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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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NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

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  • NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

    Hi folks,

    This will serve as a news-only/article-only thread that is designed to be constantly updated with the same stories that get shared in the Lockout News and Discussion thread, with the difference being that, here, there is ABSOLUTELY NO DISCUSSION WANTED.

    This is for people who want to catch up on and/or review the news and articles about the lockout without having to wade through all of the discussion that comes along with it.

    So this thread should only be a collection of links and/or pastes of articles and videos pertaining to the lockout, and any commentary by posters will be removed, though you should know not to do it in the first place, too.

    The problem that might occur here is that not enough people make the effort to post their news in both threads.

    That is on you if you are one of the people who complained about having to go through 6 pages of arguing just to find there was no news buried inside. You wanted something clean and to the point? Here it is, but you all have a share of the responsibility in keeping it as updated as the discussion thread.

  • #2
    Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

    Any news yet been at work

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

      Haven't really heard much of what's going on with respect to the mediation
      "So, which one of you guys is going to come in second?" - Larry Bird before the 3 point contest. He won.


      Comment


      • #4
        Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

        Gotcha thanks, wasn't sure if it was over or what

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

          Going on 8 hours now.
          "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


          • #6
            Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

            Chris Broussard just came on ESPN and said the only thing he's heard from inside the room today is that Cohen has brought a sense of compromise to both parties and that things are going "well." Broussard went on to say that that doesn't mean a deal will get done tonight but they could perhaps agree to some minor things.

            Sorry for no link, just saw this 3-4 minutes ago on ESPN.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

              paugasol Pau Gasol
              by SeanDeveney
              Good night to everyone from Spain! I hope I wake up with good news tomorrow about the #lockout
              2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

              KBergCBS Ken Berger
              Right on cue, followers pointing out how impressed they are owners/players put in 8-hour day. Fans are running out of patience.
              45 seconds ago

              alanhahn Alan Hahn
              Into the 8th Hour of #NBA mediation, sources in the room are saying " ." Not sure what to make of it.
              7 minutes ago

              WojYahooNBA Adrian Wojnarowski
              NBA-NBPA labor meeting with federal mediator lurching toward nine hours here in New York. It isn't expected to end soon.
              11 seconds ago

              WojYahooNBA Adrian Wojnarowski
              Source in labor talks tells Y!: "My gut is progress will be made but not sure to what degree...(meeting) going to go well into night."
              51 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

              stevekylerNBA Steve Kyler
              In the spirit of Charlie Brown... I refuse to try and kick the football again only to have the NBPA pull it out from under me....
              3 minutes ago


              stevekylerNBA Steve Kyler
              That said, nine hours in the room is a good thing given how close both sides were coming into this process... Not ready to call it yet.
              2 minutes ago
              Last edited by Sandman21; 10-18-2011, 07:50 PM.
              "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


              • #8
                Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                Looks like the Union kept the stars not on the board out:

                http://sheridanhoops.com/2011/10/18/...-talks-in-nyc/

                Update from Lockout Talks in NYC
                October 18, 2011 By Chris Sheridan Leave a Comment

                By Chris Sheridan

                NEW YORK — It’s a full house here at the NBA lockout talks, with every member of the owners’ labor relations committee and every member of the players’ executive committee in attendance (with the exception of Keyon Dooling), along with a federal mediator. We’ve even got an extra Buss, with both Jerry, and his daughter, Jeanie, sitting in the negotiating room.

                As the clock neared 6 p.m., the sides had been meeting for almost eight hours. The most colorful anecdote from the press room was when the union, upon hearing the league had send cookies to the media room, responded by sending ice cream bars.

                Representing the owners are Peter Holt (San Antonio), Clay Bennett (Oklahoma City), Mickey Arison (Miami), Mark Cuban (Dallas), Jim Dolan (New York), Dan Gilbert (Cleveland), Wyc Grousbeck (Boston), Larry Miller (Portland), Robert Sarver (Phoenix), Glen Taylor (Minnesota) and Bob VanderWeide (Orlando).

                Representing the players are Derek Fisher, Maurice Evans, Chris Paul, Theo Ratliff, Etan Thomas, Matt Bonner, Roger Mason and James Jones.

                Mediator George Cohen met with the sides separately on Monday, and commissioner David Stern has said Tuesday’s talks were crucial.

                The league’s Board of Governors, with one representative from each of the league’s ownership groups, is meeting Wednesday and Thursday in New York.

                For a rundown of where the sides began the day, and the details of what they are fighting over, click here for yesterday’s column on that subject.
                "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


                • #9
                  Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                  Now the city of Memphis is considering suing the NBA:

                  http://www.sbnation.com/2011/10/18/2...it-fedex-forum

                  The city of Memphis will consider suing the NBA and the Grizzlies to recoup losses caused by the ongoing NBA lockout, according to Lauren Lee of MyFoxMemphis. Memphis' city council approved a resolution on Tuesday that allows city staff to explore paths to reimbursement, including litigation, should the city be forced to pick up the tab for up to $18 million in bond payments usually covered by revenue generated at FedEx Forum by Grizzlies home games.

                  The league has cancelled all of the preseason and the first two weeks of the regular season while negotiating off and on with the players' union over salary concessions and salary cap changes. NBA commissioner David Stern has warned he will cancel all games through Christmas if a deal is not soon reached. As Memphis' city council approved the resolution allowing for a lawsuit on Tuesday, league and players' union officials were stretching toward their ninth hour on negotiations under the guidance of federal mediator George Cohen.

                  The FedEx Forum in Memphis, like many NBA arenas, is owned by the public. Reports have suggested that over the past decade, the public has funded $1.75 billion of the $2 billion in construction costs sunk into NBA arenas.
                  daldridgetnt David Aldridge
                  Smoke 'em if you got 'em: coming up on 10 hrs with Mediator Cohen, league, union. No end expected for a while. Have no idea what it means...
                  2 minutes ago

                  Chris_Broussard Chris Broussard
                  Meeting btwn NBA owners & players has now crossed the 9-hour mark. Longest negotiating session yet. You'd think that's a good sign.
                  2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply
                  Last edited by Sandman21; 10-18-2011, 08:05 PM.
                  "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


                  • #10
                    Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                    AlexKennedyNBA Alex Kennedy
                    The NBA and NBPA have been behind closed doors for nearly 11 hours. This is the longest meeting the two sides have had since lockout began.
                    1 minute ago

                    WojYahooNBA Adrian Wojnarowski
                    Dinner just arrived for the league and union officials, and talks push into a 12th hour in New York,
                    30 seconds ago
                    Last edited by Sandman21; 10-18-2011, 09:10 PM.
                    "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


                    • #11
                      Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                      Chris_Broussard Chris Broussard
                      11 hrs & counting. I'm told owners & players have talked about concepts & minor issues. Not tons of ground made on 2 biggies (BRI & lux tax)
                      48 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

                      SeanDeveney Sean Deveney
                      Asked an agent with knowledge of negotiations if the length of talks signals a deal tonight. "No way this is getting done tonight," he said.
                      13 seconds ago

                      NYPost_Berman Marc Berman
                      by HPbasketball
                      Remember Cohen had 17 sessions with NFL with no deal. He has 1 day and tons of unresolved issues. Lower expectations.
                      3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

                      David Aldridge is reporting on NBATV that if legitimate progress is being made tonight, there is plenty of time this week from them to continue, even with Board of Governors meetings this week.
                      Last edited by Sandman21; 10-18-2011, 10:03 PM.
                      "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


                      • #12
                        Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                        KBergCBS Ken Berger
                        Labor meeting is wrapping up, I'm told.
                        34 seconds ago
                        HowardBeckNYT
                        HowardBeckNYT HowardBeckNYT
                        Aaaaaand we've hit the 12-hr mark at NBA MediationFest 2011. They are wrapping up, I'm told.
                        43 seconds ago
                        "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


                        • #13
                          Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                          http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nb...update_9pm.nba

                          DA update on labor talks, good video
                          Sittin on top of the world!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                            HowardBeckNYT HowardBeckNYT
                            Breaking: I'm now told they are NOT wrapping up. False alarm. Return to your regularly scheduled lives.
                            57 seconds ago
                            "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


                            • #15
                              Re: NEWS ONLY Lockout thread

                              Alan Hahn
                              alanhahn Alan Hahn
                              Agree. RT @hoopscritic: @alanhahn Likely that Cohen pushed both sides to agree to gag order. Public rhetoric has damaged this negotiation
                              2 minutes ago
                              "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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