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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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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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It's time to blow it up

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  • #16
    Re: It's time to blow it up

    Some of you are ridiculous. Just like the Pacers board. When we win, we're penciled in as the NBA champs, when we lose, just trade everyone and start over.

    We've played our best football in the regular season before, almost all season, and it's gotten us nowhere. I honestly don't see a problem with losing now, and getting our players down to a point where they have to take games seriously down the stretch, rather than waltzing through and beating the crap out of everyone.

    You people are too easily excitable. It's called "keeping an even keel", learn it, love it, use it.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: It's time to blow it up

      Originally posted by Pacersfan46 View Post
      Some of you are ridiculous. Just like the Pacers board. When we win, we're penciled in as the NBA champs, when we lose, just trade everyone and start over.

      We've played our best football in the regular season before, almost all season, and it's gotten us nowhere. I honestly don't see a problem with losing now, and getting our players down to a point where they have to take games seriously down the stretch, rather than waltzing through and beating the crap out of everyone.

      You people are too easily excitable. It's called "keeping an even keel", learn it, love it, use it.
      With HCA advantage and a division title on the line these past two weeks (let alone momentum for the playoffs) you think this recent 1-3 run is honestly not a problem? You think they aren't taking these games seriously? What was Manning et al still doing in there at the end of a blow out if they weren't taking it seriously?

      And a win is a win but that 9-0 record was built on a shaky foundation in the first place and the same issues that made some of those games questionable and nailbiters is also what has come back to bite us now. It's not like the rest of the NFL sat still.

      On one level I can enjoy the season but on another level, I need to see more. We all do ...Before the window closes...

      -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

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: It's time to blow it up

        So back to "blowing it up", what's gonna be the strategy to actually get an even semi-resistent defense in here. Simon's gone. I assume we have little to no funds available to pursue any big time FAs if there are even any of worth this off season. I assume Ron Meeks is all but done barring some miraculous turn around in the next 4-6 weeks.

        Seems to me we may have to think about trading one of our big offensive pieces. Addai? Wayne? Who? I cringe at the thought but this D needs some impact players and you don't get those without a higher draft pick than we normally have or giving something up. I mention Addai only b/c we and Denver have proven that you can restock the RB spot successfully without a top 10 pick. Jones-Drew is another example.

        Here's the guys that IMO are worth anything on D (assuming some of them would ever be healthy):

        Freeney, June, Sanders, Harper, Bethea, Jackson, Mathis, Reagor, McFarland (with everyone after Sanders being marginal at best).
        I could care less if I never see them again: Everyone else

        I know it's not Dungy's system, but looking at the core group I think we'd be better off as a 3-4 D b/c Freeney and Mathis are essentially linebackers. Cato really should be a safety. Whatever the case, you've gotta have at least on more difference maker in the interior line and at MLB and another good corner wouldn't hurt either.
        I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

        -Emiliano Zapata

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: It's time to blow it up

          Originally posted by Just View Post
          Um, last I checked, the playoffs haven't started yet. You haven't been right about anything yet.
          Denial isn't a river in Africa.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: It's time to blow it up

            Originally posted by Pacersfan46 View Post
            Some of you are ridiculous. Just like the Pacers board. When we win, we're penciled in as the NBA champs, when we lose, just trade everyone and start over.

            We've played our best football in the regular season before, almost all season, and it's gotten us nowhere. I honestly don't see a problem with losing now, and getting our players down to a point where they have to take games seriously down the stretch, rather than waltzing through and beating the crap out of everyone.

            You people are too easily excitable. It's called "keeping an even keel", learn it, love it, use it.
            Thank you!

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: It's time to blow it up

              We're 10-3 people. Chill. Yes, we sucked today, a lot. Yes, our run defense is terrible. But we've still won. I don't expect our defense to play THIS bad every game. I still believe this team can turn it around. Just stay positive
              Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: It's time to blow it up

                All I've heard ppl say is "we're 10-2, we're 10-2!!! calm" down ppl

                well now ur 10-3 and honestly could easily be 7-6. Colts aren't that good this year.
                STARBURY

                08 and Beyond

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: It's time to blow it up

                  Welcome to the NFL, Colts fans!

                  On exiting your respective basketball/college football bandwagons, please take note of the following special rules that apply to NFL fan membership:

                  Talent is much more relative in this league. The only thing keeping the 3rd running back on your team from running for 1000 yards is injury and an offensive line. Therefore, don't be surprised when a backup comes in and does a remarkable job.

                  No matter what the "experts" tell you, the most important position in the NFL is Offensive Lineman. This is followed closely by Defensive Lineman and Cornerback.

                  The NFL has what is referred to as a "hard salary cap". This will effect your team in several ways:

                  1. Your team will always either be getting better or getting worse, and you must always get worse before you can become better. Good/Bad management can delay this process, but it is inevitable. Plan ahead by stocking up on good memories if you plan on surviving the inevitable 5-11 seasons ahead. If you don't feel that you're up to this task, you'll find the Yankees bandwagon down the hall and to the right.

                  2. Salaries count, and you can't have the best player at every position. This means that if you have the best Quarterback in the league, and the best wide receivers in the league, and a good offensive line, other positions will suffer accordingly. It is unwise to complain about something that is a fact of life in the NFL.

                  3. Coaching matters very little, with the exception of game management. The talent of the players on the field is much more important to the performance of your team than your coach. You may have previously been on a bandwagon where the coach had a signifigant impact on the performance of his players. This league does not have that feature.

                  Please enjoy your stay as an NFL fan. if there's anything I can do to help you in the future, please feel free to ask.

                  Yours truly,
                  Devoted Kansas City Chiefs fan of 16 years.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: It's time to blow it up

                    Originally posted by Suaveness View Post
                    We're 10-3 people. Chill. Yes, we sucked today, a lot. Yes, our run defense is terrible. But we've still won. I don't expect our defense to play THIS bad every game. I still believe this team can turn it around. Just stay positive
                    Yes, and we were 13-0 last season at this time.....and we lost our first playoff game. What's your point? Having a solid record doesn't mean anything.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: It's time to blow it up

                      Originally posted by Adam1987 View Post
                      Yes, and we were 13-0 last season at this time.....and we lost our first playoff game. What's your point? Having a solid record doesn't mean anything.

                      My point is that the season isn't over.
                      Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: It's time to blow it up

                        Originally posted by Shade View Post
                        No more than 5% of this "defense" should be retained next season.
                        If you really think that's plausible, you're bonkers.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: It's time to blow it up

                          The line between winning and losing (over a season) in the NFL is so much finer than other sports, you have to expect certain eb and flow. Just look at the Steelers.

                          Sure, of course there are problems on this team: a bad draft, injuries, free agency, etc. These things happen. Is this the better of the Colts teams in the last few years? Hell no.

                          Still, the team will be in the playoffs and have a shot. That's not so bad. As long as it's not the Chargers, I'd give the Colts a chance against anyone, especially in the RCA Dome.

                          If our other favorite teams played at this level right now, we'd all love it. Perhaps some of you raised your expectation level a bit too high. In sports, championships aren't something that magically happen. You put the pieces together, then hope everything happens the right way.

                          Well, guess what, things aren't happening perfectly in 2006. Not even close. But that's OK, folks. The sun will rise another day. Promise.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: It's time to blow it up

                            Three weeks have passed, and nothing has changed.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: It's time to blow it up

                              We are going nowhere in the playoffs. Nowhere! It doesn't matter if we are home or on the road. No where! In 40+ years I have never seen a defense this bad.

                              I would welcome anyone on this board to serve me a HUGE HELPING OF CROW - but I don't think that's gonna happen.

                              Oh well - Merry Christmas everyone.
                              The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: It's time to blow it up

                                Originally posted by ABADays View Post
                                We are going nowhere in the playoffs. Nowhere! It doesn't matter if we are home or on the road. No where! In 40+ years I have never seen a defense this bad.

                                I would welcome anyone on this board to serve me a HUGE HELPING OF CROW - but I don't think that's gonna happen.

                                Oh well - Merry Christmas everyone.
                                You know... that's a good point. Imagine how bad this defense (and our record) would look if all we had was an average or mediocre offense.

                                Just how bad is this defense? I can't ever remember following a team that had a defense this bad... Where you just KNEW what was coming but still had no hope of stopping it.



                                -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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