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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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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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Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

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  • #1

    Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

    http://www.nola.com/rose/index.ssf/2...rtswriter.html

    Chris Rose: Why did the Indiana Pacers writer slime Metairie?
    by Chris Rose, Columnist, The Times-Picayune
    Wednesday January 28, 2009, 5:30 AM

    Courtesy of Indianapolis Star

    Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz described Metairie as, "one of the most miserable, hopeless, dangerous places in this country."One of the treasured rituals of sports is for local newspapers to send a scribe to a rival city to rattle cages and lob a few grenades before a Big Game.

    Gratuitous mockery of indigenous traditions follows. Paint the opposing fans as dullards and rubes. New Orleans has always been rich fodder for such journalistic lo-jinks; you know, something like telling the folks back home in Indiana that we eat things they would probably hire an exterminator to remove from their yard.

    Always good for a few yuks.

    But when the local tradition being mocked is murder, or something close to it, well that's apparently a whole 'nuther kettle of crawfish.

    Thus, when Indianapolis Star sports columnist Bob Kravitz penned a story on Jan. 18 prior to the Indiana Pacers game against the Hornets, it appears that his senses took leave when he wrote:

    "Metairie, La., just outside New Orleans... is by almost every account one of the most miserable, hopeless, dangerous places in this country."

    Metairie? Our Metairie? By whose account?

    Admittedly, when I first read the sentence, I didn't think it was high treason, nor a call to arms. When he said "miserable, hopeless and dangerous," several intersections on Veterans Memorial Boulevard came to mind.

    But no, when Kravitz said "miserable, hopeless and dangerous," he actually meant "miserable, hopeless and dangerous" as in: miserable, hopeless and dangerous.

    As in a bad place. A really bad place.

    A no-joke bad place.

    It needs to be noted at this point that the rest of Kravitz's story is a long and lovingly told profile of the Pacers' star swingman, Danny Granger, and even more so his father, who stood down neighborhood toughs and doled out discipline with the vigor of a drill sergeant and saved his son from, yes, those mean streets of Metairie.




    Got Comments?



    • Post your thoughts on Bob Kravitz's column on Metairie



    The story is told largely through Granger's eyes and his view of his Metairie -- back o' town and over the railroad tracks behind Providence Memorial Park Cemetery -- isn't a pretty picture.

    "Wherever you've been, our neighborhood was worse," Granger told Kravitz. "We had train tracks that ran through the neighborhood, maybe 200 yards from my house, a small grassy area, and people were always finding bodies there."

    Hmm. Did he mean in the cemetery? Hard to say.

    Well, suffice it to say that once Kravitz's story reached the folks in Jefferson Parish via the newspaper's Web site, much -- well, almost all of Kravitz's tale of family bonds and overcoming circumstances was lost on eyes and ears stinging from that assessment so high up in the story.

    Miserable. Hopeless. Dangerous. Ouch.

    The comments following his story have run amok this past week, a war of words between Metairie's defenders and those who take no issue with Kravitz and, in fact, think he was on the mark.

    A reader named Metairieite wrote: "Kravitz's job is to report and he is not reporting the truth. He takes one family's experience and assumes that it's the same way of life for the rest of Metairie. It bothers me that he is getting paid for his lazy work."

    Common replied: "It amazes me that so many of you are posting about the neighborhood and not how positive a story this is. So often, all we read about is athletes getting in trouble. Finally, we have a positive article about a father-son relationship and people want to debate about how bad his home town is. Seriously?"


    John McCusker / The Times-Picayune

    Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard responded to Bob Kravitz's column with his own words about Metairie, "This guy's quote is grossly off the mark of reality. Grossly off the mark."Et cetera and so on, for many, many pages, day after day. The story has also been posted on Hornets' fan Web sites and they are equally alight with civic discourse.

    Even Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard weighed in this week with this comment to The Times-Picayune:

    "This guy's quote is grossly off the mark of reality. Grossly off the mark. I would tell you that Metairie, La., since its inception in Jefferson Parish, has been one of the more desirable places to live in greater New Orleans. And as opposed to being miserable, hopeless and dangerous, it is wonderful, hopeful and safe. I don't know what the crime statistics are in Indianapolis, but I would compare the crime statistics in Metairie against most communities of its size anywhere in America."

    Smack-down!

    Everybody's got an opinion. In fact, I tried to contact Kravitz this week to get his take on the kerfuffle that followed his story. But I did not hear back from him, presumably because the appearance of the numbers 504 on his caller ID now send him running to the nearest bar or therapist's couch.

    He has learned another hallowed tradition of print journalism: No matter how beautifully crafted your story is, there's always going to be a gotcha.

    And woe upon he who smites Metry. A pox upon his pen! May all his crawfish be too salty.

    Columnist Chris Rose can be reached at chris.rose@timespicayune.com, or 504.826.3309, or 504.352.2535.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

    Oh wow...

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

      +5000

      My opinion of Kravitz is low...very low.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

        I read about 10 of the comments below, and a good portion of them ... off the top of my head 3 to 5 of them .... said it was pretty close to the mark.

        -- Steve --

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

          Originally posted by Pacersfan46 View Post
          I read about 10 of the comments below, and a good portion of them ... off the top of my head 3 to 5 of them .... said it was pretty close to the mark.

          -- Steve --
          I hadn't read the comments, but still...I don't like him.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

            He apologized for the comment and corrected stating that the part that Danny was from was rough, but the entire town is not that way and has some very nice parts.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

              That's a rather large "whoops" on Kravitz part.

              I was originally going to say that Kravitz just made a mistake by not saying "a neighborhood in Metairie" and that the outrage is a little over the top. I thought about this then realized if someone said this about my hometown, I'd probably be pissed. Heck, my hometown has some areas that are "not good" but the whole town doesn't need to get rapped like that.
              ...Still "flying casual"
              @roaminggnome74

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

                Kravitz wrote a very good article. This is a minor flub in a major piece.
                "I had to take her down like Chris Brown."

                -Lance Stephenson

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

                  Originally posted by Roaming Gnome View Post
                  That's a rather large "whoops" on Kravitz part.

                  I was originally going to say that Kravitz just made a mistake by not saying "a neighborhood in Metairie" and that the outrage is a little over the top. I thought about this then realized if someone said this about my hometown, I'd probably be pissed. Heck, my hometown has some areas that are "not good" but the whole town doesn't need to get rapped like that.
                  and "whoops" are pretty much synonymous at this point.

                  Nice to see someone else in the press respond to his absurd, narrow-minded garbage.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

                    The fact that this guy has nothing else to talk about is even more pathetic. Kravitz simply did what most drive by writers and journalists do. He dramatized it to make Danny sound like one single bright spot coming out of the slums that every big city contends with. He generalized the whole town, whoops. If you have ever listened to sports radio you will here a crack on Indy. I guess we are not as soft and can laugh it off. Not to generalize anyone from that region. lol

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

                      I don't much care for Kravitz, but I care even less Chris Rose's whining.
                      "The greatest thing you know Comes not from above but below" Danzig

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

                        if you read down far enough in the articles comments... there is a screen name sgranger claiming to be dannys brother...overall pretty interesting stuff..

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Kravitz slammed by New Orleans writer

                          I was listening to the Eddie and Bob show a few days after the article was published and Kravitz apologized saying that he made a mistake by not writing that the area where Granger grew up was a very poor area - and should have written that it was only a small portion of Meterie

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