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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

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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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Playoffs?? Playoffs??

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  • Playoffs?? Playoffs??

    There's been talk on this site about still making the playoffs...

    I dont care about the playoffs unless the team is a legit contender to
    win the Eastern title and this team isnt even close..
    Make the playoffs as the last seed and get emliminated in the first round
    isnt my idea of success....

    Ive followed this team for many years.. thru the ups and downs and this
    is one of the downs to be sure..

    I didnt like Bird as a head coach regardless of his record.. Carlisle led the practices and Bird played "horse" with the players.....
    He wasnt a motivator and was lackluster on the sidelines.. He had Mark, Reggie and the rest of a squad that made him look good.
    What Donnie saw in him outside of the Larrry Legend Indiana fame is beyond me...

    He's more inept as a GM...
    Some of you say he's good picking players in the draft.. You cite Granger.
    Granger was an easy choice.. He "fell" to the Pacers by the luck of the draft.
    Show me all of these other pickups of Bird that have stood out...
    He's a farce and I wish the team could see that..

    This team has arrived at mediocrity and will stay there for a long long time.
    the Only hope is to Bottom Out completely and hope there's a player of great magnitude to draft that year...

    I will continue to root for them but they show me nothning....
    They're inconsistent and very boring anymore....

    When Dunleavy is your go to star you know what time it is and its not showtime....

  • #2
    Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

    i feel the same way and i honestly dont think trading player after player is helping at some point u look at the front office and there is no direction they changes need to start at the top and move its way down we have had way too much player-turnover to keep blaming the players.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

      Originally posted by Claptonrocks View Post
      I dont care about the playoffs unless the team is a legit contender to win the Eastern title and this team isnt even close..
      Make the playoffs as the last seed and get emliminated in the first round
      isnt my idea of success....
      I think that the primary goal of the Pacers ( at least for this season ) is not only to "simply makes the Playoffs"....but to specifically get the 8th spot in the East. Although...this will more then likely mean that we will play and ( likely ) lose in 5 games to the Celtics.....there maybe some benefits to playing them.

      The Celtics not only are the best team in the League right now....they are the most popular team in the League. If the overriding goal of TPTB is to make $$$$ for the Organization by trying to attract fans back to Conseco....what better way to do that then to return to the Playoffs against one of the most popular teams in the League?

      Pacer fans may not come to a Playoff to see them lose to a hated team like the Pistons or the Magic.....but I can totally see Indy fans selling out Playoff games just to see them play against a team like the Celtics. We maybe a small bump in the road for the Celtics trip to the ECF.....but playing against the Celtics will bring a lot of good PR and attention to the Pacers Organization.

      On top of all this....earning the 8th spot in the East maybe the closest thing we have to having the "Best of Both Worlds". We not only make the Playoffs ( what Bird has stated that he wanted to do since the end of last season ), but we will likely get the 15th pick in the Draft....the best draft pick possible for a team that makes the Playoffs.

      I know that this may sound like a strange theory....but there is a reason why Garnett is referred to as "The Big Ticket".

      Originally posted by Claptonrocks View Post
      I didnt like Bird as a head coach regardless of his record.. Carlisle led the practices and Bird played "horse" with the players.....
      He wasnt a motivator and was lackluster on the sidelines.. He had Mark, Reggie and the rest of a squad that made him look good.
      What Donnie saw in him outside of the Larrry Legend Indiana fame is beyond me...

      He's more inept as a GM...
      Unless we make some serious improvement in the next season.....I think that Bird will not be with us that much longer in the Pacers FO. Any other President of Basketball Operations would have been let go by now for less.
      Last edited by CableKC; 01-27-2008, 02:43 AM.
      Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

        i am doubtful as to conseco coming anywhere close to selling out if they played the celts or anyone actually.
        the two biggest reasons (i believe) are the constant embarrassment from player actions- i have very tired of it and it just never seems to end. then you have another factor to go with and that is the local population has no faith that this team can do anything except make the playoffs by default in an awful east. this team has absolutley no business in the playoffs as it currently stands.

        tinsley will still be tinsley- we will wonder from time to time as whether his most recently missed game was due to a real injury or illness or if it was him just being him. and there are all the other bads like ballhogging and oneupmanship and unnecessarily fancy passes that go awry. jo may miss the whole season and even if he just missed a month or two- i doubt it will matter. i think he has done permanent damage to his body over the last several seasons by coming back too soon and to rest for two weeks or a month really won't make much of a difference. the knees will always be a problem for him for the rest of his career i'm afraid.
        i think the locals see a team without any hope. too many bozo's who aren't even mediocre as a team.
        i can't look at a team anywhere in the league and say to myself " yeh we should definitely beat them" i can however look at any team and say they either should definitely beat us or certainly have a pretty good shot.
        my final regular season prognosis is:
        33-49
        if that makes the playoffs.... then that's just horrible.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

          time for the ole "ah well, we will be better next year..." or is it too early for that ?
          If you havin' depth problems, I feel bad for you son; I got 99 problems but a bench ain't one! - Hicks
          [/center]
          @thatguyjoe84

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

            "Playoffs, Playoffs? I just hope we can win another game."


            Jim Mora

            "Playoffs?"

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

              i dont think many people here praise Bird's ability to draft players...

              The proof is there really, Granger aside, I dont think indy has picked well and has traded a lot of picks in deals that never really helped the team
              Haggard's Blog: Can't Buy a Basket. Covering the highs and lows of the NBL

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                I think that the primary goal of the Pacers ( at least for this season ) is not only to "simply makes the Playoffs"....but to specifically get the 8th spot in the East. Although...this will more then likely mean that we will play and ( likely ) lose in 5 games to the Celtics.....there maybe some benefits to playing them.

                The Celtics not only are the best team in the League right now....they are the most popular team in the League. If the overriding goal of TPTB is to make $$$$ for the Organization by trying to attract fans back to Conseco....what better way to do that then to return to the Playoffs against one of the most popular teams in the League?

                Pacer fans may not come to a Playoff to see them lose to a hated team like the Pistons or the Magic.....but I can totally see Indy fans selling out Playoff games just to see them play against a team like the Celtics. We maybe a small bump in the road for the Celtics trip to the ECF.....but playing against the Celtics will bring a lot of good PR and attention to the Pacers Organization.

                On top of all this....earning the 8th spot in the East maybe the closest thing we have to having the "Best of Both Worlds". We not only make the Playoffs ( what Bird has stated that he wanted to do since the end of last season ), but we will likely get the 15th pick in the Draft....the best draft pick possible for a team that makes the Playoffs.

                I know that this may sound like a strange theory....but there is a reason why Garnett is referred to as "The Big Ticket".

                Unless we make some serious improvement in the next season.....I think that Bird will not be with us that much longer in the Pacers FO. Any other President of Basketball Operations would have been let go by now for less.
                This is a good theory, however, the main flaw I see to this is that if we did
                end up playing the Celts in the first round and bring fans into Conseco Fieldhouse,
                I would wager the majority of those fans would be wearing green with a little
                leprechan patch. It's sad to think about, but I've actually already seen this
                happen before back at MSA.

                We won't be converting anyone over to the Pacer's side, especially after we lose
                in lackluster fashion.
                Last edited by RamBo_Lamar; 01-27-2008, 11:41 AM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                  Originally posted by RamBo_Lamar View Post
                  This is a good theory, however, the main flaw I see to this is that if we did
                  end up playing the Celts in the first round and bring fans into Conseco Fieldhouse,
                  I would wager the majority of those fans would be wearing green with a little
                  leprechan patch. It's sad to think about, but I've actually already seen this
                  happen before back at MSA.

                  We won't be converting anyone over to the Pacer's side, especially after we lose
                  in lackluster fashion.
                  Again.....you have to look at what the goal of the Pacers FO is....to make $$$$. Whether they are wearing Celtic Green or Blue and Gold....they are spending the same amount of $$$ to get in.

                  Keep in mind that this is my theory for this season. I really think that JONeal will be moved in the offseason and the same amount and things will ( finally ) change the next season. Unfortunately, I was thinking the same thing over the last offseason and JONeal is still on the roster .
                  Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                    It is really mind-blowing how the Pacers are still the eight seed. It goes to show you how bad the East is.

                    Utah and Houston are 25-18 and not in the playoffs. 25-18. That would be good enough for the fifth seed in the East. Right now (talent wise at least) 10 of the best 13 teams are in the West. The East is a complete joke.

                    THE PACERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS WITH A 19-26 RECORD! A WHOPPING 7 GAMES UNDER .500!

                    [/rant]

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                      Originally posted by Wu-Gambino View Post
                      It is really mind-blowing how the Pacers are still the eight seed. It goes to show you how bad the East is.

                      Utah and Houston are 25-18 and not in the playoffs. 25-18. That would be good enough for the fifth seed in the East. Right now (talent wise at least) 10 of the best 13 teams are in the West. The East is a complete joke.

                      THE PACERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS WITH A 19-26 RECORD! A WHOPPING 7 GAMES UNDER .500!

                      [/rant]
                      I know. It's pathetic. Very, very pathetic.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                        Ya, if they manage to eke out a playoff slot, I can see the
                        promotional slogan now...

                        Hey, check us out, we cracked the .400 level !

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                          Bird can draft. You can knock him for drafting David but I don't considering he was the last pick fo the 1rst round and only maybe 3 players picked after him have turned out to be anything.

                          Granger did fall to them. But Bird did draft him. 16 other teams passed on him. Regardless you have to give credit where credit is due. Credit is due here.

                          He picked Shawne Williams. Looks like that should be a good pick. People were asking for Marcus Williams, and me I wanted Rodriguez, Rondo, Farmar or Lowry, but anything I think Shawne is the best of the bunch.

                          He messed up trading up to get James White. Wait and see on Lorbek and Stanko.

                          Saras was a bad signing. However Kareem Rush and Travis Diener have turned out nicely so far. Not big names but not big money either.

                          I have said this before but Larry has been limited to what he has had to work with. Donnie sort of put a team together that made it a mess and now Bird has to deal with the aftermath.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                            I dunno, Farmar looks pretty good of late.

                            And I don't think anyone is still waiting on Erazam.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Playoffs?? Playoffs??

                              stting a goal just to get in the playoffs. pathetic. whether it's about the financial problem this team has or stupidity for the old days it just won't help. expirience? what's the use of it if team is just not good enough so any of players are ready to be shipped/ready to ship out of the pacers. and yet hanging in the 8th seed going to playoffs(which i doubt it won't go for long) but to be swept and end up having 'just' 16th or so picks. pathetic again.
                              average attendence for the pacers home game is the lowest in the nba. that will not change whatever the front office do. TV comercials, sale, evet even begging. ship out the bad contract(murphleavy, quiz ; even though it seems impossible), stick with the core pieces(uhh...foster and granger? IMO) and bring in some more talented/well suited young players who matches the color of this team(which I'm not so sure what it is).
                              http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance
                              look at it. even the t-wolves has more average attendance then we do.(even conseco is smaller then target center)

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