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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
Re: Ukranian women.
I'm all over it, Joe.
Re: Ukranian women.
I'm all over it, Joe.
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.
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.
See more
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Passion. Pride. Patience. Pacers -
Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
Come on 55ers lets make this happen.
If you are not able to donate at least get the word out via FB and Twitter
http://igg.me/p/93191?a=541294 <--campaign site
http://www.facebook.com/events/33586...f¬if_t=like <-Faceboook page
Comment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
AREA 55 NEWS YOU CAN TAKE TO THE BANK!!!!!
Salutations, 55ers. The Pacers are back in town for a second encounter with Cleveland. The countdown to the playoffs continues. So far, so good. Our Pacers, right now, are ranked 3rd in the East with Boston 2 games behind us. Whom we’d play if we hang on to 3rd is still a toss-up – either Atlanta or Orlando look likely.
The Pacers are supposedly “blessed” with a rather easy schedule the rest of the way. If we run the table and win most of these games, we should garner a home court advantage when the playoffs start. Unfortunately, teams like Milwaukee, Minnesota, Detroit, Philadelphia, --and yes, even lowly Cleveland -- aren’t about to just roll over and die for us. They’re playing, for the most part, without any pressure and would be very happy to knock of a playoff contender. Hence, the remaining games that our boys face are important. Our recent wins against Toronto (another 5-point squeaker) and Cleveland (an overtime) bear witness to my point.
Our Pacers can’t let up. And, 55ers, we can’t either. Be on hand for renewed war tonight, my friends. Be loud.
PTO Tonight! Looks like a prime night for the Pacers Tailgating Organization. Not all of the Pabst Blue Ribbon that Matt Lindsay and Hobert Montgomery brought last time was imbibed. That’s reason enough to come. But there's another attraction! Convicted felon and PTO VP / GM, Casey O’Brien, has promised to conduct an auction of some of his treasured Pacers memorabilia to raise money for the Bring Back Justin Beck Campaign (see below). All merchandise is to be sold “as is” and buyers are advised to ask no questions as to its sourcing. Casey will also be selling, for his own account, autographed copies of his birth certificate and his book “I Am Jim O’Brien’s Love Child.” Be there!
Bring Back Justin! Kyle “Kielbeze” Brumback has inaugurated a move to try to assist Area 55 Rookie of the Year, Justin Beck, in returning from Oz to view the Pacers in the Playoffs. Personally, I’m all for it. For some reason or other, Justin Beck is good luck for the Pacers. When he was around earlier, our boys won some very tough games. I don’t know why he’s such good mojo, but he is. Accordingly, any of you that want to help out with getting him to come back to Indy and do a reprise of his prior visits to BLF, check out the poop at the following websites that Kyle’s set up:
Indiegogo site http://www.indiegogo.com/bringjustinback?c=home
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/events/335865999807253
NOW FOR SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT CLEVELAND!!!
David West Punch Hospitalizes Cleveland’s Mascot! In tonight’s game Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varajao are injured and won’t play. Cleveland fans won’t be seeing their mascot, Moondog, for a while either.
http://tinyurl.com/785bqp8
Moondog needed to be taken to a local hospital after suffering an eye injury during a pre-game play fight with Pacers forward, David West, Wednesday night. While his long-term prognosis is fine, Moondog’s status for the Cav’s Sunday game with Orlando remains unclear. Moondog should’ve thought twice before taking on the X-Man.
“He jumped at me so I thought we were playing around and then the next thing I know he went down,” West told reporters after the game. “It was definitely an accident.”
After West returned one of Moondog’s punches, Moondog was spotted running through the Q, Cleveland’s arena, his dog head removed, clutching a towel to his eye. The mascot occasionally has fun sparring with opposing players before the game or during a timeout. Moondog and West exchanged some playful punches and apparently one caught him hard enough to do damage.
It might be the most memorable Cleveland mascot mishap since the Indians' mascot, Slider, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament when he fell off the outfield wall at Progressive Field during the 1995 American League Championship Series against Seattle.
As for Moondog, his recovery time should be much quicker. Not that it made West feel any better. While some Pacers teammates reportedly chuckled about the incident, West was apologetic.
“I feel terrible about that, I really do,” West said. “We were just having fun right before the game. We were just messing around. I really hope he's OK. Make sure he knows I'm sorry.”
GO PACERS! GO AREA 55!Last edited by IndyHoya; 04-13-2012, 02:22 PM.Comment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
these are getting shorter JoeComment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
My life is getting shorter too.Originally posted by LetsTalkPacers View PostComment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
He didn't even do one for Saturday's game. Joe could be facing impeachment here soon.Originally posted by LetsTalkPacers View PostComment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
Very Kind Words Joe, Appreciate it!Bring Back Justin! Kyle “Kielbeze” Brumback has inaugurated a move to try to assist Area 55 Rookie of the Year, Justin Beck, in returning from Oz to view the Pacers in the Playoffs. Personally, I’m all for it. For some reason or other, Justin Beck is good luck for the Pacers. When he was around earlier, our boys won some very tough games. I don’t know why he’s such good mojo, but he is. Accordingly, any of you that want to help out with getting him to come back to Indy and do a reprise of his prior visits to BLF, check out the poop at the following websites that Kyle’s set up:
AUSTRALIA'S NO.1 PACER FANComment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
My apologies to the AREA55 group expecting my Brazilian group to stop by your PTO. Got a later than anticipated start on our journey to the game and had to make a quick pit stop (hunger attack) at the Arbys first. This was about 6:40 and by the time everyone had finished we were only had time to make the opening intros.
Would like to say thanks to one of your family members (Don?) for taking the time after the game so my group could take a picture with him at the main fieldhouse entrance.You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....Comment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
Is there going to be PTO at the Arby's lot before the Chicago game? My cousin and I are going to that game (he's a Bulls fan UGH but the Pacers are his 2nd team and we went to fanjam together) and he's making the trip to Indy from Kalamazoo and I'm going to take him to tailgate if there will be PTO there. Thanks!Senior at the University of Louisville.
Greenfield ---> The VilleComment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
There will definitely be a PTO we may move to the larger lot across the stree wich would be next to Arby's. We are going to have to end up going there if we want to PTO during that game of in the playoffs.Originally posted by Steagles View PostComment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
So when did they bump the price of your lot from $5 to $10 bucks?Originally posted by kielbeze View PostYou know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....Comment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
They claim they only do it on weekends."Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel
"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "Comment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
AREA 55 NEWS YOU CAN TAKE TO THE BANK!!!!
Greetings, fellow 55ers! Today, I pen this Newsletter with an optimism and zest that is altogether uncharacteristic of me.
True, North Korea is now probably planning another intercontinental rocket launch as this goes to press. Unemployment is still way too high – I can’t buy a coffee at a local convenience store without a panhandler running out of the shadows and asking me for change. The price of gas is still going up and I’m considering walking to BLF for the next home game. The grind of everyday life can be a tad depressing.
But today I have some good news to buoy my spirits. Our home team - Indy’s team - is 3rd in the East. We’re playoff-bound and Vogel-led. We’re healthy, winning, and have a good shot at 1st round home-court advantage. Life looks rosier when I think about the Pacers.
The Pacers’ play of late has been stellar too, making our playoff prospects bright. Roy’s getting double-doubles and blocking everything coming his way. Danny’s game lately has been nothing less than inspired. Big Daddy D has been a pillar of strength underneath and our reserves, Lou, Tyler, and Leandrinho have brought a welcome energy, giving a renewed meaning to the term “smashmouth” basketball.
All seems well.
Friday, our Pacers neatly dispatched the Bucks, owning them on the boards and shutting them down defensively in the waning seconds of the 4th Quarter, when it really mattered. In doing so, the Pacers also possibly ruined whatever slender playoff hopes the Bucks still harbored going into that game. The win took the Pacers to 38-22, a full 16 games over .500. We’re now 20-8 at home and 18-14 on the road. We’ve come a long way from the Jim O’Brien days.
We now have 5 home games left and just 2 more on the road. More to the point, and as mentioned, we’re playing very good basketball. Winning all 7 of our remaining games isn’t totally beyond the realm of possibility. Furthermore, the opposition’s gagging. Orlando’s in turmoil; Philly is swooning; and Boston and New York have been very up and down. I like our momentum. I like our play. The gloom that pervades the morning Star’s front page dissipates a bit when I move to the Sports section.
Thank you, Pacers! Thank you very much for that!
Playoff Tix! Some of you have been asking me about Playoff Tickets. Well, I checked today with Rob Laycock and he tells me we’ll know something “very soon.” Therefore, when I know, you’ll know. Stay patient importunate ones. You’ll get your tix. Last year we had to ante up around $10 or $15 for them but they were, happily, deeply discounted. Save your pennies. You’ll get tix.
New Chants! Your Prez liked the soccer-style “Ole-Ole” cheer which materialized magically against Cleveland whenever Leandrinho drilled a 3. In this vein, consider also, my friends, a sustained GOOOOOOLAZOOOOOOOOOOO-GOLAZO-AZO-AZO. Cheer as well. Our blurry Brazilian buddy might like that too.. It goes like this:
http://tinyurl.com/78gv64z
We need more clever chants for playoff time, fellow reprobates. Put your thinking caps on.
Gear Up for the Playoff Referees! With the playoffs imminent, my fevered brain has turned to one of my favorite topics – NBA refereeing. Google’s your friend, so I googled and discovered this:
Last year, just before the playoffs, John Ball, a Texas-based statistician, and some mathematical friends of his launched a website called Refcalls.com. His idea was to analyze NBA refereeing on the website and ascertain how good it actually was.
They were very busy guys.
Based on his work, Ball claimed that NBA players get away with traveling as many as 50 times a game.
He also found that 80 to 100 calls (or no-calls) per game are either wrong or, at a minimum, at odds with the language in the NBA's own rule book.
Ball concluded that either NBA rules needed to be enforced or changed to improve the integrity of the game.
In reading Ball’s claims, I had this recollection – a lingering, painful recollection – of a decisive Derrick Rose layup in one of our Playoff games last year with the Bulls that I thought was a mammoth walk. I hoped to see it again, slowly, and analyzed by Ball and his buddies. And eureka! I found it. There it was, right there on Ball’s site. The score was 84-84 with 17 seconds to play. And I was right! Rose walked!
Check the analysis of this out at Refcalls.com:
http://tinyurl.com/7s7r2ns
There are a couple more of these Pacers – Bulls playoff replays of decisive instances of bonehead refing that you also might enjoy looking at:
http://tinyurl.com/cb7cwxg
This all prompted me to try to find out the average age of an NBA referee.
It appears that no one knows. Or, better, the NBA doesn’t post it anywhere.
To get their ages, you have to go to Wikipedia and insert the names of each referee individually, find their birthdates on their separate Wiki webpages, and then do the math. Instead of by their ages, NBA refs are listed -- sort of like fine wines -- by the number of seasons they’ve officiated.
It was too tedious for me to do the individual ref by ref analysis and besides, it turns out Wikipedia doesn't have webpages for every NBA ref. Accordingly, in my quest for ages I searched elsewhere. I found some dubious websites stating the average age of an NBA referee to be 63 (posted on a website dated 4/20/11); 44 (posted on a website dated 11/11/04) and another one that estimated the average to be “around 50”.
Then I found another site stating that during the 2008-2009 season there were 16 referees who were under age 40; 22 between ages 41 and 50; 17 between ages 51 and 60, and 5 between ages 61 and 70. There was 1 listed as being over 71 – Jack Nies, who has since retired.
For the 2011-2012 season, 79 NBA referee names are listed at Wikipedia (with 5 of these being listed as “guest” officials – whatever that is). Of the 74 non-“guests” - 17 had 1-5 seasons of “NBA experience” under their belts; 10 had 5-10 years; and all the rest had been in the NBA 10+ years. There were 11 names listed with 20+ years experience
You might wish to know that, among the older ones, Dick Bavetta was born on December 10, 1939 (making him 72 for the playoffs). Bennett Salvatore is 62. And everybody’s favorite, Joey Crawford, is 61.
Sound a little old? Welcome to NBA basketball!
So how do you get to be an NBA ref, anyway? I tried to check this out too. Hell, I’m nearing retirement age. Maybe I could start a new career!
According to Joe Borgia, there’s a selection process of sorts. A committee consisting of Borgia and some others go to a lot of college games, especially tournaments, and then invite selectees to attend a D League camp. Then they enroll in the D-League. How they get from the D-League to the NBA wasn’t explained. I suspect you have to wait until someone with more seniority than you dies.
According to a more skeptical source, Mike Lupica, “getting into the NBA as an official probably requires an "in" of some sort. There are examples of referees who have family members in the officiating field, either with the NBA or in other sports; also, Joey Crawford, Tim Donaghy and two other NBA officials all attended the same high school in Pennsylvania. How odd that they all ended up as NBA referees. Either that high school has a special program for training refs, or the alumni connection carries weight.”
How much moolah do NBA refs make? According to Lupica, that’s fuzzy too:.
“This one is difficult. There is very little info about this - over the last couple of days I've read estimates from $100,000-$250,000, and other estimates have been higher (the highest I've heard is $400,000). One of the reasons it is probably hard to figure out is because refs have other sources of income besides the games. The job seems to be full time (as opposed to NFL refs, where refs are classified as part time and some have other jobs). There are workshops and conferences which NBA refs hold; they are probably getting some coin for that. There are appearances, lectures, etc. Some referees get into the memorabilia industry. Freebies count as income. Bottom line: they are making six figures on average. They are all living comfortable lifestyles - almost every single referee I've read about has a nice house in the suburbs that is worth a good amount. I don't think refereeing is a poor paying job... if anything, it's akin to a doctor or a lawyer.”
So that’s my skinny on NBA refereeing.
Brace yourself, 55ers. I anticipate a bumpy playoff ride.
But on to our next foe! Minnesota!
Karmic Tough Love. Remember the last time we played the Timberwolves on the road? Remember Kevin Love saying this:
“I’ve said all along,” Love said, “I don’t like the Pacers.”
See, with 23.7 seconds remaining in the 3rd and the game still tight, Kevin was whistled for a very hard foul against Danny Granger and Granger took offense. They bumped into each other and then other players had to separate them. More words were exchanged and a few other player face-offs occurred before order was restored. No punches were thrown and Danny was assessed a technical.
After the game (which the Pacers won in convincing fashion) Kevin was still hot about the Pacers' reaction to his foul.
“I knew that none of them were going to do anything,” said Love. “Just play ball. It’s part of the game – a hard foul, everybody is getting fouled out there.”
“(They think) they are so tough,” Love said. “They take those pills and they got all that toughness. I don’t know where that comes from. They all think they are tough guys. I just don’t know where that comes from. It just blows my mind. They are all tough and that makes me laugh.”
Love then claimed to be looking forward to an April 16th rematch with the Pacers in Indy:
“I guarantee the next time we play them, it will be just as physical,” he said.
By the way, following the Love-Granger fracas, the Pacers went on a 20-10 run. Granger said afterwards that the incident lit a fire under him. But for the Timberwolves there was no similar effect. Kevin was apparently saving all his fire for Monday’s game.
Sadly though, it looks like Kevin’s promise of renewed future physicality with the Pacers will come to naught. He’s now nursing a concussion sustained from another spate of recent NBA toughness – in the form of an elbow to the head inflicted by another apparent pill-taker, JaVale McGee. Consequently, it looks as though Kevin’s festering plans for ghastly karmic revenge on Danny and the rest of the Pacers may have been put on hold. Maybe next year.
By the way, here’s a clip of Javale’s elbow and Kevin going down:
http://tinyurl.com/7fjb6hf
One YouTube NBA wag saw some cosmic karma in the McGee elbow. See, Kevin Love was once suspended for intentionally stepping on the head of a prone and defenseless J. J. Berea – an episode of NBA toughness that earned him a 4-game suspension. Hence Javale’s elbow to Kevin’s head was an instance of the NBA Basketball Gods awarding "payback."
Wanna see poor J. J.'s head getting squashed?
http://tinyurl.com/7a4rztr
Perhaps, in a sporting gesture and to speed his recovery, the Pacers’ team physician might provide Kevin with a prescription for a bottle of those toughness pills our boys take.
Then again, why bother. You see, Kevin, "Payback’s a *****."
Still, even though tonight they’ll likely be Love-less, let’s not take Minnesota too lightly, 55ers. Take a toughness pill yourselves! Be loud and mean! We have to keep our playoff mo going and we can't have a bunch of grousing lycanthropes defecating on our hardwood.
GO PACERS! GO AREA 55!Last edited by IndyHoya; 04-16-2012, 07:19 AM.Comment
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Re: Area 55 Season Thread 2011-2012
See this is how an IndyHoya article should read. I like that I have to take a smoke break half way through.Comment
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