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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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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:

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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.

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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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Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

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  • #16
    Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

    Ouch, PBR, you guys are brutal. I would also be curious about what is said.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

      Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
      He has a nice house I assume
      Quite.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

        Wow, what an amazing evening.

        Yes, I am only 19. I turn 20 later this year. I have many political connections while interning with the Mike Sodrel Congressional Campaign. The biggest connection with the Pacers is that my grandfather held season tickets for 40 years. That was back in the ABA when they traveled all over the state to play home games.

        We were greated at the door by Jim Morris. He was as lovely and down to earth of a person you could meet. He was very impressive. He spent a lot of one on one time talking with me. He asked questions about who I am, and encouraged my schooling. He is a very good man.

        After meeting with him, a Pacer representative took us on a tour of his home. He has a very lovely home. It is not huge, but it was plenty for himself and his wife. The walls were stacked with southwestern paintings. I talked for about 10 minutes towards the end of the evening about his collection. He has 3 Remington sculptures in his living room. He has a sun room, and a huge deck with two large grills. There is also a swimming pool with a small waterfall fountain.

        I was talking basketball with two Pacer reps, when Larry Bird walked through the door. I walked up to shake his hand, he said hello and kept moving. He was very cold the whole evening.

        There was a lovely dinner with anything you could imagine (open bar). The catering staff was outstanding as well.

        After we ate, Jim Morris took a microphone and thanked everyone for coming. He told us he is excited for opening night, which he said would be at Conseco against the Celtics on November 1st (that was mentioned several times). He also praised Rush and Hibbert (they were really pushing those two).

        Then Larry took the mic. Someone has been giving him grammar lessons this summer. Most of what he said was the same old stuff. We are cleaning the team, and we are making moves to get better. The one thing that he said very bluntly was that Jamaal will not be with the Pacers this year. I know that is not news, but in his answers to the follow-up questions he could not have been more clear about Tinsley leaving.

        I went to talk to Larry afterwards to say the best game I have ever seen was the first game after the brawl against Orlando, and I am looking forward to seeing that kind of play in Indiana again. He did not let me get a full sentence out before he turned away from me. He was very rude all night. Typical Larry in my opinion, but I understand why. As rude as Larry was, Jim Morris was equally as nice. He is an outstanding man.

        I am sorry about this book I have written. I tried to keep it short. Please ask questions if you want me to clearify anything or give more detail. I will attemt to post some pictures.


        I can't figure out how to post them right now. You can copy the links to view them.



        My mother, Larry, and Me

        http://img210.imageshack.us/my.php?i...andwillsl6.jpg



        Signed basketball by Larry

        http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=larrygw8.jpg
        Last edited by Bridge; 07-30-2008, 10:06 PM.

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        • #19
          Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

          Thanks for the report, sounds like a great night. I am jealous you had the opportunity. It is also nice to hear Morris is a class guy, you can never have too many of them in an organization. I wonder what Bird's deal was. With as little support as the Pacers have had lately I figured he would be kissing tail to the big ticket holders. His attitude seems very bizarre.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

            Originally posted by Bridge View Post
            We were greated at the door by Jim Morris. He was as lovely and down to earth of a person you could meet. He was very impressive. He spent a lot of one on one time talking with me. He asked questions about who I am, and encouraged my schooling. He is a very good man.
            Definitely.

            Originally posted by Bridge View Post
            I was talking basketball with two Pacer reps, when Larry Bird walked through the door. I walked up to shake his hand, he said hello and kept moving. He was very cold the whole evening.
            I guess I didn't see this like you did. He was pretty nice to me and we had a nice little discussion. It was cut short, though, because there were other people around that wanted to talk to him, which was understandable.

            Originally posted by Bridge View Post
            There was a lovely dinner with anything you could imagine (open bar). The catering staff was outstanding as well.
            Agreed. That fish looked good...

            Originally posted by Bridge View Post
            The one thing that he said very bluntly was that Jamaal will not be with the Pacers this year.
            I don't remember him saying anything pertaining to Jamaal, at least in the specific sense. He just said his spiel of going after high character guys and bringing competitive basketball back. The usual, basically. He did say something interesting, though, which was that probably about 85% of NBA players carry guns or some kind of protection whenever they go out. I guess that's logical, but still enlightening. In a way, he actually defended the players we've had issues with in the past and went on to say they have lives and couldn't be babysat by the team, so it's up to the team to get the most well-behaved players it can.

            Someone at one of the tables pretty much asked Bird if he was going to do anything about all the off-court issues, which was a pretty stupid and annoying question to be honest. As if letting the people there know what was going on with the team wasn't a goal of the party...

            All in all though, it was a great night and I'm glad the Pacers did something like this. A Cavs representative was actually in attendance and said that teams don't usually do what the Pacers did that night.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

              Thanks for sharing guys! Wow. Tough home opener against Celtics.
              "We've got to be very clear about this. We don't want our players hanging around with murderers," said Larry Bird, Pacers president.

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              • #22
                Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                No, he never used Jamaal by name. He said he has shipped two of the problems out, and the third is out the door. I think it is very obvious who that is.

                He was not a Cavs rep, his company has tickets to the Cavs games. He made a fool of himself during his question, but not as much as the first gentleman. I kept waiting for him to ask a question.

                That gentleman asking the first question about the behavior ploblems was trying to say he thinks they should have a curfew. Larry was just saying we aren't going to do that to our players, but bring in players that don't need supervision. It did sound like he was defending the players, but he does work for the Pacers. He needs to do that.

                Originally posted by TheDoddage View Post


                I don't remember him saying anything pertaining to Jamaal, at least in the specific sense. He just said his spiel of going after high character guys and bringing competitive basketball back. The usual, basically. He did say something interesting, though, which was that probably about 85% of NBA players carry guns or some kind of protection whenever they go out. I guess that's logical, but still enlightening. In a way, he actually defended the players we've had issues with in the past and went on to say they have lives and couldn't be babysat by the team, so it's up to the team to get the most well-behaved players it can.

                Someone at one of the tables pretty much asked Bird if he was going to do anything about all the off-court issues, which was a pretty stupid and annoying question to be honest. As if letting the people there know what was going on with the team wasn't a goal of the party...

                All in all though, it was a great night and I'm glad the Pacers did something like this. A Cavs representative was actually in attendance and said that teams don't usually do what the Pacers did that night.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                  Originally posted by rock747 View Post
                  Thanks for sharing guys! Wow. Tough home opener against Celtics.
                  I guarantee victory.
                  "Danny Granger is one of the top players in the league. To move Danny, you better get a lot back." - Larry Bird

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                    Originally posted by mellifluous View Post
                    "Heineken?! Eff that ess, Pabst Blue Ribbon!"
                    w00t on this quote, I use it all the time.

                    "You know what a love letter is..."




                    *Blue Velvet, go rent it already even if it is Lynch weird



                    Oh, and nice reporting guys. Nothing really new but confirmation on what we know. A) Morris = good guy and great addition for the Pacers B) selling Rush/Hibbert big time right now C) they want Tinsley gone D) Pacers are making a serious effort to alter the image people have of the team.
                    Last edited by Naptown_Seth; 07-30-2008, 11:27 PM.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                      Hey Bridge, was Larry like that all night to everyone, or just you? I'm 28, so I still clearly remember the days when I was marginalized due to my age. He might have been ignoring you because he felt like you weren't the person cutting the Pacers the check, and so weren't important. Still unacceptable business behavior, but at least explainable as a gaffe as opposed to him just plain not wanting to be there.

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                      • #26
                        Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                        I got two tickets for a half season package in section 17 tonight. That is roughly 5 grand. I wasn't wasting anyone's time. I think he just hates doing these functions. I know for a fact he hates signing things. He mainly just spoke to the people at his table. He cut me off mid sentence when I was praising the Pacers. I cannot justify what he did, age or not.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                          As I said, fwiw, lb was pretty nice to me... There had to be a reason he cut you off as you put it

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                          • #28
                            Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                            Wow, that sounds completely different from when my brother met Larry Bird. Lets just say somehow my brother ended up under the court at Conseco during the Tour of Hope one year. Hes walking around and next thing he knows Larry Legend himself is right there. They talked for a bit and my brother said how my grandmother loves him(its true, she really likes Larry Legend) and then asked for his autograph. Larry said let me use the bathroom first and then he would give him an autograph. My brother didnt know whether or not to go and pee next to Larry Bird or not haha. He waited outside and got his autograph. My brother said he was really friendly.

                            I wish i could have gotten to go to this cocktail party. I think its a good PR move for these guys to do stuff like this and we need good PR.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                              Originally posted by Bridge View Post
                              I got two tickets for a half season package in section 17 tonight. That is roughly 5 grand. I wasn't wasting anyone's time. I think he just hates doing these functions. I know for a fact he hates signing things. He mainly just spoke to the people at his table. He cut me off mid sentence when I was praising the Pacers. I cannot justify what he did, age or not.
                              I don't want to insult you, but out of curiosity, who cut the check for $5,000, you or your mom? And yes, in the eyes of Larry Bird, it might make a difference, even though it shouldn't, because your mom could be only buying the tickets because you want them, which makes you his boss, more or less.

                              For the record, Teo Fabi snubbed me for an autograph when I was a kid, and I listened to the race every year from then on, waiting for him to wreck so I could taste sweet vengeance. Fortunately for me, it rarely took very long!

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Jim Morris and Larry Bird Cocktail Party

                                [quote=Bridge;766825]

                                I went to talk to Larry afterwards to say the best game I have ever seen was the first game after the brawl against Orlando, and I am looking forward to seeing that kind of play in Indiana again. He did not let me get a full sentence out before he turned away from me. He was very rude all night. Typical Larry in my opinion, but I understand why.


                                Maybe Larry found out about your Mike Sodrel connection and really, really likes Baron Hill.

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