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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.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

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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Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

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  • #16
    Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

    Jim O'Brien in a dunk tank.

    In fact if you charged $1.00 for each ball thrown you could probably erase the Pacers loss margin in a single day.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

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    • #17
      Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

      Have a raffle for a pair of season tickets.


      EDIT: Scratch that, I agree with Peck. Jim O'Brien in a dunk tank. $1.00 a ball. Think of the profits.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

        In all seriousness though the problem with fan jam is who are you really trying to reach out there. Are you trying to get the family atmosphere, which they have for several years now, which will hold zero interest for someone like Uncle Buck or me.

        Or are you trying to reach the die hard Pacers basketball fan, which would hold zero interest for young kids and most likely drive away the family atmosphere.

        Merging the two sounds good, but it's harder than it sounds.

        But if you did want to try and reach both here is a suggestion.

        Gold vs Blue without this you will draw zero interest from anyone who wants to go see the players.

        Dunk contest is a great idea and this might be good enough to be one of those both worlds merging events. I know I would like to see this.

        3 point contest, while I puke at the thought of three point shots anymore this still might have some entertainment value.

        BTW, notice a trend with the above? All of them have to do with the actual game of basketball being played.

        Either way though I am sure you won't have an event like when the Pacers let the public in for one of Larry Browns practices.

        Even I learned new curse words that day.


        Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

          Originally posted by Peck View Post
          Jim O'Brien in a dunk tank.

          In fact if you charged $1.00 for each ball thrown you could probably erase the Pacers loss margin in a single day.
          I don't think I would be able to take part in that competition. When I'd go to throw the ball, I might "forget" what I'm supposed to be aiming at.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

            Originally posted by Peck View Post
            Jim O'Brien in a dunk tank.

            In fact if you charged $1.00 for each ball thrown you could probably erase the Pacers loss margin in a single day.
            I might just have to fly in to Indianapolis for that event!

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

              Originally posted by Peck View Post
              Jim O'Brien in a dunk tank.

              In fact if you charged $1.00 for each ball thrown you could probably erase the Pacers loss margin in a single day.

              hell yeah! great idea! I wasn't planning on going but I certainly would drive down to Indy for that.

              I'd like to see a scrimmage too, maybe a Fever vs Pacers scrimmage, except the Fever would probably win the game... that would be awkward...

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                Originally posted by HeartlandFan View Post
                I like the idea of bringing in old players, as well. Have a 3 point contest, with the winner facing Bird or Reggie in the Finals. I would definitely be interested in seeing that.

                Take this idea a step further. Although i hate the all star game, i like the events surrounding it. Of course a dunk contest would be awesome, and the 3 point contest would be awesome. But to bring one old player, one fever player and a current player.

                Who wouldnt want to see a game of Danny, Catchings, and Derrick mckey take on DunDun, Reggie and Katie Douglas. Of course that would be wishful thinking getting Reggie back in the house he built. The building would be full just to see him alone. I think you might get Rik to do this.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                  Originally posted by PR07 View Post
                  Appreciate the input guys, keep them coming. When I was first told of this task, my first question was, "Have they ever done a navy vs. gold game?" My supervisor said yes, and made it sound like they were really looking for something outside the box.

                  I thought that maybe the Pacers could have one lucky fan (kind of like Wonka's Golden Ticket), be the Pacers '15th man' for a day and get to hang out with the team almost like he or she was one of the players {to an extent of course}.

                  I also thought of maybe having a players' slam dunk contest. It would be kind of cool to see Dahntay Jones vs. McRoberts throwing down.
                  That is my problem... The more they get "outside the box" the more they seem to get away from Basketball and the concept of meeting the "basketball team"!

                  I wrote this at the end of March concerning fan jam and something else that can be done.
                  Originally posted by Roaming Gnome
                  Between thinking about the Colts training camp and the open invitation to Lucas Oil Stadium to see the Final 4 teams practice on Friday just kind of gave me an idea. I would like the Pacers to have one of their 2 hour practice sessions towards the beginning of training camp open to the public.

                  I know that the Pacers have the "Fan Jam" but, I'd like to see something that would be geared towards the more mature fans that would like to hear and see the coach run some drills and maybe have a light scrimmage in front of fans that are interested. Maybe even go as far as having coaches and team captains mic'd up. This wouldn't be a P.R. production about getting the fans hyped up and kids screaming or shooting T-shirts, but just practice that was open to the public. I see it as a good way to actually get to watch the training camp invites work hard for a roster spot and the vets go through things that we just don't see everyday, but the stuff that makes them better. I also see it as a way to show what the coaching staff does to prep the players for the season.

                  If done correctly, I think this would be better for fans like myself that have grown just weary of Fan Jam because its just about PR and not about basketball. You could brand it off as, "Pacers: Real Training Camp" like the show featured on NBA TV. I'd still keep Fan Jam as a way to introduce the team and have that party atmosphere but the Real Training Camp would be what you'd attend to see the scrimmage and drills and maybe see something that isn't all about hype.
                  ...Still "flying casual"
                  @roaminggnome74

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                  • #24
                    Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                    Originally posted by Sookie View Post
                    Be careful with the "fun games" too..

                    We just had an injury in a non NBA game. And I've personally seen injuries (Female basketball player pretty much out for the entire season during Midnight Madness) happen because of stupid little games. No one wants that to happen, so limit it. (Which is I'm sure part of the reason the scrimmage was removed)
                    Maybe they should just eliminate actual practices too. I understand what you're saying, but it's not like these guys are made of glass and can break at any moment. Do freak accidents happen like AJ going down? Of course. But that's also why they're called "freak accidents."

                    Practices during training camp and even during the season are going to be waaaaay more potentionally harmful then having a scrimmage at fan jam. Which is my idea. Have an actual hr and a half practice, then have fan meet and great for the next hour or so. We went down to the Final Four practices this year, and I thought watching Duke's compared to the rest of the teams showed a lot. Really impressive, IMHO.
                    Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                      A trampoline dunk contest between the power pack. A three on three tourney 1 Pacer 1 fever and 1 legend


                      @Pacers24Colts12

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                      • #26
                        Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                        Scrimmage!

                        I would push hard for a separate "family friendly" event and a scrimmage open another time. Rick's first year they had a scrimmage open to season ticket holders, and it's easily one of my favorite Pacer memories. When they opened the gates and everyone else went for their free food, I immediately went and got a front row seat at center left. Took me all of 5 minutes to fall head over heels in love with Mike Brown.
                        Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

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                        • #27
                          Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                          Originally posted by TheDanimal View Post
                          A trampoline dunk contest between the power pack. A three on three tourney 1 Pacer 1 fever and 1 legend
                          This is a good idea, but it'll be hard to find a legend who hasn't been fired the last two years.
                          Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

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                          • #28
                            Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                            How about a outdoor scrimmage.

                            Also I think if you get free season tickets you should have to earn them. Maybe a eating contest between pacer players and a fans. Peck against Hibbert gets my vote.

                            Edit: Just had an idea. How about taking a couple of college players from IU and Purdure for the scrimmage as well. One team has a couple of IU players and the other has Purdue players. If the NCAA doesn't like that do it with Indiana high school players that are pretty good.
                            Last edited by Gamble1; 05-27-2010, 12:43 PM.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                              Bring back the scrimmage. I've had zero interest since then.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                                Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post
                                How about a outdoor scrimmage.

                                Also I think if you get free season tickets you should have to earn them. Maybe a eating contest between pacer players and a fans. Peck against Hibbert gets my vote.

                                Edit: Just had an idea. How about taking a couple of college players from IU and Purdure for the scrimmage as well. One team has a couple of IU players and the other has Purdue players. If the NCAA doesn't like that do it with Indiana high school players that are pretty good.
                                And just forget about all the other Indiana colleges? That will go over well.......
                                Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

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