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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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In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

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  • #1

    In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

    I just attempted to read through the super long thread about the Toronto trade, and I gave up. I feel a rant coming on...

    I guess it is true that with some people, no matter what happens, the glass is truly half empty. How long ago was it that according to pessimists, JO had no value and we would be lucky to trade him for peanuts?

    A few points I want to address...

    TJ ford is overpaid and injury prone - TJ Ford is not injury prone. He has a spinal problem and a freak neck injury could potentially end his career, and honestly, that could be true for every player in the NBA. There is a distinct difference between the injury problem of TJ and JO. TJ has no nagging injuries that will be off and on problems keeping him out of the lineup. In two seasons prior to the last one, he played over 72 games... and his injury last season would qualify under "freak injury" IMO. I think anyone who has seen the video would agree.

    If the "freak" injury happens, than the contract is insured. Meaning it is 80% paid for and off the cap in a year. Proponents of the Cleveland trade should be thrilled with such totally awesome cap relief. Which is basically all we would have received in that trade, including a worse draft pick and a complete clone of Jeff Foster... accept more like Jeff Foster with a bad attitude, who will be demanding more money in under two years time. Did I mention we already have a Jeff Foster? That PG thing is more of a question mark...

    Who am I kidding? TJ Ford is only marginally better than Travis Deiner anyway, who cares?

    Well, the numbers don't exactly support that statement. Despite the obvious fact that Ford may in fact be the quickest player in the NBA, and Travis is well... not entirely slow? um.. Ford has 10% higher FG% with 5 more PPG, 3 more rebounds, and 3 more assists playing BACKUP minutes. Thats 12 points, almost 7 assists, and 4 rebounds per game in 24 minutes. Per 36? = 18 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds.

    TJ Ford is not a championship point gaurd, he can't defend.

    First off, anyone who thinks we were going to become a championship team overnight was surely deluding themselves.

    Second, someone please let me in on the other options that were just staring us in the face. TJ Ford is more talented than anyone we would have a realistic chance to draft. Augustin was going to have the same defensive problem, so that is not a better option at all. In Fact, Ford is much quicker than Augustin, So penetration on the perimeter is not the issue. Ford might get posted up by bigger guys, which is why we will need a good backup with better size to negate mismatches with certain teams. Overall he has the athleticism that this slow team desperately needs, which outweighs the negatives IMO.

    For people who salivate over cap relief, The Guy comes off the books the same year as murphy, dunleavy, and tinsley... meaning tons of expiring contracts to trade and cap relief. That expiring euro center kind of eliminates the "sign Danny" problem, so I fail to see what the big deal is here.

    For those who think holding onto JO and letting him expire was a better option. I just don't know what to say.

    For broken down worthless JO, who we would have all celebrated for if he opted out this year.... we get a large expiring contract, a guy who could be a top 10 PG in the NBA, and the 17th pick in the draft. Is it really so bad? really??? Pacers should be a playoff team next year and even if they go nowhere when they get there, it will certainly be a step in the right direction. We get fresh faces and a new start for the franchise. Some folks are just never satisfied...

    I guess for people who were really hoping this team fell in the gutter for the next decade, cut every big salary (and worthwhile player at that), and prayed for high draft picks to save the franchise, I can see how you are disappointed in this trade. I guess I just think becoming a better team and making savvy trades down the road is a better strategy. I am not saying we have fixed all the problems, but you have to start somewhere.

    I'm probably mainly yelling at a vocal minority, as most people seem to like the trade. I just get frustrated by the fact that no matter what happens, people will **** and moan about it. I am pretty sure there are people on this forum who could find the downside to trading Murphy/Dunleavy for Lebron James.

    I myself am pretty excited for the team and looking forward to next year. Lets all just take solace that JO and most likely JT, will have nothing to do with the pacers next year... Time for a new beginning.

    I feel better.

    Hey, I'm not all sunshine you know, I am still jumping off a bridge if we draft Kosta Doofus. Get ready to light the torches.
    "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

    - ilive4sports
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

      Originally posted by Infinite MAN_force View Post
      I just attempted to read through the super long thread about the Toronto trade, and I gave up. I feel a rant coming on...

      I guess it is true that with some people, no matter what happens, the glass is truly half empty. How long ago was it that according to pessimists, JO had no value and we would be lucky to trade him for peanuts?

      A few points I want to address...

      TJ ford is overpaid and injury prone - TJ Ford is not injury prone. He has a spinal problem and a freak neck injury could potentially end his career, and honestly, that could be true for every player in the NBA. There is a distinct difference between the injury problem of TJ and JO. TJ has no nagging injuries that will be off and on problems keeping him out of the lineup. In two seasons prior to the last one, he played over 72 games... and his injury last season would qualify under "freak injury" IMO. I think anyone who has seen the video would agree.

      If the "freak" injury happens, than the contract is insured. Meaning it is 80% paid for and off the cap in a year. Proponents of the Cleveland trade should be thrilled with such totally awesome cap relief. Which is basically all we would have received in that trade, including a worse draft pick and a complete clone of Jeff Foster... accept more like Jeff Foster with a bad attitude, who will be demanding more money in under two years time. Did I mention we already have a Jeff Foster? That PG thing is more of a question mark...

      Who am I kidding? TJ Ford is only marginally better than Travis Deiner anyway, who cares?

      Well, the numbers don't exactly support that statement. Despite the obvious fact that Ford may in fact be the quickest player in the NBA, and Travis is well... not entirely slow? um.. Ford has 10% higher FG% with 5 more PPG, 3 more rebounds, and 3 more assists playing BACKUP minutes. Thats 12 points, almost 7 assists, and 4 rebounds per game in 24 minutes. Per 36? = 18 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds.

      TJ Ford is not a championship point gaurd, he can't defend.

      First off, anyone who thinks we were going to become a championship team overnight was surely deluding themselves.

      Second, someone please let me in on the other options that were just staring us in the face. TJ Ford is more talented than anyone we would have a realistic chance to draft. Augustin was going to have the same defensive problem, so that is not a better option at all. In Fact, Ford is much quicker than Augustin, So penetration on the perimeter is not the issue. Ford might get posted up by bigger guys, which is why we will need a good backup with better size to negate mismatches with certain teams. Overall he has the athleticism that this slow team desperately needs, which outweighs the negatives IMO.

      For people who salivate over cap relief, The Guy comes off the books the same year as murphy, dunleavy, and tinsley... meaning tons of expiring contracts to trade and cap relief. That expiring euro center kind of eliminates the "sign Danny" problem, so I fail to see what the big deal is here.

      For those who think holding onto JO and letting him expire was a better option. I just don't know what to say.

      For broken down worthless JO, who we would have all celebrated for if he opted out this year.... we get a large expiring contract, a guy who could be a top 10 PG in the NBA, and the 17th pick in the draft. Is it really so bad? really??? Pacers should be a playoff team next year and even if they go nowhere when they get there, it will certainly be a step in the right direction. We get fresh faces and a new start for the franchise. Some folks are just never satisfied...

      I guess for people who were really hoping this team fell in the gutter for the next decade, cut every big salary (and worthwhile player at that), and prayed for high draft picks to save the franchise, I can see how you are disappointed in this trade. I guess I just think becoming a better team and making savvy trades down the road is a better strategy. I am not saying we have fixed all the problems, but you have to start somewhere.

      I'm probably mainly yelling at a vocal minority, as most people seem to like the trade. I just get frustrated by the fact that no matter what happens, people will **** and moan about it. I am pretty sure there are people on this forum who could find the downside to trading Murphy/Dunleavy for Lebron James.

      I myself am pretty excited for the team and looking forward to next year. Lets all just take solace that JO and most likely JT, will have nothing to do with the pacers next year... Time for a new beginning.

      I feel better.

      Hey, I'm not all sunshine you know, I am still jumping off a bridge if we draft Kosta Doofus. Get ready to light the torches.
      I couldn't have said it better myself. In fact I find it hard to disagree with anything you said in this post.
      Broadcasting Classic Rock Hits 24/7 SauceMaster Radio!!!!

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

        I would also like to point out TJ is a terrific perimeter defender.. which is exactly what this team needs! We have no one fast enough to stay in front of any quick guards, TJ can do that. Sure our PG post up D will be hurting... but that is not near as important as perimeter Defense!

        Also, Lebron is too much of a ballhog /pass on that trade
        Last edited by PaceBalls; 06-26-2008, 01:23 AM.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

          -Hicks



          With my luck the trade won't go through and my big rant will have been a waste of time anyway.

          I would probably cry.
          Last edited by Infinite MAN_force; 06-26-2008, 01:22 AM.
          "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

          - ilive4sports

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

            Great post man. I was thinking the exact same things.

            Nice to see a positive post for once.

            AUSTRALIA'S NO.1 PACER FAN

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

              I like the trade a lot too. We now have a very solid starting point guard at the least, some cap relief after this year, and an extra pick that will help in the rebuilding efforts. Instead of having to draft a point guard this year, and having basically the exact same team as last year, we have some options and we are moving forward. We can pick up at least two rotation guys, possibly a starter to work in this year.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

                1 Down and 1 PG For Sale. I'm actually considering season tickets again.

                Well If we can get rid of Tinsley also.
                Broadcasting Classic Rock Hits 24/7 SauceMaster Radio!!!!

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

                  Originally posted by Infinite MAN_force View Post
                  TJ Ford is not a championship point gaurd, he can't defend.

                  First off, anyone who thinks we were going to become a championship team overnight was surely deluding themselves.

                  IMF,

                  I hold mainly the same sentiments you express. I think the above portion is of extreme improtance. I don't know why some people who criticize the trade think Ford is viewed as the long-term PG solution.

                  Despite the obvious risk involved, I like the deal overall. I do not by any means go into it thinking that Ford will be the definitive answer for us. I'm not sure, as you state, that we'll even be playoff calibur next year.

                  I do believe that in terms of championship calibur, we are probably AT LEAST three years away assuming good managerial maneuvers. If Ford does not pan out in the next 2-3 years either due to performance and/or injury, I expect we will be searching or even have found his replacement by that point.
                  I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

                  -Emiliano Zapata

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: In the immortal words of Arnold... STOP WHINING!

                    I think for the time being, the team has improved, and a few years down the road, expiring contracts, draft picks, and some of our younger prospects can be turned into even better players.

                    It is easier to do this when the team is doing well... which translates to the players on the roster overall, having more value.

                    I am pretty happy with the draft picks too. I almost freaked when Bayless was traded, but after reflection, Jack is the perfect backup for Ford and Rush could be a starting SG of the future. Only time will tell...
                    "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

                    - ilive4sports

                    Comment

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