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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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KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

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  • KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

    Well, Able. Hats off to you.

    You got Jamaal for nothing more than a slight shift in the draft.

    Unbelievable.
    “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

  • #2
    Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

    I noticed that, thought it was a crazy pick first but I just didn’t believe
    OB must have a very change of philosophy, mind you it was good to watch RC on ESPN last night
    The only key would be now, can Tins stay healthy...
    Ya Think Ya Used Enough Dynamite there Butch...

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

      I have always believed in him and yeah I was happy with that trade


      But is this where we can moan and groan? because I have a rant or two ready
      So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

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

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

        Have at it.
        “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

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

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings



          Players Position Changes: Or how to wreck the system.


          Every year again, specially in new leagues but here also a barrage of "position change votes" comes along, starting just hours after the draft (or minutes even).

          Somehow it seems people draft a player with this in mind.
          Not looking at what the actual position is according to a "certain" site we use, they want to have their roster filled with double position players, mainly because it scores easier and better.

          However, not that many players in the league actually play more then one position.

          So here comes the conflict; I draft player A who is listed as a F but I am "thin" at C, so if I can get player A (who happens to be an allstar) to count for FC then I have the best of both worlds.
          Whilst there were 2 more FC's on the board, I decide to go for the F and within minutes after the draft I put up a vote, if it doesn't work the first time I simply do it again, maybe less ppl will vote against this time.

          IMO you should draft per need, and thus select a FC if you need one, or a CF but not a F and "hope to change the position".

          You can also select the best player left, and trade him for a FC if you want, it makes the league only more interesting.

          BUT PLEASE stop this "position change nonsense" because to me it feels like bending the rules.

          HRMPH!


          So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

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

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

            Or, it may have to do with the fact that people are told the new system will be based upon nba.com positions.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

              Originally posted by able View Post
              However, not that many players in the league actually play more then one position.


              You can also select the best player left, and trade him for a FC if you want, it makes the league only more interesting.

              BUT PLEASE stop this "position change nonsense" because to me it feels like bending the rules.

              HRMPH!


              Okay, my turn.

              I totally disagree with you.

              I've made it no secret that I watch as much NBA as I can, whether it's the Pacers, or whichever team. I've watched part or all of 6 games so far and the season has just started.

              I can tell you from my viewing, as in years past, a BUNCH of players play more than one position.

              Just using my team for an example. Channing Frye came into the league as a C. He played some C for NY, along with F. He gets traded to Portland and the newspapers talk about how he may play some backup center. Watching the Portland game the other night, I saw as he played just at F.

              I posted a thread about Linas Kleiza backing up Carmello AND Diawarya on Sports.ws.

              If you watched the Pistons game last night, you would have seen Maxiell playing a looong stretch of the second half at C, going against Shaq at one point, which was weird to watch. The Detroit papers said he would play C this season.

              McCants primarily plays SG because of the trade. Still with same team. Still in same system, still with the same coach. And he still slides oevr to SF, it's just that he plays SG the most. I see a LOT of players sliding over a position as part of substitution patterns.

              I can tell you empirically that half my team plays two positions.

              And yet, I've only put one up for a vote. The one I felt was the most obvious, even to the casual observer.

              It's easy to say "just trade for the positional player you want", but in reality, I've found it extremely hard to get people to make any type of trade. I'm especially sympathetic to the FC position. It's become such an interchangable position lately, plus if you go through the rosters, I'd say pure C are outnumbers 2-1 easily by G and Fs.

              The nly problem with position change I have is the "throw some *** on the wall and see what sticks" approach. You know those ones:

              "I don't know for sure because I haven't seen him play, but I heard player X plays GF. I'll list one sporting site as evidence and see if it passes."

              For me, if you can list the local paper showing it true, an EXCELLENT site like Rotoworld giving evidence, then some supporting facts, you get my vote.

              I don't mind position votes. I do mind really weak arguments for support.
              Last edited by Skaut_Ech; 11-02-2007, 12:22 PM.
              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


              • #8
                Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                I mentioned this a while ago. I hate that the league has completely diluted the center pool. I have three genuine starting centers - guys who actually play center, and show up on the box score as starting at center.

                So with 10% of the league's starting centers, two of which are big numbers producers, you'd think I'd have a decent situation to make up some points for not having a superstar forward.

                But no, evidently every power forward in the league is a center. Tim Duncan doesn't start at center and sees very few minutes there. Francisco Elson starts at center. You'd think this would boost Elson's value. But since all the forwards are centers, too you don't need a pure center, in fact they are worthless.

                Positions should be based on starting. all the backups in the league can be argued into two positions. If they were to start, they reveal what they REALLY are. a guard is a guard and a forward is a forward.

                Just because the guy holding the ball for the kicker can pick it up and throw it doesn't make him a starting quarterback... Unless he plays for Dallas. OK bad example. :doh:
                “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

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

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                  Originally posted by rcarey View Post
                  Or, it may have to do with the fact that people are told the new system will be based upon nba.com positions.
                  This is valid, especially for a keeper league. switching from site to site is going to come with some bumps and bruises for everyone, but in the end things will work out.
                  “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

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

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                    Originally posted by Skaut_Ech View Post
                    an EXCELLENT site like Rotoworld giving evidence
                    Cool, I've never really seen this site.

                    Oh, and look at that...another listing of Al Harrington as FC!

                    By the way, I completely agree with everything you said. I'm a league pass junkie...at 7pm every night, I drop whatever I'm doing and watch a bit of each game until they're done at 1-2am. It's not hard to see some of these guys playing a couple different positions depending on the matchups.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                      My wife would leave me if I watched that much basketball.

                      The league pass broadband is great - I can have family time and still watch BB when she's not around.
                      “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

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

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                        Maybe next season, on our own site, we can limit the number of multi-position players each team can have on thier roster.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                          Originally posted by Jose Slaughter View Post
                          Maybe next season, on our own site, we can limit the number of multi-position players each team can have on thier roster.
                          I love that you are problem solving.

                          The error of "limiting" is that our league is that there is total freedom over what players you can draft or otherwise pick up. I could pick up Jessica Alba if I wanted to. (yeah, right )

                          If someone wants to stack at one position, or multi-positional guys, that's fine with me. Stacking is part of gaining a long term advantage.

                          I've thought a LOT about this issue and I think the rotoworld "position %" stats are the best in the business. a simple numerical standard, based on the previous season (and then the current season once we're 20-30 games in) could be a good way to go.

                          let's say at least 34% of a players time must be at their "alternate" position to be considered a multi-positional player. If a guy spends less than that at a position, they should lose multi-status.

                          Just throwing ideas around.

                          And of course, as a KL rookie, I know that my opinion shouldn't really count.
                          “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

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

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                            Originally posted by Los Angeles View Post
                            I love that you are problem solving.

                            The error of "limiting" is that our league is that there is total freedom over what players you can draft or otherwise pick up. I could pick up Jessica Alba if I wanted to. (yeah, right )

                            If someone wants to stack at one position, or multi-positional guys, that's fine with me. Stacking is part of gaining a long term advantage.

                            I've thought a LOT about this issue and I think the rotoworld "position %" stats are the best in the business. a simple numerical standard, based on the previous season (and then the current season once we're 20-30 games in) could be a good way to go.

                            let's say at least 34% of a players time must be at their "alternate" position to be considered a multi-positional player. If a guy spends less than that at a position, they should lose multi-status.

                            Just throwing ideas around.

                            And of course, as a KL rookie, I know that my opinion shouldn't really count.
                            I like what you are presenting here, and don't feel that your opinion should not be heard because you are new. You are as much an owner as those of us that have been around since day one.

                            I too struggle with the multi postion question as well. It really has to come down to how each player is used by their respective team. Duncan is a perfect example of a player that "should" be a center, but rarely plays there during a game. Elson and Oberto get the majority of the minutes there with Duncan only sliding into the spot if Horry or the red headed guy (his name escapes me) is in the game.

                            On the other hand, a player like A. Stodamire (sp.) is a center on the Suns, but probably would not play the position on any other team. look at the Wizards. Who is the center after Haywood? Do they even have one?

                            As I said, its a tough call.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: KEEPER LEAGUE - Random Rants and Musings

                              By the way Jose,

                              Your team had 5 DNP's???




                              I feel bad about winning that game.

                              Sort of.
                              “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston Churchill

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

                              Comment

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