Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

IBJ/ Bill Benner >

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    IBJ/ Bill Benner >

    Columns
    VOL. 25 NO. 38, NOVEMBER 29-DEC. 5, 2004

    Sports
    BENNER: All is not lost if the brawl sparks positive reforms



    By Bill Benner


    Fifty years ago this month, the Crispus Attucks Tigers of Coach Ray Crowe were embarking on an unbeaten season that culminated in the state high school championship.

    As an all-black team from an all-black school in a mostly white world rife with prejudice, the Tigers endured unimaginable bigotry from opposing fans and played any number of games "five-on-seven," if you get my drift.

    The Tigers didn't get mad. They got even where it mattered most, up on the scoreboard. Crowe demanded his team adhere to the highest standards of conduct. He would accept nothing less. They would not--ever--take the bigots' bait.

    "I always explained to the boys, 'Don't gripe to the officials and always be good sports,'" Crowe, who died last December, told me a few years ago. "I think people had a different perspective of blacks and athletes after we had those teams."

    In the same era, on a national basis, a man named Jackie Robinson was refusing to respond to a similar kind of venom as he traveled America with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Breaking baseball's color line required both bravery and an incredible amount of self-restraint.

    Robinson, a Christian man, adhered to the principle espoused by Dodgers owner Branch Rickey. In his book, "Tales from the Dodger Dugout," Carl Erskine quotes Rickey telling Robinson, "The bully is done when your only retaliation is a non-violent response."

    Just as Jesus said. Turn the other cheek.

    Crowe's Tigers did it. Jackie Robinson did it. Again and again.

    Ron Artest tried to do it and he almost succeeded.

    If only, if only.

    Now the Indiana Pacers--a franchise that always has represented nothing but the best in terms of character, class and dignity in the oft-sullied environment of professional sports--will be forever linked to one of the worst incidents in American sports history.

    Those road jerseys the Pacers wear say "Indiana" on the front and thus represent all of us, connecting to a heritage that values the game and places it in a special trust. Just as Conseco Fieldhouse was built as a modern cathedral in our reverence to basketball, those who play the Hoosier game--be it on the high school, college or professional level--are our missionaries and, as such, are expected to adhere not just to a higher level of fundamentals, but to a higher level of conduct and sportsmanship.

    In Indiana, we do believe there is a right way to play the game.

    That's why I have stated, many times (often receiving criticism in return), that I would rather the Pacers have players who competed with class, but lost, than for the organization to assemble a bunch of misfits who would win a championship.

    Proudly, under Donnie Walsh's tenure, the Pacers--with rare exceptions--have been able to compete at the highest level of the NBA without sacrificing the ideals of what a Pacer should represent.

    Since so much has already been said and written, it is pointless to rehash what happened or assign blame. Everyone is at fault: the NBA and pro sports for promoting a culture of sex, violence, booze and, worst of all, disrespect; the fans who think a ticket buys them the right to say or do as they please; and certainly the players, whose actions cannot be excused or justified.

    But I am an optimist at heart, and I believe good can come from this as the passion abates and reason sets in.

    It will be good if the NBA takes stock of what it is selling and addresses the increasing cultural divide between the players and the fans.

    It will be good if Ben Wallace and all NBA players take just a moment to think about how they respond to that next "hard" foul and what it might precipitate.

    It will be good if Ron Artest seriously seeks professional help; I believe he can be saved from himself, and I believe in the power of people to forgive if he acts sincerely.

    It will be good if Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal spend some of their newfound free time addressing youth, expressing their contriteness, and telling kids that, whether on the street or on the court, there is a better way to resolve conflicts.

    It will be good if fans everywhere--not just those idiots in the Palace--take stock of themselves and the importance they place on team allegiance. Sure, we want our team to win, but it is, after all, just a game. It is, after all, just entertainment.

    It will be good if leagues and franchises look at their alcohol policies. Yes, it's a huge money-maker. Yes, I like a cold brew at the ballgame as much as anyone. But there is an undeniable link between booze and boorish (and sometimes criminal) behavior in venues.

    It will be good if we can all--next time we're cut off in traffic, suffer a personal affront at work, endure an insult--think of the examples of Ray Crowe and Jackie Robinson and turn the other cheek, as hard as it is to do sometimes.

    Peace.

    Benner, a former sports columnist for The Indianapolis Star, is now vice president of communications for the not-for-profit Indiana Sports Corp. His column appears weekly. To comment on this column, go to IBJ Forum at www.ibj.com or send e-mail to bbenner@ibj.com.

    https://www.ibj.com/columns.asp?A=16947
    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
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: IBJ/ Bill Benner >

    It will be good if Ben Wallace and all NBA players take just a moment to think about how they respond to that next "hard" foul and what it might precipitate.

    Well, we've already seen that won't happen, judging by how KG reacted in the latest scuffle.
    You're caught up in the Internet / you think it's such a great asset / but you're wrong, wrong, wrong
    All that fiber optic gear / still cannot take away the fear / like an island song

    - Jimmy Buffett

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: IBJ/ Bill Benner >

      "..............In Indiana, we do believe there is a right way to play the game.

      That's why I have stated, many times (often receiving criticism in return), that I would rather the Pacers have players who competed with class, but lost, than for the organization to assemble a bunch of misfits who would win a championship".................................................. ....

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






      I have so much to say about this passage, and so little time. Let me sum up my thought. So Bill wopuld rather the pacers lose the right way than win the wrong way. That is a lie, I don't believe he truly believes that for one minute, he may have convinced himself he believes but he doesn't.

      I also take exception to the underlying point he is making. That being that the current Pacers win the wrong way.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: IBJ/ Bill Benner >

        What if Stern gives KG six games, just like Ben?

        Not saying he would do that... but if he did *then* it might get the players attention that this is about the game of basketball. Not one-ups-man-ship, respect, or these silly tangents that are, although understandable, conpletely unrelated to athletic competition/ sportsmanship.

        This ain't the park, or the 'hood. KG, Ben, et. al., need to quit thinking of it that way. These are league-sanctioned games; the players have to trust the officials to stop the cheap-shotting before somebody gets hurt. Which means, of course, the officials have to stop the cheap-shotting sooner rather than later.
        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

        • #5
          Re: IBJ/ Bill Benner >

          I would rather have class. I think that's what enraged me the most about Stern's actions. He cast the Pacer franchise in a bad light when have never done anything, from the first day of the ABA, other than represent the fans and the city well.
          The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: IBJ/ Bill Benner >

            Originally posted by ABADays
            I would rather have class. I think that's what enraged me the most about Stern's actions. He cast the Pacer franchise in a bad light when have never done anything, from the first day of the ABA, other than represent the fans and the city well.

            Um...he doesn't like us because we WERE in the ABA. He was in the league negotiating group back then, or so I just read somewhere. So I think he has some deep rooted "issues" with us over those days. Afterall, the ABA made the NBA brand of bball look boring and raised salaries tremendously. Or so the owners felt.
            Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: IBJ/ Bill Benner >

              Originally posted by vapacersfan
              I agree with everything you said except the last line. I dont think our current team wins the wrong way, but thats a matter of opinion.

              I do agree with your main point though
              I think you miss read Uncle Bucks last line, he was disagreeing with Benner's insinuation.

              "I also take exception to the underlyingpoint he is making. That being that the current Pacers win the wrong way."
              "Just look at the flowers ........ BANG" - Carol "The Walking Dead"

              Comment

              Previous template Next
              Working...
              X