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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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Saw this on AOL/USAToday.com re:Greg Oden

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  • Saw this on AOL/USAToday.com re:Greg Oden

    Teen anointed next big man

    By Malcolm Moran, USA Today

    TEANECK, N.J. -- Just outside the rectangular lines of the basketball court, adults bearing colorful logos, cellular telephones and conflicting agendas surrounded Greg Oden, the 7-foot, 245-pound 16-year-old already proclaimed The Next Great Big Man.

    Not long after Oden's sophomore season at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, during the period that led to an unprecedented selection of eight high school players in the first 19 slots of the NBA draft, the speculation, private and persistent, was that Oden would have been Commissioner David Stern's first handshake had he been eligible.

    Even as the name of the prospective psychology major is placed atop the mock draft lists, circa 2006, Oden sends a 20th-century message no one seems to hear:

    "I know what I want to do," Oden said quietly. "I want to go to college."

    The words were recorded and scribbled into notepads by those observing him here this month at the annual ABCD camp for high school players. But do they register? Oden averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds and made 71% of his shots for a Lawrence North team that won Indiana's Class 4A championship.

    The emerging issue of the 2006 NBA draft is whether Oden remains willing to postpone his fortune.


    By the Numbers



    16
    Age

    7'0"
    Height

    245 lbs.
    Weight

    14
    Average points per game*

    10
    Average rebounds per game*

    2006
    His graduating class


    *2003-04 season


    Photo: WireImage.com | Source: USA Today



    The night of the draft last month, as Oden watched the high-priced parade of his peers, this is what he was thinking: "I wanted Jameer Nelson to go higher. I just like him. He's a real good player."

    That would be the national college player of the year and former point guard at Saint Joseph's. Nelson, a four-year product who took his name out of the 2003 draft to return for an inspiring, undefeated regular season, was rewarded with the No. 20 position, seven costly slots behind high school point guard Sebastian Telfair, whose considerable gifts do not yet include a reliable jump shot.

    The more Oden the person was on display, the more his support for Nelson made sense.

    As dramatic and imposing as Oden's shot-blocking ability can be, the subtleties to his game include the way he recognizes a teammate's pass after a basket.

    As Oden hurries back to the defensive end, he bends his right elbow, holds his right hand near his chest and points to his teammate, a gesture far more personal than theatrical.

    His name has already been placed on the short list alongside Indiana's reverence-requiring products Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird. When asked to evaluate his play at the camp, Oden said, "We won. It's a team sport so you've got to keep it that way."

    Mike Conley, the Olympic gold medal-winning triple jumper, coaches Oden's AAU basketball team. His son, Mike, is an AAU and high school teammate.

    "In Greg's eyes, he has a whole lot to improve on," the elder Conley said. "It's not like he is the end-all. He's not into the hype, the showboating that other kids are into."

    Against the norm

    At one end of the Rothman Center at Fairleigh Dickinson University, banners honored past most valuable ABCD campers whose stories capture an industry's risks and rewards.

    Kobe Bryant made passing on young talent another headache for NBA executives. Leon Smith, whose brief NBA career followed a painfully difficult adolescence, attempted suicide. LeBron James rescued a franchise and became a conglomerate. Lenny Cooke, a gifted young player who declared for the draft much too soon, is far closer to obscurity than the spotlight.

    Nearby, a sign held a reminder:

    "Attention NCAA college coaches: This is an evaluation period. No contact with players allowed."

    Throughout the gym, coaches wearing college logos could not discuss recruits and scouts wearing NBA logos could not talk about underclassmen.


    What's Being Said


    "I know what I want to do. I want to go to college."
    -- Greg Oden

    "I'm sure (entering the draft) is not something he and his family are going to rule out today."
    -- Oden's AAU coach

    "It would be wonderful if he went to college even for one year. It would sort of be thumbing his nose at this whole trend of kids wanting instant gratification... "
    -- Tom Konchalski, recruiting analyst

    Sources: USA Today, Washington Post


    Matt Doherty, the former Notre Dame and North Carolina coach and now a television commentator, was a coach at the camp and a rare credible, unmuted voice. Doherty coached against Oden's team in the first game the prospect played at the camp and later listed his observations.

    "His maturity," Doherty said. "His disposition. Very even-tempered on the floor. He never got frustrated. He maintained his composure. And in the second half, he broke out."

    Doherty pauses. "And the other thing is, he held the door for me. Twice."

    A current college coach, who is prohibited by NCAA rules from talking for attribution about prospects, said of Oden, "He's the most humble player I've ever met. Good player, bad, anyone."

    In the rapidly evolving get-rich-quick culture of the early-entry era, Oden has quietly revealed a personal approach with as much throwback appeal as the expensive old-time jerseys worn by fans in the stands.

    "I really have no offensive skills," Oden said during a week in which he made 26 of 30 shots, averaging 8.9 points.

    Under rules that required each camper play at least two quarters a game, Oden averaged 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots.

    Conley remembers an episode when Oden was in seventh grade.

    "He wasn't playing as well as I'd have liked," Conley said. "I told him I was going to not start him in a game. That very next game, he just emerged.

    "It was at that point I saw the light switch come on. He began to grab more offensive rebounds. He blocked shots 2 feet above the rim."

    Intense interest

    All around, as players considered their potential draft status, Oden repeated his college intentions.


    The Real Shaq



    AP


    Shaquille O'Neal made a big splash in Miami, promising to deliver a championship to the Heat. Story
    Listen: 'I'm Going to Play Hard'





    Doherty remembers hearing a similar message when he recruited Dwight Howard, this year's No. 1 choice in the NBA draft, for North Carolina.

    "His dad told me, 'He's going to go to college,'" Doherty said. "And I said to myself, 'You don't know it yet, but he's going to the NBA.'"

    The overall assessment of Oden is undisputed. The issue is whether a college recruiter's effort will just become a waste.

    "He wants to experience that," Conley said of college.

    "At the same time, if he's at a level where he can make a difference in the league and it's in his best interest to look at that, I'm sure (entering the draft) is not something he and his family are going to rule out today."

    A minor injury to his right ankle, suffered when Oden attempted to block a shot, kept him out of an all-star game during camp and produced a reminder of how quickly everything can change.

    When Oden's game was switched to a different court moments before tip-off on a Saturday night of the ABCD camp, Indiana University coach Mike Davis moved from a conspicuous seat behind a basket to an equally conspicuous seat near the new court. He cannot discuss Oden, but the conspicuous attentiveness and his strategic body language did enough talking.

    Less than a month after Hoosiers recruit Josh Smith became a first-round NBA pick, Davis has attended each of Oden's games. With Oden living in the Hoosier state, it would not be a surprise if that routine extends through the next two years.

    Revisions in the NBA collective bargaining agreement next year could complicate Oden's eventual decision.

    A baseball-style mandatory two- or three-year stay for players who enroll in college could push Oden toward the pros. A 20-year-old age limit in the NBA could force him toward college after all.

    Does Oden know how he plans to obtain and sort through the essential information to make a decision?

    "I have no idea," he said.

    "He might be just the type of kid that bucks the trend," Doherty said.

    Would he? Could he?

    A few feet from a court, Doherty was talking about Oden's refusal to let an older person hold the door when the center walked by. Doherty pointed to his head. "Is it because of the gray hair?" he said, and Oden smiled.

    The former college coach had a message for the future star. "Don't let this game change you," Doherty told Oden. "You change the game."


    07-21-04 13:45 EDT

  • #2
    Re: Saw this on AOL/USAToday.com re:Greg Oden

    I'd love for Greg to take the college route, no matter where he goes.

    If he made the jump, I'd hope that the Clippers would not get him.

    Here's a guy that people are going to go to games just to see him play. I know I will. Good luck Greg!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Saw this on AOL/USAToday.com re:Greg Oden

      Oden rocks. Go to college.
      Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Saw this on AOL/USAToday.com re:Greg Oden

        The more he talks about going to college, even though it probably won't happen, the more I dream about the possibilty of him going to IU
        [edit=46=1090947162][/edit]

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Saw this on AOL/USAToday.com re:Greg Oden

          College or #1 pick in the draft? Ummmm I agree with Tony Hinkle...

          Anyone who'd enourage him to go to college is not thinking with their head.

          I H A T E HS players turning pro upon graduation BUT I see the reality of the situation and the GM's don't have the cajones to let them slide thru the draft. If you are all but guaranteed a top spot in the draft then you have to do it. There's too much to lose otherwise.

          -Bball
          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

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