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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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So who is the biggest loser?

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  • #31
    Re: So who is the biggest loser?

    Originally posted by Dece View Post
    I think the Cavs will win more games than us next season.
    I think the Cavs will lose more games. And in truth, it's in their best interests to do just that.

    Heck, if they found a way to lose more games in Lebron's first couple years in the league, they would've probably been able to get better help around him (along with not foolishly losing Boozer for nothing).

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: So who is the biggest loser?

      Biggest loser in all this? I'd have to say the small market teams of the NBA. That was a kick in the teeth, not only to Cleveland, but to the small market teams in general.

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: So who is the biggest loser?

        Cleveland, no doubt. Followed by the Nets and like Quickrelease notes above the small market teams in the NBA.The way Lebron did this was really shameless.
        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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        • #34
          Re: So who is the biggest loser?

          For me personally, the Celtics, Lakers, and Pistons come out way big winners. I now have a team I will dislike more than them.

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: So who is the loser?

            Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
            at least the Nets have a complete team, New York I think was the biggest loser seconded by Chicago and of course Cleveland


            edit: I would actually move Cleveland to the number one place
            Why is Chicago a "loser?" They have a great, young, team that was already making waves in the playoffs. Obviously they make a huge leap if they would have added one of the big 3, but they make a pretty solid improvement by adding Boozer. They also retain quite a bit of cap flexibility for the future. Easily a top 4 team in the East.


            Personally, I don't see Miami remaining in such good shape in the future. They might get back to back titles, which is hell of an accomplishment, but IMHO it will crumble apart. They won't be holding hands, singing together for long.

            Chicago will be in good position, when that time comes to step right in and be the big dog on the block.


            Orlando hasn't figured out a game plan, they just seem to be arranging chairs just for the sake of saying they're doing something. And Boston is just getting old, and obviously, putting their eggs back in the Big 3 w/ Rondo basket.
            Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: So who is the biggest loser?

              Here's a thought... would the Cav's consider trying to aquire Gilbert Arenas now for peanuts since I'm sure he is readily available for short contracts? He's no Lebron for sure, but he could fill that #1 scorer void and they could probably be a pretty decent team with the complimentary pieces they already have in place.

              If they want to win now, thats the only forseeable option I see. It would at least make them a mid/low-level playoff team I think, certainly no contender.
              "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

              - ilive4sports

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              • #37
                Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                Oh, another Winner - Tiger Woods, guess whose not sports public enemy #1 anymore

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                  1a.) Cleveland need to clean house, tank, like they did for Lebron and start from scratch; they won't do it, so I guess this is #1. You can't lose a 2 time Mvp and not be #1 on this list.

                  1b.) New York, they have given up FUTURE AND PAST #1s to position for Lebron and got Stoudamire, traded David Lee who well is probably as good as Stoudamire w/o Steve Nash. I'd guess by Feb 2011, Amare will ask to be traded. NY will want to. No one will take his salary.


                  2.) NJ, LA, CHI

                  None of these 3 really,

                  NJ still has a nice big man in Lopez, Favors has a bright future down the line, Devin Harris is still good PG, I really like TWILL and Damion James. I mean I thought this was the 2nd best place for Lebron as far as fit.

                  LA has Blake Griffin and a stud starting 5, imo. They should make the playoffs by accident. Well except for the curse of injuries and mismanagement, historically.

                  Chicago with a 3rd year D Rose, Noah - one of the best defensive/rebounding bigs, and now Boozer with Deng on the wing. I mean aren't they 4th best in the East now?

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                    In my opinion, nobody is a bigger loser than LeBron himself.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                      Originally posted by KingGeorge24 View Post
                      The Cavs.

                      But they won't be as bad as everyone thinks.

                      Mo Williams
                      Anthony Parker
                      Antawn Jamison
                      JJ Hickson
                      Anderson Varajeo

                      That really isn't that bad of a roster.
                      I agree but as all us Pacer fans know being a .500 team is worse than being totally horrible in the long run. I think if Cleveland is smart they just clean house and start anew... right now.

                      Big losers ... New York and Cleveland

                      Big winners... Miami and Chicago... Watch out for the Bulls....

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: So who is the loser?

                        Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                        Why is Chicago a "loser?" They have a great, young, team that was already making waves in the playoffs. Obviously they make a huge leap if they would have added one of the big 3, but they make a pretty solid improvement by adding Boozer. They also retain quite a bit of cap flexibility for the future. Easily a top 4 team in the East.
                        I see Chicago as losers because they got rid of Hinrich+ draft pick for nothing even when they already had cap space to get Boozer, also counting all the moves they made last year moving some good players for expirings.


                        Another team we are forgeting about and should be in second place is Toronto, Bosh left them and they did not get anything in return either.
                        @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                          Originally posted by pwee31 View Post
                          Lebron's wife, fiance, or girlfriend. She doesn't stand a chance now that he's moving to Miami.
                          There won't be room for her in the bed during Wade/Bron/Bosh cuddle time.

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                            Originally posted by maragin View Post
                            There won't be room for her in the bed during Wade/Bron/Bosh cuddle time.
                            ZING!

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                              I honestly don't have a problem with LeBron wanting to team up with Wade and Bosh in Miami. It's just the way he went about it. He's such a celebrity now that he's lost all touch with reality and the way things are. If he actually used that brain of his, he'd have realized that Cleveland is a city on it's way to becoming like Detroit. To make a spectacle of his announcement to ditch the Cavs to play with friends is a total joke and a mockery of the NBA.

                              ESPN has seriously lost it's way too, and just plain sold out. It's all about big market teams that get the biggest ratings and that's it. I honestly can't stand ESPN any longer.

                              I feel terrible for the city of Cleveland and its fans as they are the biggest losers in more ways than just losing LeBron. It's right up there with the Pacer's brawl. Both the Pacers at that time were in contention for a championship as were the Cavs and now it's only a bitter memory.

                              It's good to want to play with friends, but sometimes you just have to do what's right. The right thing would have been to work your *** off to bring a championship to Cleveland, Ohio and your hometown. However, if you are going to leave the Cavs, I think it would have been smarter to meet with the owner of the Cavs and have a local press conference expressing thanks for the city and fans. I think something more intimate and candid would have lessened the sting.

                              Instead, LeBron is now just a joke.
                              First time in a long time, I've been happy with the team that was constructed, and now they struggle. I blame the coach.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: So who is the biggest loser?

                                Well, I don't know if this fits anymore, after the trades, but I thought it was funny. (From the Simmons article)

                                City: Cleveland
                                Name: Jeff
                                I've figured out the moral of the story: Stay in school.

                                Wade: 3 years at Marquette
                                Bosh: 1 year at Georgia Tech
                                The kid from Akron: no college

                                The most educated guy convinced his dumber friends to come play on his team for less money.

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