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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:

"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"

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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.

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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.

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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

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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:

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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

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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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Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

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  • Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

    http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...urn=nfl,228245

    Ty Warren took those "Never stop learning" commercials to heart

    By MJD

    Ty Warren(notes), defensive lineman for the New England Patriots, will be skipping the first round of his team's voluntary offseason workouts. He's got a pretty good reason, though. He's going back to Texas A&M to finally get a degree in his pocket.

    It becomes an even better reason when you listen to him explain why he's doing it, too. It's all about sending the right message to his three kids.

    "I try to put the kids in the best educational system possible and I think there is something to be said for their father, who has been blessed to play in the NFL and do something he's loved to do, going back and finishing what he started. In the big picture, I think it's important for me to do what I'm doing. I can sacrifice that bonus for that."

    Oh yeah, that bonus he's talking about? It's a quarter of a million dollars. He'll be giving that up, too, all in the name of sending the message to his kids that education is important.

    ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss talked to Warren about his decision to make education his top offseason priority, and it's hard to read it and not come out thinking, "Ty Warren seems like a pretty good guy." And lest you think he's somehow shorting his team by not going to the offseason workouts, I wouldn't worry about that, either.

    "Working out has never been a problem of mine, I do it regardless. I'm self-motivated," he said. "I've always been a working person. Ask anyone who knows me, I've been working and supporting my two siblings and now my own family since I was 13. No matter how much I have in the bank account, I'll always work."

    I can't imagine the Patriots would have much of a problem with this, either. Warren's a veteran player, one of the anchors on the Patriots defense, and has never been known as someone to slack off.

    If anything, this decision is just more evidence of that.

  • #2
    Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

    So which is smarter:
    Go back and get that degree or go to workouts and collect that $275,000.00 bonus and invest it wisely?
    Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

    ------

    "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

    -John Wooden

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

      There is a TON of research that shows that on average, college degreed people earn $1 million more over their lifetimes than non degreed people. That's nothing to Ty Warren. But if this inspires each of his three kids to head to college and graduate, that's $3 million extra they will earn. When they start planning for their own retirement, they will have more flexibility and money to do it. And if his kids instill the same value in their kids, they earn degrees, and repeat the cycle when they plan for retirement, suddenly the collective lifetime earnings jump exponentially to a number that you could never turn that $275k bonus into no matter how wisely you invested it.
      Last edited by travmil; 03-17-2010, 08:03 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

        Originally posted by Bball View Post
        So which is smarter:
        Go back and get that degree or go to workouts and collect that $275,000.00 bonus and invest it wisely?
        Smarter? Degree.
        Worth more money? 275K
        Worth more to yourself? Degree

        I applaud his decision. If I was in Mr. Kraft's position, I would make a 275K donation in Mr. Warren's name to some higher education fund.
        Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

          Originally posted by Since86 View Post
          Smarter? Degree.
          Worth more money? 275K
          Worth more to yourself? Degree

          I applaud his decision. If I was in Mr. Kraft's position, I would make a 275K donation in Mr. Warren's name to some higher education fund.
          I agree 100,000%

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

            Originally posted by travmil View Post
            There is a TON of research that shows that on average, college degreed people earn $1 million more over their lifetimes than non degreed people. That's nothing to Ty Warren. But if this inspires each of his three kids to head to college and graduate, that's $3 million extra they will earn. When they start planning for their own retirement, they will have more flexibility and money to do it. And if his kids instill the same value in their kids, they earn degrees, and repeat the cycle when they plan for retirement, suddenly the collective lifetime earnings jump exponentially to a number that you could never turn that $275k bonus into no matter how wisely you invested it.


            I can honestly say that's crap in this economy and I have two degrees

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

              You're making the assumption that the economy will stay the same forever.

              Without getting too political, it's widely accepted that economies are cyclical. We will start rising again. Soon, I hope.
              Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                You're making the assumption that the economy will stay the same forever.

                Without getting too political, it's widely accepted that economies are cyclical. We will start rising again. Soon, I hope.
                You and me both!

                Though I did just get a call to interview with Disney World today

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                  Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                  You're making the assumption that the economy will stay the same forever.

                  Without getting too political, it's widely accepted that economies are cyclical. We will start rising again. Soon, I hope.

                  That's what I said in "THIS" economy.

                  But given that I have an MBA I should have gotten something better than the temp work I am doing as well as the tax preparer gig I have on the side.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                    Originally posted by Basketball Fan View Post
                    I can honestly say that's crap in this economy and I have two degrees
                    Just because it didn't work out for you doesn't mean it doesn't work out for anyone. My wife makes more money than me despite having 7 fewer years of work experience. The difference is that she got a degree. She's already passed me in lifetime earnings and I've been working full time for 15 years to her 8, and she was even laid off for 6 months two different times for a total of a year and still did that. Of course she majored in Physics and has a job as an engineer so she actuallyearned desirable and marketable skills. I always love hearing the people that say I have two degrees and complain that they can't get a job In their field or make any money. Most of the time when you ask what the degrees are in they will say art and philosophy. What are yours?
                    Last edited by travmil; 03-19-2010, 02:50 PM.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                      Originally posted by Basketball Fan View Post
                      That's what I said in "THIS" economy.

                      But given that I have an MBA I should have gotten something better than the temp work I am doing as well as the tax preparer gig I have on the side.
                      You presented the statement like the statistic of making $1mil more over a life time with a college degree compared to a HS diploma wasn't ever going to happen again.

                      My point is that just because it is crap in THIS economy, doesn't mean it will be crap in 5years.
                      Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                        Originally posted by travmil View Post
                        I always love hearing the people that say I have two degrees and complain that they can't get a job In their field or make any money. Most of the time when you ask what the degrees are in they will say art and philosophy. What are yours?
                        Ugh. Yeah, shame on them for using their time at college to develop as a person and as an intellectual, rather than majoring in the first thing with marketable skills. It is exactly this mentality that is turning our educational system into such a steaming pile of ****.
                        You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                          It's nice to go to school and develop as a person. But when you can't f
                          get someone to pay you as much (or at all) to be a philosopher as you can to be an engineer you shouldn't complain. The people that take those majors know the deal going in, or at least if they don't they should. If you truly love that field you should do it. But don't pretend anyone owes you a paycheck for it.

                          The point still stands. On AVERAGE, degreed people earn way more over their lifetime.
                          Last edited by travmil; 03-19-2010, 03:32 PM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                            Originally posted by travmil View Post
                            Just because it didn't work out for you doesn't mean it doesn't work out for anyone. My wife makes more money than me despite having 7 fewer years of work experience. The difference is that she got a degree. She's already passed me in lifetime earnings and I've been working full time for 15 years to her 8, and she was even laid off for 6 months two different times for a total of a year and still did that. Of course she majored in Physics and has a job as an engineer so she actuallyearned desirable and marketable skills. I always love hearing the people that say I have two degrees and complain that they can't get a job In their field or make any money. Most of the time when you ask what the degrees are in they will say art and philosophy. What are yours?

                            Psychology and Health Care Management

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Ty Warren foregoes 250K to go back to school

                              Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                              You presented the statement like the statistic of making $1mil more over a life time with a college degree compared to a HS diploma wasn't ever going to happen again.

                              My point is that just because it is crap in THIS economy, doesn't mean it will be crap in 5years.

                              No you just assumed that all I said "I can honestly say in this economy that's crap"

                              It really doesn't matter how much education you have they want to find someone with the most experience at the cheapest price. And that's fair game on their part but when you have the education to do the job but nobody gives you a chance at gaining that experience even on an entry level then sometimes you wonder what was the point. Especially where a lot of places can't afford to train etc.

                              That being said in Warren's case he's fortunate that he's earned a lot of $$$ playing in the NFL and I'm sure has invested wisely that he has the luxury to get this backup plan. He could get hired anywhere because of his name.

                              Comment

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