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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.

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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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Article on Al Harrington

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  • Article on Al Harrington

    I assume everyone read this article, but I am surprised no one else posted this so we can discuss.

    AL has huge value, that does not surprise me.

    I found Rick's comments most intersting about Bird showing some restraint, it appears to me that the Bulls would have traded their 3rd overall pick or certainly their 7th overall pick to the pacers for AL, but the Pacers did not want to take Eddie Robinson's cotnract

    I know some of you will say the pacers are just trying to boost Al's trade value, by saying nice things about him, but I think AL's is extremely valuable as I always say he was the 3rd best player on a 61 win team.

    many of you argue that he did not play well in the playoffs, sure he could have been better, but if AL is still a pacer come October I won't be disappointed


    http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/157696-9133-179.html


    Harrington still a Pacer for now; he won't start


    By Sekou Smith
    sekou.smith@indystar.com
    June 25, 2004

    Al Harrington watched the NBA draft Thursday night without worry, knowing that his status wouldn't change by this morning.

    While his name was bandied about in trade rumors leading up to the draft, nothing happened.


    Al Harrington

    "I knew (Wednesday night) that nothing was going to happen right now," Harrington said by phone from Florida, where he trains in the offseason. "I can't say what might happen in the future because I honestly don't know right now."

    The Pacers' third-leading scorer and the runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man Award, Harrington's desire to start has been a topic of public discussion since December.

    During his exit interview with the Pacers three weeks ago, Harrington requested a trade to a team that could offer a more substantial role.

    Many teams reportedly were interested in Harrington, who averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds last season. The 24-year-old's potential for improvement is one reason for the strong interest.

    Cleveland selected Luke Jackson with the 10th pick. The scenario most often associated with Harrington before the draft was that he would be traded to Cleveland for a chance to move up and draft Jackson.

    By the time the Pacers selected Colorado center David Harrison with the last pick of the first round (No. 29), it became clear that the Pacers would not make any deals on draft night.

    Pacers president Larry Bird made it clear Thursday night that if Harrington returns for a seventh season, it will be as a reserve.

    "(Al's) position is Ronnie Artest's and Jermaine O'Neal's," Bird said, "so if he (Harrington) is here, he'll be coming off the bench."

    But Bird and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle expressed trepidation about parting with a player of Harrington's caliber.

    "When you talk about trading a high-level, veteran player, a guy like an Al Harrington, you're talking about now trading away one of your hottest assets," Carlisle said. "I thought Larry demonstrated a lot of restraint the last couple of days because we were involved in a lot of things.

    "One thing we did find out in the last two or three days is this guy (Harrington) has huge value."

    Bird said he could point to 20 games the Pacers won last season in large part because of Harrington.

    "When you talk about trading Al, you're talking about trading one of your hardest workers, a tough kid and a kid who plays hurt," Bird said. "And if Johnny Bender and Austin (Croshere) weren't sitting there, Al's name would never come up. It's hard to let a player go who works as hard as Al Harrington does every day.

    "We've got some tough decisions to make if we do decide to let Al move on."




    [edit=24=1088221416][/edit]

  • #2
    Re: Article on Al Harrington

    Talk about making him sound like a prince. (to make sure we get something good for him)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Article on Al Harrington

      Al who?

      BTW, I need some input on my avatar...Should this one stay, a more laid back Mark, or Mark doing the Jackson Jiggle from the front?
      [edit=53=1088221986][/edit]
      [edit=53=1088221999][/edit]

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Article on Al Harrington





        Here is a related article I found interesting, paragraph about Al

        http://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/N2870....0;ord=7453799?


        Sorry, Bulls need more than 'assets'

        June 25, 2004BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST


        NEW YORK -- Assets, they're being called. Ben Gordon is seen as an asset, Luol Deng is seen as an asset.

        ''We needed assets,'' explained John Paxson, whose predecessor didn't know his asset from a hole in the wall. ''We needed scoring and defense in this draft. With Gordon, we get both. With Deng, we get both.''Sorry, I don't want assets -- especially when an ''asset'' is Paxson's euphemism for project. I want an established NBA veteran or two who will remove Chicago from the pathetic futility of the Organizations Win Championships Tour, which, rather dismally, is entering its seventh year and veering toward 400 losses since Michael Jordan left.

        It's high time, as Mad Pax well knows, to push the Bulls into the general direction of the playoffs, a fairly negotiable challenge for most franchises.And the way to have launched the process was by making a deal with Indiana for Al Harrington, a star waiting to blossom. Harrington isn't happy with the Pacers because he's the sixth man, not a starter. Larry Bird, his boss, agreed to accommodate a trade request and shopped him to several teams, including the Bulls. Conventional wisdom suggests the trade would have been completed had Paxson included Tyson Chandler in a package with the No. 7 pick. But Paxson countered by protecting Chandler, the 21-year-old with the 41-year-old back, and offering the albatross contract of Eddie Robinson. As John discovered in his playing days, you don't try to fleece Larry Legend. You get shut down every time.


        So in a league of musical-chairs trading activity, with a shocking amount of talent available at the right price and with proper salary-cap maneuvering, the Bulls were stuck Thursday with both first-round picks. It wouldn't be the worst thing except for a boo-boo that could come back to embarrass Paxson: The night before, he acquired the No. 7 choice from Phoenix for the Bulls' first-round pick in 2005 and $3 million of Jerry Reinsdorf's, um, assets.

        If nothing else, this team at least cashes in on a high draft choice after a typical lousy season. But the Bulls will retain their top pick next year only if they finish first, second or third in the lottery. If they draft fourth or higher, the Suns receive the pick.Mad Pax, indeed.Then there's the issue of what to do with Jamal Crawford, the odd man out after his nemesis, coach Scott Skiles, convinced Paxson to draft Gordon. ''Skiles really likes Ben. They're going to keep him,'' said coach Jim Calhoun, who won a national title with Gordon and Emeka Okafor at Connecticut. How does Skiles keep Crawford happy when it's obvious management is eyeing a Gordon-Kirk Hinrich backcourt, smallish as it would be? If Crawford receives an offer elsewhere as a restricted free agent, the Bulls would be advised to wave goodbye.

        There will be total peace on earth before Skiles and Crawford get along.You were expecting Harrington, I was expecting Harrington. Instead, we had two more kids wearing BULLS caps in The Theater at Madison Square Garden, a scene I've experienced somewhere before. Having clicked with Hinrich in his first draft as the franchise's fix-it man, Paxson can be given some benefit of doubt on Gordon and Deng, who became the No. 7 pick when it wasn't dealt. Yet I recall being enthused after chatting here with Elton Brand, who played well but was absurdly dealt away.

        And I recall admiring the ability of Marcus Fizer, now an expansion-draft castoff. And I recall being encouraged after watching Eddy Curry wrap Tyson Chandler inside a 14-foot-tall, 550-pound embrace on draft night, a prelude to double-bustdom. And I remember being blinded by Jay Williams' smile, 12 months before he wrecked his motorcycle on a North Side street.So forgive me for being cautious when Gordon, projected as a combo scoring guard and tough defender, stood in the same room and oozed of blunt confidence. ''I'm not surprised I got drafted this high,'' said Gordon, who is 6-3 in platform shoes. ''I know what I can do as a player. I always thought I should go No. 1 in the draft.''And forgive me for hedging when Deng, he of the 7-foot wingspan and Duke curse, showed up at the podium in a purple Phoenix cap. ''I know a lot about the Suns.

        They are a great team,'' he said.Someone had to inform Deng that the Bulls had traded for him, a deal that wasn't announced until the second round. ''I had a feeling that might happen, with all the trades going on,'' he said. A few minutes later, Mad Pax laughed in the face of the Duke curse again by drafting guard Chris Duhon. See a trend here?

        Unlike Jerry Krause, who fell in love with prep players and is now scouting minor-league baseball because of it, Paxson is pursuing hardened winners from elite college programs.Both first-round picks have chances, like Hinrich, to become good NBA players. The question about Gordon is his focus. As he struggled with his game midway through last season, Calhoun summoned him for a meeting.''I called him in to simply say, 'Are you studying hard?''' Calhoun told the Hartford Courant. ''I said, 'Well, you've always been a very good student, and you need to start studying harder. ...' I said, 'The lottery is fine, but I don't think, in my opinion, that you're going to get drafted high because [NBA scouts] are worried about what you're going to do 82 times a season. If you have 15 nights off. ...'''From that point on, Gordon blew away the competition, particularly in the NCAA tournament. ''Coach is really a smart person. You just have to light a fire under your players sometimes,'' said Gordon, who is about to meet a blowtorch in Skiles.Deng's potential is equally evident. He could give the Bulls their first legitimate small forward since Scottie Pippen, a package of versatility, basketball IQ, passing, shotblocking and surprisingly good shooting. After watching Curry struggle to keep his shorts from falling down and Crawford fight with various coaches, Deng's maturity will be refreshing.

        That said, excuse me for sneaking out of the theater early. There's a Madonna show in the big arena next door, and frankly, she still has bigger assets than the Bulls.



        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Article on Al Harrington

          Originally posted by MSA2CF
          Al who?

          BTW, I need some input on my avatar...Should this one stay, a more laid back Mark, or Mark doing the Jackson Jiggle from the front?
          you should have one where mark is throwing up a teardrop floater or maybe what he does before he shoots freethrows

          ANDY: I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy winning or get busy losing.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Article on Al Harrington

            Originally posted by pacerwaala
            Originally posted by MSA2CF
            Al who?

            BTW, I need some input on my avatar...Should this one stay, a more laid back Mark, or Mark doing the Jackson Jiggle from the front?
            you should have one where mark is throwing up a teardrop floater or maybe what he does before he shoots freethrows
            You mean this?:



            edit: Go to properties and then put it in the address bar to see.
            [edit=53=1088222449][/edit]

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Article on Al Harrington

              yea i think so too Unclebuck there were many nights we needed his energy off the bench and then there were some we didnt know if he even showed up.i wont be mad if he still is a pacer but he does want to be moved.and if theres a deal Lb and Donnie cant refuse do it.
              Super Bowl XLI Champions
              2000 Eastern Conference Champions




              Comment

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