sox. Although I'll never forgive him for wasting a seat in last year's classic Yankees-Red Sox playoff series on J. Lo.

    Billy Crystal. Now there's a celebrity sports fan I admire. A native New Yorker; he was a Yankees follower even during the dark years when Don Mattingly was their only good player. Then when he had to spend some quality time in L.A. to make movies, he became a Clippers fan! (Note: For all you celebrities that want sports fans like me to take you seriously, follow Crystal's lead.)

    Can we really forgive Ben for wasting that seat in last year's classic Yankees-Red Sox playoff series on J. Lo?I wouldn't get so frustrated if the celebrities were the only ones ill-informed, fair-weathered and vacant. It's like deciding on political issues based on Barbra Streisand's philosophy. It doesn't matter that she's crazy, but it's disturbing when people listen.

    Same thing with the Lakers.

    I watch every Laker game with my boys, who are the rare real deal. As Laker Fans, they hate Laker fans. Game 2, we're sitting next to this idiot at the bar. He keeps *****ing about how they have to take Karl Malone out because he's just too old.

    Game 4. Same bar. Same moron. Malone goes for 30. Guess who's now his biggest fan. "I told you he still had game," he declares. We've gone to the same bar all year to watch Laker games, and this guy, wearing a Von Dutch hat, Gucci sunglasses (indoors, no less) and a white wife-beater, has coincidentally only started showing up for the playoffs. Where's that deadly ball and chain weapon from "Kill Bill Vol. 1" when you need it?

    I know, jumping on the bandwagon happens in every town. True. But try pretending to be a die-hard Eagles fan in Philly. Or Boston. Or Chicago. They'd skin you alive.

    You can join the bandwagon, but you'd better keep your damn mouth shut.

    Not in Tinseltown. Any loser wannabe can become a Laker fan overnight. And this is where celebrities must take full blame. They treat the Lakers like any trendy accessory. It's like the slick vintage jacket you only wear once every year, but you pull it out on the night when you actually think you might get lucky at the bar.

    "Man on Fire" or man on the fence? Denzel loves to wear his Yankees hat to the Laker games.During the regular season, unless I'm playing ball at the Hollywood YMCA, there's no talk about the Lakers. Even with the Kobe fiasco, not a peep from the beautiful people. As soon as the playoffs hit, suddenly every model/actress/singer becomes Jerry West.

    I attended the NBA Legends Viewing party for Game 3 of the Lakers-Rockets series. Every beautiful person there claimed to bleed purple. The game, on large screen TVs everywhere, was a nuisance. In fact, the sound was muted so a DJ could bust out some tunes.

    Even Michael Cooper, a Laker legend, seemed more in tune with the ladies flirting with him than the game. The only time these L.A. "fans" checked out the game was when they were killing time at the bar, waiting for their free vodka tonics.

    "Laker fans are so fake," agrees "Malcolm in the Middle"'s Frankie Muniz, a Clippers season ticket holder for seven years. "They're like every other fair weather fan out there. Like Shaq, who's 7-foot-3, will be wide open and barely jump and dunk the ball, and everybody goes crazy as if he just did a 360 dunk through his legs. That annoys me."

    Good point Frankie, but here's the problem: If Muniz ever makes the leap and becomes a big-time movie star, he'll become a Laker fan. His agent will force him. It's just part of the Hollywood landscape.

    I know what you might be saying ... the Knicks are just as bad. Spike Lee, P. Diddy, Woody Allen, Jay Z.

    Here's my counter. Like Jack, Spike Lee, Jay Z, and Woody Allen are at every game, not just playoff games.

    Secondly, there's plenty of rich and powerful people besides celebrities who can actually afford those ridiculously expensive courtside seats.

    Thirdly, they're actually from New York. And most importantly, and this I can't emphasize enough, the Knicks never win. When Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller scorched the Knicks year after year, Spike Lee was still talking smack for his battered boys in blue. That's a true fan.

    Being a fan means misery and heartache, and Knicks fans, even the celebrities, have experienced plenty. Look, even when the Lakers lose, like they did to the Spurs last year, it's still sunny and 80 degrees everyday of the year in L.A. It's a win-win situation for the beautiful people.

    Stallone thinks he's "Sly" ... wearing a golden yellow shirt to the game. It's not working, dude.I have a simple solution to this dilemma. While I would love to ban celebrities from Laker games, I know that's part of the Tinseltown charm. It's our identity.

    The Lakers are "Showtime." They are Hollywood. This year proved that. The drama surrounding this year's team was better than any movie script in town. That I can handle. However, for all the wannabe Denzels, Ashtons, Camerons, and Will Smiths who infest this town like cockroaches when playoff time comes around, you have to take a Laker aptitude test. I'm not talking brain surgery. In fact, Jim Harrick's son could create the questions.

    If you get a perfect score, no matter how much I hate your player outfit, you're allowed to watch the games and comment within reasonable discretion (unless, of course, you have a rat dog, then you automatically fail).

    If you pass, you're allowed to watch the games, but just like any bandwagoner in any town across America, you must keep your mouth shut. It's bad enough you're crowding up my bar.

    If you fail, not only can you not come to my bar, but you must leave Los Angeles, vowing never to return. Because let's face it, Luke Walton has a better chance of putting up a triple double than you do of actually making it in this town.

    I think that's fair. It's an easy test, and after this measure passes on the ballot in the next California election (because that's easy to pull off), we could rid ourselves of the Brad Pitt look-alikes (a.k.a. the most annoying fans on the face of the planet) and open up bar space to those Laker Fans that actually care.

    Then again, it would probably rid L.A. of all the Cameron Diaz and Britney look-alikes as well. Hmmm, whole Laker fan plan needs to be rethought.

    Matthew Graham is a disgruntled Eagles fan who writes for FHM and Cosmo. He can be reached at matthewgraham17@hotmail.com.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Article on Laker fans

    That's awesome. I completely agree and i like Muniz even more than i used to. I didn't know he was a clips fan.
    Play Mafia!
    Twitter

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    • #3
      Re: Article on Laker fans

      Thank you.
      Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Article on Laker fans

        Thirdly, they're actually from New York. And most importantly, and this I can't emphasize enough, the Knicks never win. When Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller scorched the Knicks year after year, Spike Lee was still talking smack for his battered boys in blue. That's a true fan.

        Being a fan means misery and heartache, and Knicks fans, even the celebrities, have experienced plenty. Look, even when the Lakers lose, like they did to the Spurs last year, it's still sunny and 80 degrees everyday of the year in L.A. It's a win-win situation for the beautiful people.

        -snip-

        However, for all the wannabe Denzels, Ashtons, Camerons, and Will Smiths who infest this town like cockroaches when playoff time comes around, you have to take a Laker aptitude test. I'm not talking brain surgery. In fact, Jim Harrick's son could create the questions.

        If you get a perfect score, no matter how much I hate your player outfit, you're allowed to watch the games and comment within reasonable discretion (unless, of course, you have a rat dog, then you automatically fail).

        If you pass, you're allowed to watch the games, but just like any bandwagoner in any town across America, you must keep your mouth shut. It's bad enough you're crowding up my bar.

        If you fail, not only can you not come to my bar, but you must leave Los Angeles, vowing never to return.

        That summarizes my feelings on bandwagon jumpers pretty well.
        Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
        Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
        Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
        Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
        And life itself, rushing over me
        Life itself, the wind in black elms,
        Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Article on Laker fans

          Thank God, finally, a writer with the balls to write what I've been saying FOREVER. I have a new hero.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Article on Laker fans

            This is the one thing I'm not looking forward to if the Pacers become some kind of perennial champion.

            Bandwagon jumpers. Those Bulls, Lakers fans that we all love to hate. They show up, talk their smack, and you know they weren't a fan of whoever last year.

            We'll have them too. And it will suck. Imagine 100,000 dancing harrys. <shudder>
            You're caught up in the Internet / you think it's such a great asset / but you're wrong, wrong, wrong
            All that fiber optic gear / still cannot take away the fear / like an island song

            - Jimmy Buffett

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Article on Laker fans

              I dunno, the Spurs are perennial champions/contenders and they don't have a whole lot of bandwagoners. I don't think it'll ever be fashionable to be a big fan of something from a pretty nondescript city like Indy or SA.

              IndyToad
              That's the end

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Article on Laker fans

                Thank God, finally, a writer with the balls to write what I've been saying FOREVER. I have a new hero.

                Oh, I see... you're just a Matthew Graham bandwagoner.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Article on Laker fans

                  I can never take a person serious around here when they say they are a Lakers fan.

                  They only like them because they are Three Time Champions. If they had lost each year like the Pacers and/or the Kings...I wouldn't even hear about them talking about the Lakers. Makes me sick when people are like that.


                  I catch smack all the time about Webber being a baby and that he sucks. Or that the Kings are going to blow it again. Yadda yadda yadda.

                  All I do is reply with, "I don't care. I love them win or lose."

                  That's all I can say, till they win a Title.


                  Sactolover
                  AKA Sactolover05

                  Comment

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