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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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World Cup 2010

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  • #16
    Re: World Cup 2010

    I'm looking forward to the World Cup Soccer in South Africa.

    My favorites to win it all are: Spain, Brasil, Germany and Argentina.
    The group of countries that could go far or knock some of the above named off are IMHO: Italy, Portugal, South Africa (home court advantage always plays a role), France, England and The Netherlands.

    With regards to my own country:
    the biggest dangers we face are as always an average defence, being in the tough part of the draw (Italy, Spain, Brasil.... ) and some players starting to talk too much in the press. Van Persie has a bit of rep with regards to this last thing and the last named danger is the biggest IMHO.

    I think especially offensively there are few countries which have the wealth of offensive oriented midfielders and attackers that we pretty much always bring to bear. Tactically The Netherlands has been a very sound team with a lot of good passing and usually an attractive type of soccer to watch.

    With regards to this coming World Cup... I don't see us winning it or even getting to the final, I do think we are capable of beating ANYONE under the right circumstances. This time I think we should be able to win our group. And we better do, because in the second round we face the number 2 of the group Italy is in, unless we end up number 2 in our group. In that scenario Italy is our likely opponent, not something you want (even though we thoroughly killed them in the first EC match).

    IF we survive that round NORMALLY (but, when does that ever happen) we should face Brasil... ugh... personally, I think that's when we go out. OTOH anything could happen. Two years ago we beat both WC-finalists Italy and France and then Romania to advance to the knockout stages where we faced pretty much a horror opponent... Guus Hiddink and Russia.

    Now if someone knows how Dutch soccer works it's Hiddink. The best Dutch coach around IMHO though van Marwijk seems to pretty damn good too (currently a record 18-game streak without a loss).

    Anyway, I hope we can win it, but I don't think and expect it too happen. I would LOVE for us to finally beat Brasil sometime again in a WC. That alone, together with going pretty far and beating one or more of my top-4 WC candidates or the group below that would make me a very, very happy Dutchman .
    Last edited by Mourning; 06-03-2010, 01:05 AM. Reason: language corrections
    2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

    2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

    2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

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    • #17
      Re: World Cup 2010

      Originally posted by Rupert Stilinski View Post
      I will take a strong interest in both Portugal and Ivory Coast in the hope that they will keep Brazil out of the knockout phase.
      So much for Ivory Coast's hopes to be the breakout African nation in the continent's big coming out party.

      Drogba's broken arm ends any chances they had to cause any trouble for the heavyweights in their group.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: World Cup 2010

        RIo Ferdinand out for England in the World Cup now.


        Comment


        • #19
          Re: World Cup 2010

          Boy teams are taking some hits. Hopefully we don't have anything like that. We've suffered enough, especially with Davies out, and now Jozy hurt again.
          Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

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          • #20
            Re: World Cup 2010

            I don't follow soccer to closely, but the US has now won thier last 2 games since finalizing their world cup roster. We beat Australia 3-1 today in another friendly game. The world cup is always exciting to watch.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: World Cup 2010

              Originally posted by Mourning View Post
              I'm looking forward to the World Cup Soccer in South Africa.

              My favorites to win it all are: Spain, Brasil, Germany and Argentina.
              The group of countries that could go far or knock some of the above named off are IMHO: Italy, Portugal, South Africa (home court advantage always plays a role), France, England and The Netherlands.

              With regards to my own country:
              the biggest dangers we face are as always an average defence, being in the tough part of the draw (Italy, Spain, Brasil.... ) and some players starting to talk too much in the press. Van Persie has a bit of rep with regards to this last thing and the last named danger is the biggest IMHO.

              I think especially offensively there are few countries which have the wealth of offensive oriented midfielders and attackers that we pretty much always bring to bear. Tactically The Netherlands has been a very sound team with a lot of good passing and usually an attractive type of soccer to watch.

              With regards to this coming World Cup... I don't see us winning it or even getting to the final, I do think we are capable of beating ANYONE under the right circumstances. This time I think we should be able to win our group. And we better do, because in the second round we face the number 2 of the group Italy is in, unless we end up number 2 in our group. In that scenario Italy is our likely opponent, not something you want (even though we thoroughly killed them in the first EC match).

              IF we survive that round NORMALLY (but, when does that ever happen) we should face Brasil... ugh... personally, I think that's when we go out. OTOH anything could happen. Two years ago we beat both WC-finalists Italy and France and then Romania to advance to the knockout stages where we faced pretty much a horror opponent... Guus Hiddink and Russia.

              Now if someone knows how Dutch soccer works it's Hiddink. The best Dutch coach around IMHO though van Marwijk seems to pretty damn good too (currently a record 18-game streak without a loss).

              Anyway, I hope we can win it, but I don't think and expect it too happen. I would LOVE for us to finally beat Brasil sometime again in a WC. That alone, together with going pretty far and beating one or more of my top-4 WC candidates or the group below that would make me a very, very happy Dutchman .
              I'm Korean, but as they won't be doing anything notable in their group (Argentina, Nigeria, Greece) I'm rooting for the Dutch, god knows this is going to be their year finally. I think RvP will do something magical (but I'm biased as an Arsenal fan) but I've got questions about the defense... but I think Brazil is a pretty favourable matchup for the Netherlands this time around - their squad is the weakest I've seen in some time and quite a few of the players (Kaka etc) haven't been in top form. I hear Robben got injured, how long will he be out for?

              Spain can go to hell. As much as I love Cesc I can't support a team that is full of those douchebags from Barcelona (except David Villa who only joined just recently, though I give him half a season before he starts talking about how Cesc should be at Barcelona blah blah blah). Same goes for England.

              Maradona will find some way to mess the whole thing up for Messi.

              I think either the Germans or the Dutch will win the whole thing. Just a hunch.

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              • #22
                Re: World Cup 2010

                I'm scared to death about Gooch. He hasn't played 90 minutes since his injury in October. If he starts against England he's going to be a serious question mark.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: World Cup 2010

                  Well I might suddenly become the most unpopular person in the thread, as i'm English through and through!

                  Personally, i think the favourites have got to be Spain, then Brazil, followed by Netherlands, Portugal and England as the most likely to disrupt that final.

                  Both England and USA are incredibly lucky with the group we have drawn. I personally don't think USA are likely to make it past last 16 as I think we will win on Saturday, USA then would come second in the group )assuming no upsets) and i think would lose against Germany in the last 16.

                  Having said that, I think the USA team is vastly improved over the last few years, just not to a level that can compete with the top 8 or 9 teams in the world.

                  As for my England boys, I think we have all the potential make a legit challenge for the trophy, but we often have all the promise in the world and fail, so i don't want to put my foot in it. We've got talent, but so have other teams!

                  I personally put Rooney right up there with Ronaldo and Messi as one of the top few players in the world, and i dont think he will disappoint. I think with Gerrand and Lampard in central midfield we are always likely to create chances, and even with a relatively weaker second striker (whether it is Crouch, Defoe or Heskey) I still think we will score goals.

                  Our defence worries me more. Losing Rio was a disappointment. Ledley King is one of the most gifted players, but fitness and injury problems, as well as simply not playing as much football as we would have liked him too over the last few year (particularly as he has hardly played along side Terry) is a concern i think. Cole is, although followed by controvasy off the pitch, one of the best left backs in the world on the pitch, but recent injury is not ideal, and Glenn Johnson, while a threat going forward, doesn't fill me with confidence at the back, as he showed by conceding a clumsy penalty in out final friendly today. All in all, our back four, i believe will be what decides how well we do this world cup. If it gells and plays tigtly together, we could punnish our critics, but if we leak goals then we may well struggle!

                  One big loss, i believe, for the game agains the USA is Gareth Barry, who, for the last few years has provided very valuable cover infront of the defence, allowing freedom for Gerrard and/or Lampard. His injury i believe is a real loss for England, i really hope he regains fitness for the later rounds if we get there!

                  More importantly, i am thoroughly looking forward to the world cup, the game against the USA should be fun the watch, and hopefully, the Final will be as well with the 3 lions bringing football home!
                  'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.'
                  Animal Farm, by George Orwell

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: World Cup 2010

                    Over there, over there,
                    Send the word, send the word, over there,
                    For the Yanks are comin', the Yanks are comin',
                    and we won't be runnin' anymore!

                    I am getting so hyped for this!


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                    • #25
                      Re: World Cup 2010

                      Originally posted by Rupert Stilinski View Post
                      I'm scared to death about Gooch. He hasn't played 90 minutes since his injury in October. If he starts against England he's going to be a serious question mark.
                      Our entire defense is a question mark. They haven't played that great at all. It looked a little better against the Aussies, but it isn't where it needs to be for us to beat England.

                      I really liked Buddle in the last friendly. I thought Findley was able to stretch the team, but his finishing was turrrible. Assuming Altidore is healthy, I think it best to start him with Buddle, and then bring in Gomez as a sub. If we can't stretch the field, then maybe Findley as well. Torres needs to play heavy minutes IMO, too, because I think he and Bradley go well together. Hopefully a lineup like that will let Donovan and Dempsey do what they need to do.
                      Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: World Cup 2010

                        Originally posted by Rupert Stilinski View Post
                        I'm scared to death about Gooch. He hasn't played 90 minutes since his injury in October. If he starts against England he's going to be a serious question mark.
                        I cannot imagine they will have Gooch play significant minutes against the English. I could see them using him as a sub or maybe start him, but sub him at half time. I just do not see how you can play the guy significant minutes when he has not played a full game since he was injured in October.

                        I think he would be more of a liability back there.

                        I think Landon's play is the key for the US making it out of our group. If he plays like he did at the last World Cup you can kiss our chance goodbye. If he plays to the form he has been then we should make it out with England.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: World Cup 2010

                          so as we're inching closer to the begining of World Cup..let me ask fellow enthusiasts...what do you like about the World Cup?

                          I'm a big fan of the sexy fans that the game of football brings out in these tournaments

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                          • #28
                            Re: World Cup 2010

                            I love the passion that ensures from fans. Some in England go to unbelievable lengths to show their support. That kind of things bring people in communities together in a way that doesn't happen all that often. For example, the british government agreeing to fly the flag of St. George above the houses of parliment for the duration of the world cup that England are in.

                            Certainly in Enlgand, Football brings out a passion and euphoria that is seldom seen in other aspects of life, and in a way that is quite incredible considering it is simply a sport.

                            It becomes acceptable to get carried away, and unite over something, that is the grand scheme of things, is actually relatively unimportant!








                            I agree the girls arn't bad either

                            Last edited by The Hustler; 06-10-2010, 05:49 PM.
                            'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.'
                            Animal Farm, by George Orwell

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: World Cup 2010

                              I like watching the US progress as a soccer nation and attempt to get better through each world cup. I hope that one day we'll get to a point where we are one of the world's best and can win a World cup. I think that's definitely possible if we continue to progress.
                              Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: World Cup 2010

                                It's only a matter of time IMO Suave...

                                Those two english girls are ****ing on fire! Wow...

                                And finally, ESPN just said USA coaching staff and Gooch think he is good to go, and he will start and apparently likely play 90 minutes against England.


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