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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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Here comes the hammer - hang in there

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  • #16
    Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

    Uh, we play Orlando 3 times in 12 days, possibly without Jeff for any of them?

    Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

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    • #17
      Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

      Originally posted by Kegboy View Post
      Uh, we play Orlando 3 times in 12 days, possibly without Jeff for any of them?

      Looooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ha...ha


      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

        Why is everybody scared of the Bulls? We can beat those guys. Boozer can't guard Tyler
        Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel

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        • #19
          Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

          dammit Jeff stop being old

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

            Originally posted by Hicks View Post
            I like to break it down to week by week.

            @SAC tonight, @GS Friday
            @LAL Sun, vsORL Tuesday, @CHI Wednesday, @BOS Friday
            @ORL Sun, vsNJN Tuesday, @MIN Wednesday, @DAL Friday, vsORL Saturday

            I'm guessing 2-0 this week, 2-2 next week, 2-3 the week after that, for a 6-5 stretch from now until Feb 4th, leaving us at 15-8 heading into the first full week of February.

            This is of course assuming, Jeff Foster aside, our rotation stays healthy.
            I like that prognostication.

            Also: we'll probably win at least one we are supposed to lose and lose at least one we are supposed to win.
            "Look, it's up to me to put a team around ... Lance right now." —Kevin Pritchard press conference

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            • #21
              Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

              Im kinda tired of people telling others what kind of expectations they should have. If someone thinks we should win 50 games, who cares, its their expectations. If someone wants to start or bench someone, again who cares. Its not like Vogel is in here doing research. So many people get tight after anyone mentions EJ or throws another possible trade idea out. If you dont like what someone suggests, tell us why or dont post in the thread. I just see so many people chastising others for the dumbest reasons.

              Lets not forget this is a discussion board.
              I Bleed Blue

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              • #22
                Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                We all know how the tone can turn after a loss, and a string of losses can really get things going. But let's all keep the schedule in mind and set our expectations appropriately for the next few weeks.

                The last two 3 game trips are coming, the only West coast visit, and apart from the Texas 2 trip later this season this will basically mark the end of the road work for the Pacers.

                You have the Lakers game and games at Chicago and Orlando. Even going back to Boston could be tough despite their poor play so far. Add in a visit from Orlando as the "break" and even a tricky Warriors game in the middle of that first trip and you've got the potential to lose 6 of the next 7.

                4-5 losses looks very reasonable.

                And now we add the lack of Foster to that list too. It's going to get ugly most likely, but this is the tradeoff the team must pay for the super sweet April they have lined up.

                Let's just see the team get to the end of January above .500 and then start looking at how the schedule slowly turns and helps them build huge momentum down the stretch. FEB is better but still tough, MAR really starts to ease up.


                A bad end to January doesn't mean the team isn't ECF capable or needs to make changes, it just means it's the toughest portion of the schedule for a team still trying to lock in on who they are and how they win.

                When they lose home games to NJ or Utah, then we can talk about "fixing" the team.



                And you never know, they just might surprise us and do better than expected.
                Expecting to lose makes you a loser. You should expect to win every game. Thats why I hate hearing players who say if we go 500 on the road we had a good trip.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                  Originally posted by 15th parallel View Post
                  If the Pacers are really aiming to be a respectable team once again, winning road games and against the elite teams of the East and West should be their aim. Of course they should also take care of the sub .500 teams. The likes of Chicago, Orlando and Lakers are the ones that draw attention right now, so they should aim to win those games to gain some attention and respect from fans and the media.

                  While losing to some of the upcoming games from elite teams is acceptable, that expectation should not be their aim. Otherwise, they'll look to be playoff pretenders on the eyes of the NBA community just like last year as they look to have no chance at beating play-off caliber teams.
                  You are exactly right, well said.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                    Originally posted by doctor-h View Post
                    Expecting to lose makes you a loser. You should expect to win every game. Thats why I hate hearing players who say if we go 500 on the road we had a good trip.
                    I guess that makes Vogel a loser since he said their goal is to be .500 on the road.
                    Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

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                    • #25
                      Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                      Originally posted by doctor-h View Post
                      Expecting to lose makes you a loser. You should expect to win every game. Thats why I hate hearing players who say if we go 500 on the road we had a good trip.
                      There's a big difference between thinking at the tip off of a game ... "well, this one is over", and having realistic expectations for your team for the year, or even a road trip.

                      You're trying to combine the two, when they can't be. You never go into any individual game thinking you lost, but you can't go thinking you're going to be undefeated every year either.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                        Originally posted by Kegboy View Post
                        Uh, we play Orlando 3 times in 12 days, possibly without Jeff for any of them?

                        I was thinking perhaps we are not going to run the risk of Jeff not getting hurt against Dwight, and right now we are rejuvenating him, preparing for the rest of the season. Idk.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                          Originally posted by CreekShow View Post
                          Im kinda tired of people telling others what kind of expectations they should have. If someone thinks we should win 50 games, who cares, its their expectations. If someone wants to start or bench someone, again who cares. Its not like Vogel is in here doing research. So many people get tight after anyone mentions EJ or throws another possible trade idea out. If you dont like what someone suggests, tell us why or dont post in the thread. I just see so many people chastising others for the dumbest reasons.

                          Lets not forget this is a discussion board.
                          You would do well to remember that this is a discussion board too.

                          What I mean by that is - making statements about what is reasonable to expect and responding to other people's expectations is also part of what happens on a discussion board. Disagreeing with someone's expectations or opinions is pretty similar to telling them what expectations they should have - you are telling them their expectations are WRONG and suggesting that yours are RIGHT. Should we not disagree on a discussion board? Of course not. Even going so far as to state you think someone shouldn't say what they are saying is par for the course.

                          So what you seem to be saying is that you are tired of certain types of discussion. I'm tired of certain types of discussion too. I think the board has gotten far too chippy and people don't respond to one another with enough courtesy. However, putting up with discussion styles you don't like is also crucial to accepting that this is a discussion board populated by a lot of different people.

                          Now, to the schedule. I like Hick's week by week approach and think his projections are reasonable. I do expect us to lose to elite teams more often than not, but I also expect us to compete and not get completely blown out of the water (ala the Heat game) most times. I also expect us to win against similar or inferior talent teams more often than not, and my expectation that we at least look like we belong in losses is even higher when we're talking about these tiers of teams.

                          I suspect our team and coaching staff aims to win every game they play. I hope they are taking it one game at a time. I doubt that they are satisfied with a loss of any sort, especially with the way Vogel has them playing and thinking. But that doesn't mean Vogel is a loser or encouraging a losing mentality when he steps out of individual game mode to look at the big picture. Part of fostering success as a leader is setting realistic goals that you can meet or exceed. .500 on the road is that for this team at this time.

                          I'd be satisfied with 15-8/14-7 going into the first week of February.
                          Last edited by gummy; 01-18-2012, 04:42 PM.
                          "Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

                          "Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire

                          "Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider

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                          • #28
                            Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there




                            lol
                            Last edited by Kemo; 01-18-2012, 05:02 PM.
                            "Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

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                            • #29
                              Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                              Kemo, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even think of MC Hammer or "Hammer Time!" when I saw the thread title. Shame on me.
                              "Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

                              "Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." - Voltaire

                              "Everyone's values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others." - William Greider

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Here comes the hammer - hang in there

                                OK, if we're doing MC Hammer stuff here .... I still laugh about this one. This is a Live TV show for those who don't know, I was watching it and I about fell off my couch laughing at this .....

                                The quality is horrible, but it's the audio that's priceless. Can't help but post this.

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