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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:

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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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This team needs to be blown up (OLD thread!! 2012)

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  • Re: This team needs to be blown up

    Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
    We have the same owner we did in the 90s. The team still spends a lot of money. In fact one of the reasons we were where we were from 2005 til 2010 is because we spent too damn much money.

    There are two ways to profit as an owner.

    Keep your team salary way down (Marlins and Clippers, until very recently).


    Or you spend a lot and hope people will show up and support. The Simons have always fallen into this one, now maybe they didn't always make the best personnel moves but there is no doubt about their willingness to write checks. However, you stop supporting the team and you'll see them go the other way fast. They didn't become filthy rich by being idiots.
    The philosophy has always been to re-sign our own players, which isnt a horrible strategy. We have been burned a few times though. Croshere, Tinsley, and now Hibbert.
    Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel

    Comment


    • Re: This team needs to be blown up

      Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
      We have the same owner we did in the 90s. The team still spends a lot of money. In fact one of the reasons we were where we were from 2005 til 2010 is because we spent too damn much money.

      There are two ways to profit as an owner.

      Keep your team salary way down (Marlins and Clippers, until very recently).


      Or you spend a lot and hope people will show up and support. The Simons have always fallen into this one, now maybe they didn't always make the best personnel moves but there is no doubt about their willingness to write checks. However, you stop supporting the team and you'll see them go the other way fast. They didn't become filthy rich by being idiots.
      In his mind there's must be a third option, spend money like crazy until you win and then hope you make enough money during that run to make up for all the lost revenue from the years past.

      Can't support the team while their on the path upwards, or you'll just give management a feeling that it's okay to medicore. Gotta wait until they actually win to start supporting them.
      Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

      Comment


      • Re: This team needs to be blown up

        Originally posted by Pacergeek View Post
        The philosophy has always been to re-sign our own players, which isnt a horrible strategy. We have been burned a few times though. Croshere, Tinsley, and now Hibbert.
        Yes, no doubt, but it doesn't change the fact that Simon has been willing to spend. You got an issue with the strategy then take it up with the GM.


        Comment


        • Re: This team needs to be blown up

          Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
          In other words your level of pain is higher than a lot of those that would never be able to do what you did or do.
          Donnie Walsh: [admiring his roster contraption] Beautiful isn't it? It took me half a lifetime to invent it. I'm sure you've discovered my deep and abiding interest in pain. Presently I'm writing the definitive work on the subject, so I want you to be totally honest with me on how the roster makes you feel. This being our first try, I'll use the lowest setting.
          [Donnie Walsh activates the Pritchard powered roster machine and trades for Ian Mahinmi. vnzla81 writhes in great pain]
          Donnie Walsh: [calmly] As you know, the concept of the sucky roster is centuries old. Really that's all this is except that instead of just building sucky rosters, I'm sucking life. I've just sucked one year of your life away. I might one day go as high as five, but I really don't know what that would do to you. So, let's just start with what we have. What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity so be honest. How do you feel?
          [vnzla81 cries and moans in pain]
          Donnie Walsh: Interesting.
          PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

          Comment


          • Re: This team needs to be blown up

            I think some of you need to take a step back from following sports and find some other way to spend your time. Pro sports is entertainment. If its not good, then don't spend your money on it. If you keep watching even though you hate it, then you probably have a mental health condition. Tyler Perry movies are no good, so I don't watch them. If you think the Pacers product is no good, then stop spending money on it. This is elementary. You really have nothing vested in it and you aren't owed anything.


            Name-calling signature removed

            Comment


            • Re: This team needs to be blown up

              The Simons spent money, they went out and got Walsh and Pritchard. Pritchard's whole resume is his crazy aggressiveness on trades.

              They paid for West. They overpaid for Hibbert. They overpaid for Green and Mahinmi. Again, these are GM issues, not ownership issues. Don't criticize the Simons and especially don't criticize the fans who helped support the team like Vnzla did.

              Heck, I don't even want to think about what we might be spending on Brian Shaw to be an assistant if I'm the Simons. I'm sure it's not a small number when it comes to assistant coaches.


              Comment


              • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                The last three pages of this thread have been hilarious.
                "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


                • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                  Originally posted by Banta View Post
                  I think some of you need to take a step back from following sports and find some other way to spend your time. Pro sports is entertainment. If its not good, then don't spend your money on it. If you keep watching even though you hate it, then you probably have a mental health condition. Tyler Perry movies are no good, so I don't watch them. If you think the Pacers product is no good, then stop spending money on it. This is elementary. You really have nothing vested in it and you aren't owed anything.

                  Sports masochism or something. If the only way for you to be truly happy is to win championships, then Boston/LA are probably better fits for ya.
                  Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                  Comment


                  • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                    Originally posted by Since86 View Post
                    Sports masochism or something. If the only way for you to be truly happy is to win championships, then Boston/LA are probably better fits for ya.
                    I mean the guy openly admits he believes the Pacers intentionally mislead (that they never really intended to build a contender, and that we all, including him fell into the trap) him for almost half a decade of his life and he is still content to hang around here so....

                    What makes their plot to deceive even more interesting is that in the intent to make the plot as realistic as possible, they have spent ridiculous amounts of money on guys (Hill, Hibbert, West, Granger) with the direct intention of deceiving us all. So that they can I don't know laugh at us maniacally or something, because Lord knows they aren't making any money from this intentional misrepresentation that they have sold to us all.


                    Comment


                    • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                      Originally posted by Banta View Post
                      I think some of you need to take a step back from following sports and find some other way to spend your time. Pro sports is entertainment. If its not good, then don't spend your money on it. If you keep watching even though you hate it, then you probably have a mental health condition. Tyler Perry movies are no good, so I don't watch them. If you think the Pacers product is no good, then stop spending money on it. This is elementary. You really have nothing vested in it and you aren't owed anything.


                      As someone who spends my money on the team, whether it be tickets, merchandise or clothing, I feel that there should be some return on investment. But to say I have a mental deficiency because I currently have a love-hate relationship with my hobby, that's no bueno, buckaroo.

                      I have been a Colts, Pacers and Reds fan all my life. Please note that all three of these teams are small-market franchises in their leagues. The majority of these 26 years of my existence those teams have put up not very impressive records, with the Colts and Reds winning two championships since 1990. So out of 22 years my teams have seen the promised land twice. The Colts did have a very decent 2000-2010, but still, the 90s were atrocious. Bad seasons are all part of it. In the NBA, the large market teams have won a whopping 47% of the Championships since 1976. That's a ridiculously huge number. The chances of us winning are obviously smaller.

                      Look...

                      We all know that sports is an escape from the everyday. You're right, it is entertainment. But I am not going to spend money on something that sucks. Or am I? A sports team and a bad movie are like comparing apples to oranges. A movie (hypothetically) gets released once. If it's bad, the idea is scrapped. If it's good, look... a sequel.

                      A sports franchise is looked at almost the same way, but on a different level. The cast, crew and sometimes audience changes from each iteration. But if that cast, crew etc. are stinking it up, well, the audience won't show up.

                      With that said, the Cubs are a perfect example. Compare them to a movie (or movie franchise) that you think was/is horrible. Well, both of these mediums of entertainment have a HUGE cult following. Gigantic. Regardless if in the public eye that something isn't appealing to some or most, it still is loved fanatically by someone.

                      Take that into consideration before you question people's mental capacities.

                      Comment


                      • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                        Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                        I mean the guy openly admits he believes the Pacers intentionally mislead (that they never really intended to build a contender, and that we all, including him fell into the trap) him for almost half a decade of his life and he is still content to hang around here so....

                        What makes their plot to deceive even more interesting is that in the intent to make the plot as realistic as possible, they have spent ridiculous amounts of money on guys (Hill, Hibbert, West, Granger) with the direct intention of deceiving us all. So that they can I don't know laugh at us maniacally or something, because Lord knows they aren't making any money from this intentional misrepresentation that they have sold to us all.
                        They have to spend money regardless so stop with that bs, teams have a minimum of salary to spend so is not like your great example of the Marlins either.
                        @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                        Comment


                        • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                          Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
                          Those expectations were set up by the Pacers front office and their 3,4,5,6 maybe seven or eight years rebuilding plan, they didn't say "hey let's wait for the contracts to expire so we can sign a bunch of scrubs back", they said "we are going to do whatever is possible to build a team were we can compete for a championship" have they done that? nope.

                          We were all fooled to think that they were really going to do something and we bought the bs they were selling.
                          We spent money on guys. West, Roy, George, Green, Mahinmi...they just aren't the players YOU wanted. A lot of the players that ppl, including myself, wanted to bring in during the offseason, Brand, Mayo, Dragic, Lowry, Scola--are playing on teams they're either below or right at .500. They're generating bout the same type of results on middling teams. Simon seems to not want to put all his eggs and money into one basket or player. Who he decided to spend money on can be debated but the fact that he tried cannot. IMO

                          Comment


                          • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                            And I'm a Pacers fan because I've been a fan since I was a little kid back home and I was watching games a 2 o'clock in the morning, I even had a Reggie Miller poster in my door so stop with the "you are not a true fan bs because you don't want to spend money in a mediocre team".
                            @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                            Comment


                            • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                              Originally posted by duke dynamite View Post


                              As someone who spends my money on the team, whether it be tickets, merchandise or clothing, I feel that there should be some return on investment. But to say I have a mental deficiency because I currently have a love-hate relationship with my hobby, that's no bueno, buckaroo.

                              I have been a Colts, Pacers and Reds fan all my life. Please note that all three of these teams are small-market franchises in their leagues. The majority of these 26 years of my existence those teams have put up not very impressive records, with the Colts and Reds winning two championships since 1990. So out of 22 years my teams have seen the promised land twice. The Colts did have a very decent 2000-2010, but still, the 90s were atrocious. Bad seasons are all part of it. In the NBA, the large market teams have won a whopping 47% of the Championships since 1976. That's a ridiculously huge number. The chances of us winning are obviously smaller.

                              Look...

                              We all know that sports is an escape from the everyday. You're right, it is entertainment. But I am not going to spend money on something that sucks. Or am I? A sports team and a bad movie are like comparing apples to oranges. A movie (hypothetically) gets released once. If it's bad, the idea is scrapped. If it's good, look... a sequel.

                              A sports franchise is looked at almost the same way, but on a different level. The cast, crew and sometimes audience changes from each iteration. But if that cast, crew etc. are stinking it up, well, the audience won't show up.

                              With that said, the Cubs are a perfect example. Compare them to a movie (or movie franchise) that you think was/is horrible. Well, both of these mediums of entertainment have a HUGE cult following. Gigantic. Regardless if in the public eye that something isn't appealing to some or most, it still is loved fanatically by someone.

                              Take that into consideration before you question people's mental capacities.
                              I think you are missing his point. You enjoy being a Pacer fan, even if they aren't actually playing well at the moment. He is talking more to people like vnzla who obviously does not enjoy the Pacers, unless he has some kind of masochistic fetish.

                              Comment


                              • Re: This team needs to be blown up

                                Originally posted by Eleazar View Post
                                Dude, Irsay is not they type of owner you think he is. He is very much a get out of the way and let the GM do his job type of owner. Don't let an extreme case of last season lead you to believe anything different.
                                I believe differently. Yes, he let the Polians run the team. He isn't letting his GM do that now or he would have made better decisions..... Irsay has been an extreme case for a long time. He got lucky and got Peyton Manning for a lot of years. He is not likely to get that "lucky" again.....

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