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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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Eastern Conference preview

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  • #31
    Re: Eastern Conference preview

    Originally posted by FrenchConnection View Post
    Really? Is Joe Johnson worth about 25 wins? Cause they were 7-14 after the Gerald Wallace trade, so you are assuming they will jump from lottery to elite because of Joe Johnson. Then I guess he's not overpaid.
    But they havent just added Joe Johnson. Brook Lopez will be there also.
    The Most Common Cause of Stress is Dealing with Idiots

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    • #32
      Re: Eastern Conference preview

      Originally posted by FrenchConnection View Post
      Really? Is Joe Johnson worth about 25 wins? Cause they were 7-14 after the Gerald Wallace trade, so you are assuming they will jump from lottery to elite because of Joe Johnson. Then I guess he's not overpaid.
      They have Lopez back from injury and they have made other signings. Those folks and Johnson will be worth more than 25 wins..... They have a superstar and some very good players around him. The Pacers have no superstar and no "go to" player. Brooklyn will be much better than the Pacers as they are right now....

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      • #33
        Re: Eastern Conference preview

        Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post
        The Nets are clearly the number 2 team and I hate to say that but they are. They have a better starting 5 and the Pacers have the better bench which isn't saying much.
        Really? Is Joe Johnson worth about 25 wins? Cause they were 7-14 after the Gerald Wallace trade, so you are assuming they will jump from lottery to elite because of Joe Johnson. Then I guess he's not overpaid.
        Slug 'em Sabres!!!!!
        http://youtube.com/watch?v=cj1SUF4wzu0

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        • #34
          Re: Eastern Conference preview

          I don't think that the two of them are worth 25-30 games. In order to pass us, they would have had to win 21 more games. Over a full season, that would be 25 games. That also assumes that we don't get better, which we will. Paul George should be better. Hibbert has gotten better every year. We will get the good David West from the second half for an entire season. I don't think that the improvements will show up in the wins and losses as I think that 52 wins is the max that this group can attain.

          Don't get me wrong, the Nets may be better than us but saying that they are clearly better is hyperbole. I think that Lopez returning to form and Marshon Brooks breaking out could push them over the top but that is far from a sure thing.
          Slug 'em Sabres!!!!!
          http://youtube.com/watch?v=cj1SUF4wzu0

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          • #35
            Re: Eastern Conference preview

            I'm not sure the Nets will be that high that quickly. Remember in 2010-11 it took Miami until the tail end of the season to get things together.
            Senior at the University of Louisville.
            Greenfield ---> The Ville

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            • #36
              Re: Eastern Conference preview

              Originally posted by FrenchConnection View Post
              I don't think that the two of them are worth 25-30 games. In order to pass us, they would have had to win 21 more games. Over a full season, that would be 25 games. That also assumes that we don't get better, which we will. Paul George should be better. Hibbert has gotten better every year. We will get the good David West from the second half for an entire season. I don't think that the improvements will show up in the wins and losses as I think that 52 wins is the max that this group can attain.

              Don't get me wrong, the Nets may be better than us but saying that they are clearly better is hyperbole. I think that Lopez returning to form and Marshon Brooks breaking out could push them over the top but that is far from a sure thing.

              Its really about team chemistry for the Nets. That lineup has faced injuries and hasn't had a full training camp. Joe Johnson makes Dwill much better and defenses will not be able to stop that collective group.

              The Nets are clearly better than Pacers and I have no problem saying that.

              Originally posted by Steagles View Post
              I'm not sure the Nets will be that high that quickly. Remember in 2010-11 it took Miami until the tail end of the season to get things together.
              THe Heat also had redundant pieces in Wade and Lebron. The Nets don't have that problem IMO.
              Last edited by Gamble1; 07-14-2012, 10:33 AM.

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              • #37
                Re: Eastern Conference preview

                The Nets are the new Hawks. They'll be significantly better than last season, but that's not saying much.

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                • #38
                  Re: Eastern Conference preview

                  Man alot of you folks really doubt our team just because they dont' have big names. We had the best starting 5 in the entire playoffs last year. Like a +79 or something, there was an article about it on here. We are going to be good this year, really really good. I'm glad I bought another 1/2 season ticket package.
                  You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

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                  • #39
                    Re: Eastern Conference preview

                    Originally posted by Shade View Post
                    The Nets are the new Hawks. They'll be significantly better than last season, but that's not saying much.
                    The "new hawks" tagline is not only ridiculous, but it needs to stop. For every NBA team.

                    It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                    Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                    Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                    NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

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                    • #40
                      Re: Eastern Conference preview

                      Originally posted by Kstat View Post
                      The "new hawks" tagline is not only ridiculous, but it needs to stop. For every NBA team.
                      Why? They have one player in common. It makes perfect sense. The Pacers are the "new Bobcats" and the Hornets are the "new Kentucky Wildcats."

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                      • #41
                        Re: Eastern Conference preview

                        Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                        Man alot of you folks really doubt our team just because they dont' have big names. We had the best starting 5 in the entire playoffs last year. Like a +79 or something, there was an article about it on here. We are going to be good this year, really really good. I'm glad I bought another 1/2 season ticket package.
                        I don't care about that absurd + or - number. That is the most overrated stat in all of sports. We didn't have the best starting five last year. We couldn't match up with Miami, Boston, Chicago (even without Rose) and NY starting five is much better than the Pacers. Look for that team to be much better with a full season of Woodson. Those teams I mentioned have superstars. Players that can takeover a game in the last two minutes. The Pacers don't have any. How many top 50 players to the Pacers have? Don't give me Granger because even if there is a poll that says he is, he isn't. I would think Hibbert and West would be our only two players that would make that list and West would be done aways. I'm glad you bought the package too and we will be good but not really, really good. About fifth or sixth in the East kind of good in my opinion.

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                        • #42
                          Re: Eastern Conference preview

                          And you are entitled to that opinion as am I in COMPLETELY disagreeing with your opinion . Some of you make it sound like it's only about names. Well that Laker team futuring Kobe, Shaq, Malone and Payton sure was awesome winning multiple championships, weren't they? Oooh... oops...

                          I think we together with the Knicks, Bulls, Nets and Celtics will be right up there a tier below Miami. Anyone of those teams could make up the end of season ranked 2 to 5. That includes the Nets, but that also includes us. IF we end up 2 and the Nets 3 or 4 then we did better, simple as that. I think the Bulls IF they get Rose back in good form is just a tad below Miami and a tad above us, but the gap between them and us has been considerably shortened with them losing some of their depth and our team developing and improving it's bench.
                          2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                          2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                          2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

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                          • #43
                            Re: Eastern Conference preview

                            Originally posted by Mourning View Post
                            And you are entitled to that opinion as am I in COMPLETELY disagreeing with your opinion . Some of you make it sound like it's only about names. Well that Laker team futuring Kobe, Shaq, Malone and Payton sure was awesome winning multiple championships, weren't they? Oooh... oops...

                            I think we together with the Knicks, Bulls, Nets and Celtics will be right up there a tier below Miami. Anyone of those teams could make up the end of season ranked 2 to 5. That includes the Nets, but that also includes us. IF we end up 2 and the Nets 3 or 4 then we did better, simple as that. I think the Bulls IF they get Rose back in good form is just a tad below Miami and a tad above us, but the gap between them and us has been considerably shortened with them losing some of their depth and our team developing and improving it's bench.
                            Didn't the team you mentioned get to the finals? Malone was making one attempt to win a title and Payton was about done but got one in Miami with Shaq......... Other than that, I think your statement is fair. Miami is way out there and several teams will battle to fill the next four or five spots..... The Pacers could be in it or they could have an injury and be out of it as could any of those teams.....

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                            • #44
                              Re: Eastern Conference preview

                              What is wrong with some people? We have an even better team then we did last year and we are going to do worse? Come on now...I'm not trying to be rude but just look at the other teams and look at ours. We are very young and are only going to get better. Sure Brooklyn got better but are they better then us? No way. NY will always have problems bc it's NY and too much is always expected of them and when you have Melo on your team you can count on having no ball movement. Having an all-star who carries your team through most of the season will only take you so far. I don't see any reason why we can't be the 2 seed this coming year. I will obviously say that Miami is better then us. That is a very obvious point considering they got better as well. The Bulls? Even with Rose I would say we could take them. The Celtics? They lost Allen and are another year older. Don't see them being better than us. Brooklyn? Good team but have absolutely no depth and Johnson is extremely overpaid and overhyped. At the least if some injury happens or something I don't see us being lower then 4 or 5. If we are healthy,have good team chemistry,play as an actual team and hope DJ distributes the ball like we hope he does, Hibbert doesn't go into his shooting woes that he seems to do once a year, PG gets better, and Danny is just who he is...We are a scary team.

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                              • #45
                                Re: Eastern Conference preview

                                ... Yes, the Lakers with that team went to the finals... and they got their collective multiple superstar asses handed to them by a team.... WITHOUT superstars. It doesn't happen often, but teams without superstars once in a lot of years win it aswell.
                                2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                                2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                                2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

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