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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:

"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 ___________"

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"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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2013 Indycar Thread

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  • 2013 Indycar Thread

    Welp... Since the racing season is upon us with Daytona kicking things off soon I guess it's time to think about Indycar. And what more perfect way than to learn that TGBB is gaining more power with the new regime.

    INDYCAR: Barnhart’s Role Evolving, Expanding

    Speculation regarding Brian Barnhart's future within the IZOD IndyCar Series has taken on a life of its own in recent weeks, and while the former series president will see his duties expand this season, it will not, as some have suggested, include leading the open-wheel organization from the top.

    “Brian continues to be an executive member of INDYCAR and his understanding of our sport continues to provide our organization with valuable input," read a statement supplied by the series. "However, Brian’s future role with INDYCAR will not be as CEO of the organization.”

    Barnhart will, however, play a greater role within INDYCAR's competition department.

    The longtime series employee held the position of President of Competition and Racing Operations through the 2011 season, but under the direction of former series CEO Randy Bernard, saw most of his power and authority stripped heading into 2012.

    With Bernard no longer involved with the series, Barnhart has been utilized in a more meaningful capacity and that trend is expected to continue as he is tasked with greater responsibilities in the competition department.

    Barnhart earned high marks from IndyCar teams for handling the spare parts price saga, and also lent his experience to a number of internal projects, including the recent Leader Circle payout structure.

    Although Barnhart's exact duties within the series' new management structure are still somewhat undefined, it's known he will take more of an overarching position on competition-related decisions within the IndyCar offices.

    I'm told that Barnhart, who also served as INDYCAR’s Race Director through 2011, will not influence on-track activities during race weekends, meaning current Race Director Beaux Barfield and his team of stewards will continue to act autonomously.
    http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ing-expanding/


    OK... Here's my take:
    What are they thinking?????????
    The series is trying to climb out of a hole and reconnect with fans and find new fans. Fans rejoiced when TGBB was moved aside last season. About the only problem IMO is he was left connected at all. Even if Indycar thought the fans were wrong about him, it's not like he's the key to open wheel racing in America. So why give him any responsibility and rub fans' noses in the fact that he's still here?

    Oh well... I can't imagine the Hulman-George family selling the speedway... But I'm convinced more and more that is what needs to happen to really move forward.
    Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

    ------

    "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

    -John Wooden

  • #2
    Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

    And then there's this gem...

    http://jalopnik.com/the-screwing-of-...iver-178421260
    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
    "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

      I saw that the other day and wasn't sure what to make of it. I don't know know where things are contractually but from a driver talent standpoint wouldn't this be a net gain for Indycar? I'd think Bourdais and Saavedra are both legitimate threats to win this season. I'm not sure I'd put Legge in the threat to win category.

      Of course on the 'move the needle with the public meter'... it's nothing. It's not an intl superstar driver, a supermodel coming to racing, a Nascar driving moving to Indy, or a grassroots young American kid who can drive anything with an engine skipping Cup and coming to Indy.
      Last edited by Bball; 02-14-2013, 03:02 PM.
      Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

      ------

      "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

      -John Wooden

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

        No. She isn't. But, it makes me sick that they can be so blatant about breaking contracts. Saavedra is a good driver. I'm sure that it's a money deal.
        http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
        "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

          Originally posted by DaveP63 View Post
          No. She isn't. But, it makes me sick that they can be so blatant about breaking contracts. Saavedra is a good driver. I'm sure that it's a money deal.
          True, but in this case didn't Legge's sponsor jump ship to another driver... or was it always Jay Penske's sponsor and Legge just the benefactor?

          Of course in the backroom I could easily see a driver who had brought new sponsorship to a team thus securing a ride/spot on the team, and then the team so hellbent on that next step they go into backroom negotiations to steal their own driver's sponsor away for another driver who brings more talent.. .and possibly even more money/sponsorship.....
          Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

          ------

          "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

          -John Wooden

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

            Originally posted by Bball View Post
            Of course in the backroom I could easily see a driver who had brought new sponsorship to a team thus securing a ride/spot on the team, and then the team so hellbent on that next step they go into backroom negotiations to steal their own driver's sponsor away for another driver who brings more talent.. .and possibly even more money/sponsorship.....
            99 percent of the time it's this...
            http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
            "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

              http://morefrontwing.com/2013/02/14/...-women-racers/
              http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
              "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                Right on the money.

                http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ine-delayed/P1
                http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
                "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                  ...And Nascar comes awfully close to putting a car thru the fence today. Poles broken, hole in fence, and engine and front wheel(s) on the fan side of the fence. ...Waiting to hear if there were any injuries in the stands.
                  Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                  ------

                  "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                  -John Wooden

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                    Ok... Looking like it could be serious. For all of the TV commentator's talk about the fence doing it's job the word is there are several injuries (no idea about severity) and clearly pieces of the wreck didn't just stop at the wall.

                    Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                    ------

                    "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                    -John Wooden

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                      I heard one minor was injured

                      Not sure if that is the same person who had the head trauma

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                        Here's a link, some brief NSFW language, I doubt the link will be up long.
                        http://youtu.be/LPp33gUvFQU

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                          Yes... Deadspin has that same footage in hidef.
                          http://deadspin.com/5986464/todays-n...alf?tag=nascar
                          A couple of things I noted.... There's a cameraman setup within inches of where the car impacted the fence. His videocamera is shown toppled and not healthy in a photo I saw. I hope he got lucky.

                          Also, I'm not sure what we see exactly at the fence before the wreck. It looks like there is a section made to remove or is hinged maybe. The car seems to have maybe hit that part perfectly. That could've been a weaker section of the fence that took the full force of the car.

                          ESPN did an absolutely horrendous job of covering this. Especially initially. Talk about putting their heads in the sand. They totally deferred to letting Nascar tell them whatever Nascar wanted to tell them rather than sending a cameraman and a reporter over there and seeing for themselves what had happened.

                          The catchfence at racetracks needs to remain in the discussion. Indycar has had it's share of near misses (not to mention things getting over the top of the fence). The majority have happened in sections with no fans. And Nascar has came awfully close to putting a car in the seats for sometime now.
                          Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                          ------

                          "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                          -John Wooden

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                            Larson's car hit the spectator gate that allows the masses to access the track after the race. It's gone now, they removed it overnight. That tire, A arm and brake assembly came over the fence. The rest of it (Motor, other tire) came to rest just inside the crash wall. Thank God. Though, some woman claimed that the motor hit her on the legs. I doubt that or she'd have crushed or no legs. I really thought that they had spit that motor up into the stands. There was enough water, oil, fiberglass and miscellaneous metal going up there as it was. Wheel tethers would not have helped that since the entire front doghouse was torn off.
                            http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...nce-stephenson
                            "But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetime’s worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 2013 Indycar Thread

                              OMG am I glad Danica is gone from Indycar! Watching Daytona today was painful with all the Danica mentions, in car shots, her radio, etc.. And when 'go' time came, back she went.

                              Soooo the first interview after the race? 8th place finisher Danica Patrick. Not a couple of the little teams that did well and could use the exposure... Not a top 3 finisher. Not someone that made a big leap in the last couple of laps. Not someone involved in that last lap wreck. Danica Patrick.

                              That sh-t will not sit well very long with other teams, other sponsors, other drivers, and diehards. All she does is soak limelight away from people who actually deserve the accolades and that is NOT good for the sport (because accolades =exposure and exposure is what drives sponsors to the sport). It might seem good short term, but it's not IMHO when people start to realize she's getting the spotlight away from deserving drivers over the long haul.

                              Danica Patrick was not winning this race today as long as it finished under green. Go time for Danica means go backwards...
                              Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                              ------

                              "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                              -John Wooden

                              Comment

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