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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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Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

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  • Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NBA's Granik Says It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut
    2004-12-07 15:12 (New York)

    NBA's Granik Says It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

    By Scott Soshnick
    Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The National Basketball Association's
    second-in-command said it's ``always possible'' that the brawl-
    related suspensions given to Indiana's Ron Artest and his
    teammates will be reduced on appeal to Commissioner David Stern.
    ``Very often they're worked out,'' Russ Granik, the NBA
    deputy commissioner, said in an interview at his office in
    Manhattan.
    Stern suspended Artest for the remainder of the season, or
    73 games, for instigating a brawl with Detroit Pistons fans at
    the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Stephen Jackson was
    suspended for 30 games, while Jermaine O'Neal got a 25-game ban
    for their roles in the Nov. 19 melee, which might lead to players
    and fans being charged with misdemeanor assault.
    The players union appealed Artest's ban -- the longest in
    NBA history that didn't involve drugs -- and the others, saying
    they are too severe. In 1995, Vernon Maxwell was suspended for 10
    games for entering the stands and striking a fan. The union also
    is asking an arbitrator to hear the appeal so Stern wouldn't be
    ruling on suspensions that he imposed.
    According to Granik, 20-25 percent of appeals of suspensions
    or fines are reduced. He wouldn't comment specifically about the
    Pacers.

    Good Behavior

    Players who are appealing punishments frequently cite their
    behavior before they got in trouble as reason for leniency,
    Granik said.
    ``A player will come in and state that he's had a perfect
    record,'' he said.
    That argument might not work for Artest, who had been
    suspended for 15 games since the 2002-03 season for a variety of
    transgressions.
    The league contends that its labor contract gives the
    commissioner sole authority over punishments stemming from on-
    court matters. The union says the incident occurred in the stands
    and not on the court.
    Arbitrator Roger Kaplan on Thursday will hold a hearing to
    decide whether he or Stern should hear the appeal. If Kaplan
    sides with the union, then a hearing will be conducted on whether
    the punishments were too severe.
    The league, meantime, last week filed suit in federal court
    in New York claiming that Kaplan doesn't have the authority to
    hear the case.
    The legal wrangling won't hurt the players' chances of
    having the penalties reduced if their appeals ever reach Stern,
    Granik said.
    ``I can't imagine that a player's or lawyer's attempts at
    some legal maneuver would affect the proceedings,'' he said.
    Prosecutors in Oakland County, Michigan, will announce
    tomorrow whether the players and fans involved will be charged.

  • #2
    Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

    Again, the league keeps signaling that it is leaving itself open to reducing JO's suspension.

    Perhaps that's why they didn't get a restraining order against Kaplan's arbitration ruling.

    Once he rules that he doesn't have authority, then the Simons can get to work and negotiate with Stern to get JO's punishment reduced while there is still time to reduce it.
    Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
    Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
    Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
    Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
    And life itself, rushing over me
    Life itself, the wind in black elms,
    Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

      What if tomorrow Kaplan says he does have authority.

      Then NBA will go to fed court and drag on for another few weeks (or month?) then all becomes meaningless (to the Pacers).

      It seems now the only place we could get the reduction from is David Stern, and the only timely way to get it is to have Kaplan hand the appeal case over to him.

      Because whatever reduction the arbitrator gives tomorrow (be it a 1 game reduction or a 50) will not matter anyway anyhow, unless the federal court says otherwise.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

        Originally posted by Jay@Section204
        Again, the league keeps signaling that it is leaving itself open to reducing JO's suspension.
        JO hammered two people who were not threatening him, according to the prosecutor. I do not expect JO's 25 game suspension to be reduced, although I certainly would like it to happen.

        Now that Ron Artest has been absolved from blame for hitting the fan who came to the floor, I think he has a better chance of having his suspension reduced to something more livable.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

          He was absolved from criminal blame, but I don't see how that helps his cause with the NBA, which is holding him to a higher standard than, "Just don't be a criminal."

          As for JO, this incident notwithstanding, he's been squeaky-clean with the league, and in fact he's been a true international ambassador for the league. His actions may have earned him one more misdemeanor than Ron, but he's not the guy with a long track record that led the charge into the stands.

          We see it differently; no biggie.
          Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
          Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
          Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
          Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
          And life itself, rushing over me
          Life itself, the wind in black elms,
          Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

            Originally posted by Jay@Section204
            He was absolved from criminal blame, but I don't see how that helps his cause with the NBA, which is holding him to a higher standard than, "Just don't be a criminal."
            The NBA's standards are higher than "Just don't be a criminal?" Could have fooled me.

            More like "Don't make us look bad on National TV," maybe.
            This space for rent.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

              The Court of NBA does not care about justice.

              It does not assess penalty based on the crime.

              It does it solely based on the damage.

              Or, financial damage.

              Meaning, if you did something AND got caught on a national TV game, that's bigger damage and you get longer suspensions than someone else who did the same on a local TV only game, or someone who did the same on national TV but did not get caught.

              regardless of your reason of doing it.

              regardless of whether the Court of Law thinks you are justified to do it or not.

              even regardless of whether you actually did what you "appeared to be doing" as captured by TV camera, or not.

              In summary: the damage is done, you pay the price, fair or not.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

                The NBA has gotten a great burst of energy out of this fiasco and I believe it will be '"must see TV" for a lot of casual fans, if the Pistons and Pacers meet in the playoffs with both squads at full strength. What is important is that the players concentrate on playing ball when they meet; I think they will. The stakes are now too high to do otherwise.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Granik: It's `Always Possible' Brawl Bans Will Be Cut

                  Originally posted by sixthman
                  The NBA has gotten a great burst of energy out of this fiasco and I believe it will be '"must see TV" for a lot of casual fans, if the Pistons and Pacers meet in the playoffs with both squads at full strength. What is important is that the players concentrate on playing ball when they meet; I think they will. The stakes are now too high to do otherwise.
                  Yeah...I'm sure Stern secretly loves the fact that for the next few years, Pacers VS. Pistons games will be highly regarded amongst the public. And most likely, draw people's attention whether they are basketball fans or not. It's all about the $$$.

                  Comment

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