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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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A digest carrol.....

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  • #46
    Re: A digest carrol.....

    That was great! I missed it last year, so thanks for posting it again.

    Merry Christmas.

    Comment


    • #47
      Re: A digest carrol.....

      I wasn't here last year so it was the first time i've seen it. I must say that my great-grandchildren will probably be studying that in their college literature class. I have no idea how you can up with. Melville, Dickinson, Poe, Peck?

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: A digest carrol.....

        Yeah, I missed that last year, but that is absolutely brilliant!

        It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

        Comment


        • #49
          Re: A digest carrol.....

          Wow. Nice job, Peck.

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: A digest carrol.....

            OK, Peck, here is the straightened-up version we talked about.

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

            Peck Presents:

            A Digest Carol

            Little Hicks sat in his corner so close to the little fire that he surely would rub his hands raw from trying to absorb the warmth. For his employer would not allow him to place any additional coal or wood on the fire because that would be taking an offensive stance toward the matter. His employer demanded that all things must be done defensively, so young Hicks could warm himself and not spend a penny more on luxuries of coal or wood.

            "HICKS!" shouted his employer, "I don't pay you to sit there wasting time daydreaming by the fire! Get back to work and I'll not hear one word from you until you have completed printing every single TruWarrior T-Shirt."

            "Yes sir." replied Hicks.

            Knowing that tomorrow was Christmas he did not want to raise the ire of his employer so that he would be able to get his full day off and maybe even some form of bonus. Young Hicks went back to diligently stitching each shirt by hand.

            A knock at the front door was heard.

            "Well don't just sit there get the door." yelled Hicks' employer.

            "Yes sir." replied Hicks.

            While wrapping himself in a gold-colored comforter that had a large :thepacers on one end, young Hicks slowly made his way towards the door without hesitation, but with full knowledge that a cold chill accompanied opening that frigid door.

            Another knock and Hicks was opening the door.

            In the doorway stood the cheery face of Jay@section204 with his wife.

            "Come in, come in before you catch your death of cold!" Hicks cheerfully said to Jay.

            Jay & his wife swiftly walked into the small shop and brushed the snow away from each other, laughing in the goodness of the day.

            "Is your master in?" asked Jay.

            "But of course he is," said Hicks, "however I fear you will find him in poor humor these days."

            "Nonsense." Jay replied, "I come about today to invite him to Christmas lunch and to enjoy the merry tidings of the season and to watch the Pacers play on Christmas day."

            "BAH HUMBUG!" a deep voice said.

            The room grew colder, even though the door was shut, and a dark shadow was cast over the gathering of people. For there standing in the stairway looking down upon the group was Hicks' employer.

            He was wearing an official #15 Ron Artest jersey from the Chicago Bulls, he had on Jordan Nikes and had a #8 Bryant gold wristband.

            It was Unclebuck.

            "Uncle, come with us to lunch upon the morrow and we will feast. Then we will retreat to watch the Pacers play the Pistons and we will watch the glorious return of Jermaine O'Neal." Jay said.

            "A hum bug upon O'Neal and a hum bug upon the Pacers." U.B. stated.

            "A hum bug upon the Pacers?" questioned Jay.

            "Yes, A hum bug." said U.B.

            "You keep the Pacers in your way and let me keep it in my own way." said U.B.

            "But you scarcely keep them at all anymore." Jay said sadly.

            "Then let me leave it alone then." responded U.B.

            "What reason do you have to dislike the Pacers, you've spent enough money over the years on them?" asked Jay

            "What reason do you have to like the Pacers, you've scarcely bought ten games a year for several seasons now?" responded U.B. sourly.

            "I will keep my Christmas cheer about me and wish you the merriest of holidays and will hold hope that you will join us for lunch and the game tomorrow." said a smiling Jay.

            "Bah Humbug!" said U.B. under his breath as he turned and went towards the staircase.

            Without a further word a smiling Jay and wife turned towards young Hicks and gladly wished the seasons greeting upon him. In turn young Hicks warmly returned their wishes, even though he was cold of body he still was flowing with the promise of the day and the joy that is Pacers pride. With that Jay and Hicks each said "Merry Christmas" followed by a rousing "Boom Baby!"

            Old U.B.'s blood was steaming.

            "Not another word out of you, young Hicks, lest you find yourself without your situation." said U.B.

            "Yes sir." replied Hicks has he shuffled back to his stitching.

            As Jay and wife walked out the door a good natured big fellow walked in.

            "Is this the business of 'all things defense' with the owners of Uncle Buck & FireTheCoach?" asked the man.

            "I've spent a good deal of money on a sign to advertise that very fact." said U.B.

            Smiling widely the man said, "My name is Big Mac and I've come from the Pacers foundation. Do I have the pleasure of speaking to Mr. Buck or Mr. Coach?"

            "FireTheCoach has been dead for these past 7 months. Actually, he died seven months ago this very night." said U.B.

            "Well, I'm sure the liberalism and goodness in nature of FireTheCoach will be represented by his partner." replied Big Mac.

            Snickering U.B. said, "Yes FTC and myself were kindred spirits."

            "Good good then." said Big Mac, "We are collecting for the poor and underprivileged of Indianapolis so that they may go to the Reggie Miller youth camp this summer. Reggie will be teaching the young to shoot threes and how to drive the lane."

            "Will there be no fronting the post taught?" asked U.B.

            "Will there be no education of how to send two guards back to stop the break?" further queried U.B.

            "Yes, yes I'm certain these skills will be taught, but Reggie will be focusing on complete fundamentals of the game." said Big Mac

            "How much can I put you down for?" asked Big Mac.

            "Nothing." replied U.B.

            "You wish to remain anonomous then?" asked Big Mac.

            "I wish to be left alone." said U.B. "I don't make merry at the holidays anymore and if someone wishes to learn basketball skills they should go to the TruWarier program in NYC to learn the trade."

            With that Big mac turned and left the business.

            "I suppose you will be wanting the whole day off tomorrow?" asked U.B. sourly to Hicks.

            "If it's not too much trouble, sir." he sheepishly replied.

            "Yes, it is troublesome. What reason is it to celebrate the robbing of a man every December 25, if I paid you $1.00 less you would feel yourself ill used." said U.B. "You be back in here all the earlier the next day."

            "Yes, sir." said Hicks who then wrapped himself up in his comforter and placed on his Pacers gloves and ran out the door.

            'Humbug.' thought U.B.

            Unclebuck closed up the shop and he removed the one little lump of coal from the fire that he allowed Hicks to burn. He rubbed off the used pieces and placed it to the side, proud of the fact that he could use the coal again come Monday.

            U.B. gathered himself up and wrapped himself in his new red jacket that had a emblem on it. He placed his new hat on that had a :mavericks logo on it and headed out the door.

            On his way home he stopped by the local dank restraunt so that he could eat his stew and read SLAM magazine. After reading all the articles, skipping any referance to the Pacers, he slowly made his way home.

            As he approached his house, the wind was stirring almost to the point of a howl being in the air. As he wrestled with his keys in the dim light, his eyes betrayed him. For there on his door knocker appeared a face. A face that was in pain and anguish. He could not make out the face, but he recognized the painful look on the face. Then it was gone.

            'Bah Humbug.' thought U.B. as he slowly opened his door.

            The night progressed and U.B. sat down to enjoy a cup of soup before going off to bed. He sat in his corner chair that faced the fire place sipping at his soup and watching the fire.

            Then a sound began. Clanking of chains and a moan filled the air.

            U.B. sat stunned.

            'No.' he thought to himself, 'This is just in my mind.'

            Then the fire blew out with a whoosh. The smoke began to envelop the room and U.B. began to cough. As he was rising to his feet he stopped, stared and then fell deep into his chair. For there standing before him in the room.

            FIRETHECOACH'S ghost.

            "Who are you spirit?" asked U.B.

            "Ask me who I was." stated the spirit.

            "Who were you then?" asked U.B., stating, "You are awfully particular for a ghost."

            "In life I was your partner." replied the spirit.

            "FTC, is that you?" asked U.B.

            "Yes." replied the spirit.

            "Why do you wear such a burden, and why are you here haunting me?" asked U.B.

            "These chains are the excuses I formed in life." replied FTC. "I made them link-by-link every time Ron Artest did something bad but I excused it because he was such a good player."

            "Do you not beleive in me?" said FTC, seeing that U.B. had an uncaring look upon his face.

            "The mind and senses can be fooled." said U.B., suddenly feeling smart about himself. "A piece of cheese; an undigested potato. Why there is more gravy than grave to you, I fear."

            With that FTC let out a loud ear-piercing howl.

            Visibly shaken U.B. states, "Why do you haunt me my old friend?"

            "I am here to warn you."? said FTC. "These links I wear I forged in life and now I am cursed to walk the earth. Never resting, never sleeping, the chain you bear is seven times longer than my own. I am here to warn you to change your ways, or you will be cursed to the same fate I am."

            "But you were a good man of the defensive business!" cried U.B.

            "Offense was my business, rebounding was my business, fundamental basketball was all part of my business, but I didn't learn this 'til it was too late."

            With that a hand appeared from the fire place and pulled on FTC's chain.

            "Quick; I have no more time." said FTC. "You will be visited by three more spirits before this night is over. I pray that the lessons they teach will not be lost on you."

            With a puff of smoke he was gone.

            U.B. ran to his room, threw off his clothes, put on his new p.j.'s with the logo on it and pulled the covers over his head.

            He was shaking so that he fell fastly to sleep.

            The gentle tolling on the clock bells rang, quarter past the hour, half past the hour, quarter till the hour then the hour itself.

            U.B. sat up in bed and looked around the room. Nothing came.

            "Whew. It was all a bad dream." thought U.B. And with that he laid back down turned to his side. He closed his eyes but felt a lump behind him in the bed. He rolled over to remove the out of place pillow when he came face to face with a spirit wearing a Pacers basketball cap, a Roger Brown jersey, and nothing more .

            U.B. jumped from the bed and shouted, "Who are you?!"

            "I am the ghost of Pacers past." said the spirit.

            "The far past?" asked U.B.

            "Your past." replied the spirit.

            "Take me where you will, spirit, for I am tired." said U.B.

            "Grab my jersey, then." said the spirit.

            U.B. looking oddly at him as he realized that the spirit was only covered by an oversized jersey.

            "Call me ABADays." said the spirit, even though you are too young to remember them yourself.

            As he takes hold of his jersey, U.B. feels his body lift from the floor and through his roof.

            Oddly, in the air U.B. heard the sounds of Jerry Baker, Bob Lamy and Mark Boyle calling out play-by-play from years' past.

            The snow grew heavy to the point where U.B. could not see, then poof, he was in a warm room.

            It was his old house. He saw himself sitting before a television as a very young child. On the T.V. were the Pacers and it looked like they were playing the Washington Bullets.

            "Why have you brought me here, ABADays?" asked U.B. "What is there to benefit me here?"

            "These are the memories of your past." stated ABADays. "These are the times that make a young man who he is in life."

            "But these days sucked!" cried U.B. "Just look out there! That's Ricky Sobers and Johny Davis! My God that is James Edwards in the middle!"

            "Yes, but remember, U.B., this is right after the merger." said ABADays. "The N.B.A. took a heavy toll on the team when they merged with the league, and even though they lacked talent you took pride as a young man in the way they played the game."

            "Yes, it's true," said U.B. "but I hated the losing so bad."

            "It got worse didn't it?" asked ABADays.

            "Yes, sadly it did." said U.B.

            With that a mist swirled about them and they were in another time.

            "My God, is that George Irvin on the sidelines?" asked U.B.

            "Yes, I'm afraid it is." said ABAdays. "The team suffered long and hard under the ownership of Sam Nassi, but a new ownership has taken over and a new spirit is in the air."

            U.B. saw an older version of himself sitting in M.S.A. The seats were empty and the cutains in the upper deck were drawn closed.

            Yet there he was, proudly watching as a young rookie named Chuck Person was taking it to the solid Milwaukee Bucks.

            The young U.B. was talking to another fan after the game and said, "Man someday we will be as good as the Bucks are. I can see us winning fourty eight games some day and making the playoffs." The spirit of his youth spilled over.

            A smoke enveloped U.B. and the spirit and again they are in another time.

            U.B. found an older version of himself standing on his feet, jumping up and down cheering wildly.

            "I don't ever recall cheering out loud at M.S.A." said U.B. to ABADays.

            "Look closer at the floor." said ABADays.

            Looking down on the floor U.B. saw Reggie Miller jumping in a circle with Dale Davis, Rik Smits, and Mark Jackson running to him. He saw Jordan and the rest of the Bulls going to their bench and he realized that he was at the game where Reggie hit the three with 1 second left on the clock.

            A tear welled up in the eyes of U.B.

            "What is it?" asked ABADays.

            "Oh I only wish I could have said something to Jay@Section204 right now." said U.B., as he hid the tear.

            He looked on his younger self. He could see the pride that he had from years of watching basketball played the right way.

            Again smoke eveloped them and again they were gone.

            This time they came back and he saw an older U.B. Not one with lines of age, but one in the prime of life. However, he could see that some of the joy was gone.

            His younger self sat at a computer typing. He peeked over his shoulder and saw what he was typing.

            "Spirit," said U.B., "take me away from here. I don't want to see anymore."

            "What troubles you?" asked ABADays. "Could it be what you are typing?" With that, ABADays projected the words that the young U.B. was typing on the Pacers Digest forum.

            Over and over again he kept typing the same thing. "Defense wins games, I don't care about statistics, Ron Artest is the perfect basketball player, I'm glad we got rid of Brad Miller because he wasn't worth the money."

            "No, spirit." said U.B. "Don't make me see the next part."

            With a wave of his hand, ABADays projected in big red letters on the wall the words that an older U.B. was typing.

            "OK, I have waited as long as I can. You knew this was coming, I waited as long as I could, and I freely admit I should wait until Jax and J.O. come back to make this post. But I can't wait any longer. Pacers will not win a championship without Ron Artest. I believe that with all my mind, heart and soul."

            With that, U.B. fell to the ground weeping, shouting, "Take me away!! Take me away!!"

            ABADays, having grown smaller and older in a very short time said, "My time is almost up. There are still things to be learned on this night, and I pray you learn them."

            Poof, U.B. was back in his bed. He fell asleep weeping.

            Ding Dong, Ding Dong sounded the clanging of louder bells.

            In the hallway U.B. could see a light and heard a loud sound of music playing in the air.

            He made his way to the hallway and opened the door. When he gazed in the room he saw a shining gold light with blue sparkles coming off of it. There were Pacemates dancing and there was D.J. Paul B in the corner playing "Let's Go" by Trick Daddy.

            "Are you the next spirit that ABADays spoke of?" asked U.B. in amazement, feeling like he was on Mars.

            "Nah, Dawg, I'm just part of the posse. He's your man." said PB777 as he pointed to the corner of the room where a young kid sat in a corner with a yellow throwback O'Neal #7 jersey and a big yellow hat with a sideways crook.

            "lol whatup dawg." said the spirit.

            "Are you the spirit that ABADays warned me of?" asked U.B.

            "word my brotha, im the ghost of pacers present!!!!!1111!!!! youcan call me JOneal7."

            "Take me where you will then, I would profit from what you seek to teach me as I have already learned from ABADays."

            "grab the rim bro!!1111!!!!! im bout to kick up sum dust, lol" said JOneal7.

            U.B. hesitantly reached out & grabbed the brim of the spirits ballcap and hed on tight as it twisted backwards.

            They flew up to the Castleton area. They landed at Briggsy's Pizza King.

            Inside there was a party going on. Jay@Secton204 was there, along with his wife. Jose Slaughter was there and U.B. saw that he was studying everybody present. MagicRat was there, and U.B. saw what looked like a recording device under his shirt. RoamingGnome was there and was in good cheer. Tim was there, but was not in a good mood. He was wearing a #3 jersey. obnoxiousmodesty was arguing with Diamond Dave over which was better, DS9 or TNG. Doug was there and while nobody was looking he was eating more pizza.

            There was joy and good tidings in the room.

            At this time Jay stepped forward and offered a toast. "To Unclebuck, although he won't have good Pacers pride about himself anymore, I say Merry Christmas to him, and a long, happy life."

            Jay's wife turned to him and said, "For all of the good a toast will do him."

            Jay then said, "I will greet him every year and if he finds me in good humor than I say that he will be hard pressed to turn me away."

            With that the party faded, but before it was gone, U.B. thought he saw the image of Suaveness walking into the room announcing some form of trade, but he couldn't hear what he said.

            U.B. & JOneal7 flew through the air again, and they then found themselves barried in snow up past their butts in a small town called New Castle.

            Here they came upon U.B.'s poor clerk, Hicks. He was watching reruns of "Firefly" and wishing that the new Serenity movie would be out.

            JOneal7 took off his cap and sprinkled some dust on Hicks to which Hicks smiled.

            "Is there some particular blessing in your dandruff?" asked U.B.

            "straight up." said JOneal7.

            At this point in time Shade entered the room on crutches.

            "JOneal7, what is wrong with Shade?" asked U.B.

            "sad dawg." said JOneal7. "he's got the fever in his bones. he went to a stuck fern rally and caught it there it's been eating away at him since. lol"

            "Will he make it?" asked U.B.

            "I see an empty chair at the next pacersdigest party if things don't change." said JOneal7, shaking his head.

            They were back in the hallway of U.B.'s house now, and the Pacemates and PB777 were gone and only a dimly lit candle lit the room.

            "JOneal7," said U.B. "I don't mean to speak out of place, but under your warmups I see two appendages that stick out from behind your legs. Are they claws?"

            JOneal7 said, "they might as well be claws for all the good they will do." Then out from his warmups walked a boy and a girl, both drawn and disfigured.

            JOneal7 stated, "the girl is the lottery and the boy is mediocrity but beware the boy the most for he is the downfall of franchises."

            "Spirit, won't a good offense with solid fundamental save them?" asked U.B.

            "Will there be no fronting the post taught?! Will there be no education of how to send two guards back to stop the break?!" yelled JOneal7 as he faded away.

            Unclebuck was in a ball in the corner by the wall when a light brightly shined on him. The windows opened and a spirit appeared through the curtains.

            He pointed a bony cold finger at U.B.

            "You are the spirit I fear most of all." said U.B. from his fetal postion. "For you are the ghost of Pacers future."

            The ghost shook his head and in doing so revealed that his face looked strangely like Jose Slaughter. 'Odd.' thought U.B.

            "Take me where you will spirit." said U.B. "I have learned my lesson well this night and I would learn what you have to teach me."

            U.B. took the spirit's cape and away they flew. West they flew. Far far west landing in the lights and strip of Las Vegas.

            "Why have you taken me here?" asked U.B.

            The spirit pointed behind him to a large arena on the edge of town with a marque that was just being lit up.

            U.B. quickly averted his eyes. "No spirit. Please tell me what is on the sign, for I cannot bare to look." said U.B.

            The spirit stood silently.

            "Why must you torment me so?!" cried U.B.

            Along the side of the road he saw two young men walking wearing Pacers jersies.

            "Well, at the very least the team is closer to watch than in the old days." said one to the other.

            "No, spirit. Please, please don't let this be!" cried U.B.

            The spirit pointed to the marque.

            The sign said: "The Los Angeles Lakers vs. The Las Vegas Pacers"

            U.B. screamed with all of his might, and dropped to the ground to plead with the spirit. "No! I've learned my lesson! If the fans don't support the team they have, then they may have no team at all! Winning is only good if it is done with honor and no one player is above game! I've changed! I've changed!! I've changed!!!!!"

            Ding ding ding ding went the clock.

            U.B. opened his eyes. "I'm back. I've made it!"

            He jumped out of bed, threw open a window, and saw a small boy.

            "You, young fellow!" said U.B. "What day is it?

            "Why, it's Christmas day!" said the boy.

            "Then I haven't missed it! The spirits did all of their work in one night!!" yelled a joyous Unclebuck.

            He threw off his p.j.'s and dug in his closet, found his Jamaal Tinsley #11 jersey, put on gold and blue warmups, threw on his Pacers jacket he had under the bed, and ran out the door.

            He drove as fast as he could to Briggy's Pizza King in Castleton.

            He opened the door and a silence came over the room. Jay@Section204 walked toward him.

            "Jay." said U.B. "I want to come to the party. I want to watch the Pacers."

            "Merry Christmas, Unclebuck! Merry Christmas to us all!" said Jay.

            It was said that from that day forward, no man alive kept the spirit of Pacers pride as well as Unclebuck. He was as good a friend, neighbor, and employer as any man alive.

            And to young Shade, who did not die, he became to him an older brother to care for him for the rest of his life.

            The End.


            P.S. My apologies to Charles Dickens.

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: A digest carrol.....

              gonna keep bumping this till after Christmas
              The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: A digest carrol.....

                Well, ABA has fallen asleep at the bump wheel, and this is about to fall off the first page of threads. So, have a "Bumpy" Christmas....

                ....that just didn't turn out how I wanted it too....
                It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: A digest carrol.....

                  Originally posted by pizza guy
                  Well, ABA has fallen asleep at the bump wheel, and this is about to fall off the first page of threads. So, have a "Bumpy" Christmas....

                  ....that just didn't turn out how I wanted it too....
                  Thanks for having my back.
                  The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: A digest carrol.....

                    no problem





                    *bump*
                    It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: A digest carrol.....

                      *Sticks thread* I've got both [of] your backs.

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: A digest carrol.....

                        Originally posted by MagicRat
                        OMG.........


                        LOL.... what a great pic of me... hahaha, this is from the 3rd party. It looks like I was having a good time... thats my "6 Beers" face I do belive.

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: A digest carrol.....

                          Sorry guys won't have time to put up a new one this year.

                          Well at least not today, I might try & put something up Sunday or so but no promises.

                          Instead let's reflect & see if U.B. has learned from his visits?

                          Mary Christmas everybody!!!!!


                          Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: A digest carrol.....

                            Merry Christmas to you as well Peck!
                            The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Re: A digest carrol.....

                              Looking forward to the trilogy.

                              It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                              Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                              Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                              NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Re: A digest carrol.....

                                Originally posted by Kstat View Post
                                Looking forward to the trilogy.
                                Amen to that! Re-runs are fun..but fresh material is ALWAYS better.
                                Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.

                                Comment

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