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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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  • Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

    Currently, I'm an intern for the Indiana Pacers. I've been asked to explore ways to improve or generate excitement for this year's Pacers' Fan Jam that is held annually in October as a way for the fans to come in and just have a good time and get to know some of the players. I've never been to the event myself, but if anyone has any suggestions or things that they would like to see done or done differently this year, I'd really like to hear your suggestions. Attendance has kind of dwindled over the years, so they are looking for ways to generate some more interest. Thanks.

    -PR07

  • #2
    Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

    My interest dropped like a rock when they stopped having a scrimmage. The excitement for me was to see the latest Pacer roster in action, five on five, to get a feel for the new guys and any possible changes in the returning players.

    The rest is just fluff to me.

    I will say trying to have interviews at mid-court, IMO, didn't work and just killed the energy. Having Mark Boyle interview Oscar Robertson? Great idea.

    Having him do so at the Fan Jam? Bad idea. It's just not the right time/place IMO.

    Having the team/fans interact on the court with games was kind of fun to watch (not so much the Simon Says, but rather when it was something where one Pacer and one fan teamed up to try to hit shots/layups/3's or whatever; something basketball related).

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

      I agree with Hicks on the scrimmage.

      I do believe they should get rid of the Simon Says guy. He's been there the past two years at least and he is not that entertaining.

      Fans and the players playing knockout is actually pretty entertaining.

      Have the players watch and/or maybe coach a local celebrity scrimmage. Score keep, coach, spectate, etc.

      I think the best advice I can give you is have the players and the fans blend in together. Make the fans believe that these guys are not just over-paid babies.

      After all, I think what you should do is look at some of the other teams that hold an open house before the season starts and look at what they do. Don't necessarily steal their ideas, but see if you can improve on their ideas.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam
        • Bring back the scrimmage. As Hicks says, that's the best thing of all.
        • Minimized the fans' time on the court. I want to see the players.
        • Stop the singing, unless a player really can sing well and wants to do a good job of it.
        • If you want to have giveaways, let a player shoot a difficult shot in order to win a prize for a fan.
        • Let the coach introduce each player, and tell what his role is going to be.
        • Let each player make a prediction about his season's accomplishment ("I'll average 8 rebounds per game." "I'll guard Derrick Rose and hold him to single digits at least once this season." "I'll score 40 points at least once this year." Stuff like that.
        • Keep the photos and autographs for after the event. I hate that but some people like it.
        And I won't be here to see the day
        It all dries up and blows away
        I'd hang around just to see
        But they never had much use for me
        In Levelland. (James McMurtry)

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

          What would make me come: former Pacers players.

          I'd be more likely to come if former Pacers players (such as Reggie, Rik, Mark Jackson, Mullin, Perkins, McKey -- anyone pre-2006, basically) were there doing something -- telling stories, signing autographs, etc. What would definitely get me to come is former Pacers players playing a pickup game -- either against themselves or versus current Pacers (or a combo of the two) or, even better, against old Knicks rivals from the 1990s. I don't know. I'm nostalgic, and stuff like that would interest me.

          Heck, get Larry Bird on the court to shoot HORSE or do a 3-point contest.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

            Incorporate a showing of "Winning Time", or at least part of it, into the festivities.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

              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.
              Last edited by PR07; 05-26-2010, 06:33 PM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                less fans activities on the court, more player activities on the court. i'm sorry, but i'm only there to see and meet the players, not bet on which little kid will win 'simon says'

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                  Originally posted by MSA2CF View Post
                  What would make me come: former Pacers players.

                  I'd be more likely to come if former Pacers players (such as Reggie, Rik, Mark Jackson, Mullin, Perkins, McKey -- anyone pre-2006, basically) were there doing something -- telling stories, signing autographs, etc. What would definitely get me to come is former Pacers players playing a pickup game -- either against themselves or versus current Pacers (or a combo of the two) or, even better, against old Knicks rivals from the 1990s. I don't know. I'm nostalgic, and stuff like that would interest me.

                  Heck, get Larry Bird on the court to shoot HORSE or do a 3-point contest.
                  Old School/New School! I'd love to see the Pacers legends against the current squad!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                    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)

                    Three point contest, maybe (Obrien would love that)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                      Here's my suggestions:

                      1) Bring back a few more former Pacers players and maybe have a few more WNBA players there (like maybe 3-4 Fever players)

                      2) Make the autograph session longer. I would like it to be changed to at least an hour and a half or if possible and at the latest, 2 hours long. The point is for everybody to meet each player on the team, but it just isn't possible for most people to be able to get around to each player's table with the long lines and all the walking from place to place.

                      3) This goes with suggestion #2...maybe have the team line up altogether in the practice gym at a big long line of tables during the autograph sessions...I believe that it would be a lot easier that way, both for the fans and the players. Or if not on the practice court, maybe on the concourse of the balcony level or something like that. I think it would just be a whole lot easier if all the players would be altogether at the autograph session, and just have 1 huge line for everybody to stand in to get the players' autographs. Just an idea though, and I don't know how many other people would be in favor of this other than me, but I think it would work.

                      4) Maybe let the rookies on the team know ahead of time they'll be doing a rookie orientation activity during the Fan Jam for the fans, and give them some time to figure out what song they want to perform and such. Last year's Fan Jam was just pretty sad, especially with Hansbrough lmao.

                      I'll add anything else later on if I can think of anything. Thanks for letting the fans have some input!!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        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.
                        YES!!!!! I'd really like a dunk contest. McBob vs. Dahntay would be awesome!!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                          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.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                            Bring the scrimmage back DEFINITELY. I like the idea of the golden ticket, maybe a pair of season tickets to the winner, or something for the STH's like maybe free concessions for the season. Fan Jam should be about the fans getting to meet their favorite players and introducing them to the new players so the autograph session should make it likely to get to meet them. Setting up tables in the practice gym would be a good idea along with around the fieldhouse as usual. Open up the locker rooms for the fans to tour. I used to take my family every year but stopped after the 2008 jam because the excitement was LONG gone mostly due to the scrimmage being cancelled.

                            Indyhoosier

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Suggestions for Pacers' Fan Jam

                              As an outsider who is unfamiliar with Fan Jam, I have no idea what the event has typically entailed and sought to achieve in the past. So I apologize if this idea is either rehashed or horribly misguided based upon Fan Jam's history and/or overall philosophy.

                              With that caveat out of the way, has Fan Jam ever tried to emulate a "real" practice? It seems to me that a large majority of the Indiana fanbase would appreciate an experience that allowed each individual the opportunity to witness an "authentic" NBA practice and/or day at training camp. Personally, I think a shift away from the "gimmicky" stuff might work best. I think fans might enjoy watching and dissecting the coach's drills while hearing him yell at, and praise the players who are out there working. Also, recognizing the fact that this is likely geared towards families, I think a lot of parents would relish the opportunity to have their children watch Danny Granger and Tyler Hansbrough out there working on the fundamentals and perfecting their skills (i.e. the same sorts of practice routines these children are likely exposed to).

                              I'm not saying to scrap all of the "fun" stuff entirely. Surely there can be some time at the end dedicated to those sorts of things. But I think having the opportunity to watch a "legitimate" NBA practice would be seen as the most entertaining (and educational) component of all.
                              Last edited by sweabs; 05-26-2010, 09:29 PM.

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