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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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Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

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  • Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

    I've been thinking about how much this weekend's Pacers/Heat game will influence the attitudes of broadcasters, analysts in the NBA media. Think about how different talk radio will be the next day given who the winner is:

    IF THE PACERS WIN: Many in the media have been saying the Pacers might be only team in the East to challenge Miami. They'll REALLY be saying that if we win at Miami and run our record to 3-0 against them. I can hear Colin Cowherd now: "If you never believed me that the Pacers are legit, you better believe it now"

    IF THE HEAT WIN: It will probably be their 18th straight win and the coronation will reach its zenith. The Pacers, for a little while at least, will be forgotten.

    There's no way I'll be rooting against the Pacers once the ball is tipped, but in my head I wonder if a loss might be a good thing. I say this because the Heat are probably tired of hearing about the Pacers being their only challenger. They'll want to make a statement and put us in our place.

    I say... let them! Let them get that out of their system now, in the regular season, so they can return to their overconfident selves, like in 2011. Many thought the Heat lost to Dallas because they were overconfident, and that they beat OKC because they were humbled and more focused. Losing by 20 to them on Sunday might not be a horrible thing. Let them feel like the Eastern Conference Playoffs is just an annoying formality.

  • #2
    Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

    No, beating the Heat is always the answer.

    You've got to think they have a little doubt about whether they can beat the Pacers. They will use this game to try to see if they can or cannot.

    The Heat fear the Pacers. They know the Pacers have gotten better than last year's playoffs. Lebron of all people knows that PG is a legit foe.

    They don't know if they can beat this new and improved Pacer team. They've been playing their best ball of the season. If they lose this game, it'll go from not knowing to "maybe they are better than us". Meeting a timid Lebron and DWade in the playoffs is much better than meeting them with their confidence flowing.

    The Pacers almost scared them into a playoff loss last year before they figured out they were better than us. There's no way the Pacers will catch them off guard this year. Might as well keep that doubt in their mind of whether they can ever beat us.

    The only team that scares the Heat in the East is the Pacers. They know they can beat any other team in the East in the playoffs.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

      Originally posted by Randolph_HorseLips View Post
      There's no way I'll be rooting against the Pacers once the ball is tipped, but in my head I wonder if a loss might be a good thing. I say this because the Heat are probably tired of hearing about the Pacers being their only challenger. They'll want to make a statement and put us in our place.
      I'm going to the game this sunday and this is what I kind of predicted. The heat have a chance to shut everyone up about the hype surrounding the 2-0 season series the Pacers have on the heat. They can finally prove a point and make a statement that we are not on par with them.

      We can make a statement too, a huge one.

      I'll admit that I am not looking forward to my girl and I rocking Pacers gear at the Heat arena in a hostile crowd with the top 2 in the east squaring off....specially if that winning streak is on the line. Last time I went there in my Jermaine O'neal jersey for the playoffs I almost got killed LOL. Drunk heat fans are not very welcoming, even when their team wins!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

        Considering our recent turnover problems, it might be more difficult this time around. Heat unstoppable if you commit to many turnovers.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

          Originally posted by Pacerfan View Post
          If they lose this game, it'll go from not knowing to "maybe they are better than us". Meeting a timid Lebron and DWade in the playoffs is much better than meeting them with their confidence flowing.
          You say timid, I say focused. But I hear what you're saying.

          I think I'd rather see the Heat complacent/overconfident rather than focused.

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          • #6
            Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

            No. No. No.

            I want the Pacers to beat the Miami Heat into the ground. I'm so sicked and tired of us playing "second fiddle" to the Miami Heat on the national stage, and the Miami Heat "pretending" that the regular season is not important. IMHO, it's put up or shut up. If they can beat us, then they need to prove it, because we already prove that we can manhandle them. We're 12-3 for the last 15 games, and we've been smashing teams since the All-Star break.

            When I think about last year's playoff, they NEEDED historic production from Wade and Lebron to beat us. We're a MUCH better team than last year. Everyone wants to say that the road to the championship goes through Miami. I call B.S. on that mindset. Personally, I believe the road to a championship goes through the Pacers. We have the players and blueprint to beat Miami. If Miami is stupid enough to give us unshakeable confidence in the belief that we can beat them, then I'm calling it right now....

            The Indiana Pacers will be in the Finals.


            Remember when we could have gotten 1-2 solid players and a possible Top 3 draft pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by trading away Paul George?

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            • #7
              Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

              interesting take, but I will have to disagree. If we do meet Miami in the playoffs I do not think they will take us lightly, regardless of what happens on Sunday. Maybe the media ignores us but no other basketball teams will do that anymore, but it the Heat, Knicks or Bulls.
              On the other hand, I think its a big psychological advantage to go 3-0 against a team you will potentially face, especially when we can possibly end their winning streak at the same time.

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              • #8
                Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                As much as I dislike the Heat and would love to see us pull out a miraculous run to the Conference's top seed, the thought of being the bookends on Miami's 17-game win streak is just too enticing to pass up.

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                • #9
                  Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                  The ONLY time I would ever want the Pacers to (theoretically) not beat the Heat is if it were the last game of the regular season and a win meant we had to face them earlier in the playoffs and a loss meant we avoided them a bit longer.

                  Which, thinking about it, is incredibly far fetched and I don't really see how that could happen off the top of my head.

                  I guess what I am saying is, BEAT THE HEAT!

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                  • #10
                    Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                    Bookends to their streak. That'd be fantastic. Icing on that 3-0 Cake.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                      LWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWL

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                      • #12
                        Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                        Originally posted by mattie View Post
                        Bookends to their streak. That'd be fantastic. Icing on that 3-0 Cake.
                        I hadn't realized that. That WOULD be sweet, wouldn't it?

                        Don't get me wrong... I won't be rooting against the Pacers. I'd love to beat Miami, but I'm just afraid the more we beat them, the more they'll be "due" against us come playoff time.

                        I also wouldn't mind playing a vanilla game against them. You hear that term in the NFL when two teams play in Week 17 before they play in the playoffs. I don't think Vogel should reveal much of whatever offense/defense we'll be throwing at them in the playoffs. If he thinks a halfcourt game makes the most sense against them, for example, then maybe we should push the tempo Sunday (or vice versa).

                        As "sweet" as it would be to beat them and perhaps end a winning streak, I'm not sure how much it would ultimately matter.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by GrangeRusHibbert View Post
                          LWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWL
                          A possible new signature?

                          Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk 2


                          Remember when we could have gotten 1-2 solid players and a possible Top 3 draft pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by trading away Paul George?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                            Originally posted by ksuttonjr76 View Post
                            A possible new signature?

                            Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk 2
                            Let's not get ahead of ourselves folks, we have to win the actual game first.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Looking ahead to the Miami Game: Imagine the Mood Swing

                              I might be jumping the gun a little here but if Miami is still on their win streak come Sunday, that might be the biggest game in the entire league so far this season. And somehow all we got was NBATV.

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