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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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JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

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  • JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

    So, for all you darksiders out there, I assume this is just David Benner pulling a Karl Rove here, and none of this is to be believed. I mean, Johnny's a wuss, this can't possibly be true.

    http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/bender_050103.html

    Bender Optimistic, Team Cautious About Return



    By Conrad Brunner | Jan. 3, 2005
    After his first practice in more than six weeks Monday, Jonathan Bender pronounced himself ready to return for Saturday's game in Dallas.


    Bender


    "I can say I'm pretty much back now," Bender said. "I've just got to get a couple of practices in and I'm looking to come back Saturday."

    His optimism, while welcome, wasn't universal.

    Coach Rick Carlisle and forward Jermaine O'Neal, Bender's closest friend on the team, both urged caution in developing a sense of anticipation about the oft-injured forward.

    "I'm not going to talk about getting Bender back until he's back," Carlisle said. "He's doing a little better but this has been a long process. I'm optimistic, especially off of what I saw today, but until he gets a uniform back on, we're putting the cart before the horse.


    Carlisle


    "Let's see where he is tomorrow and the next day before we can get to Saturday. I know he's worked awfully hard. I know he's doing much better. But this is a situation where I just think we've got to err on the side of reality. We're not sure exactly how long it could take. I'm glad to hear him talk about playing. That's great news. But until he's back, I'm not going to get sucked in."

    Plagued by pain in his right knee, Bender hasn't played since Nov. 17. He missed all of training camp and the preseason, then returned for the regular-season opener on Nov. 3 and played well, scoring 11 points in 16 minutes against Cleveland. But the pain returned the next day and he didn't play for two weeks. After that appearance, the pain again recurred and it was decided to shut Bender down for at least six weeks to allow the knee time to fully recover.

    Bender missed 61 games last season and 36 in 2002-03 with a variety of injuries, including left knee, right shoulder and left calf. All told, he has missed 123 of the Pacers' last 171 regular-season games.

    "We just want him to take his time," said O'Neal. "When we have really anticipated him coming back and playing, he's kind of taken two steps back, so we don't want to put any added pressure on him. Come back when you get the opportunity. It's a marathon. It's a long season. We haven't even reached the (All-Star) break yet.


    O'Neal


    "Let him get some practice time, learn some of the plays, get some rhythm and come back whenever we can. We need him for the stretch run of the season. We want him to be totally healthy and comfortable and to continue to do what he's been doing."

    The past month-and-a-half have been particularly frustrating for Bender because the team was desperately shorthanded after the suspensions of O'Neal, Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest.

    "It was hard, man," Bender said. "We were shorthanded and I had to sit. There really wasn't too much I could do about it."

    Bender said he spent the previous four days working in New Orleans with strength and conditioning coach Mackie Shilstone. He joined the team for practice Monday and said he felt better physically than "probably since high school."

    As a result, the excitement Bender felt entering training camp, before the knee pain became a problem, has returned.

    "It's still there all over again," he said. "I'm excited. I was excited today just to be running with the fellas again." The rest of the Pacers will share his excitement if, this time, his comeback is complete.


    Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

  • #2
    Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

    Aren't the Pacers better served by making him participate in a full-contact practice, or maybe the scrimmage at the end of practice. He'll get hurt again within six minutes, guaranteed. And then you won't have a healthy player sitting on the injured list for four more games...
    Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
    Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
    Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
    Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
    And life itself, rushing over me
    Life itself, the wind in black elms,
    Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

      Great news!!! That is the right way to handle the situation.


      I would rather be the hammer than the nail

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

        I feel bad for Jon, I really think he wants to be out there, and has all the talent in the world, but just can't shake the injury bug.
        You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

          Make him sit until he is hungry enough and healed enough to play through the pain.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

            ..
            The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

              I'm not following your logic on this at all.

              Nowhere do I read where Rick is keeping him back. I read that to mean that Rick isn't going to count on him until he is actually in uniform & playing. In other words more than one practice.

              Also, I could be wrong here, but what the hell does David Benner have to do with any of this? Or did you mean Conrad Brunner?

              Either way, this is the Pacers news site. No offense but they know the fans are very frustrated with Bender & of course they are going to put out that poor Jon felt bad about not being able to play while the team was suspended left & right. He may or he may not have been, the problem is I won't trust the source. To further your analogy of this, it would be like going to the G.O.P. websight to get the days news around the world. While you & I would probably have no problem with that, it would hardly be a fair & unbiased reading. Just like this.

              But here is hoping Jon comes back soon & can be productive.


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

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                The bitterness many of you have towards Bender is beyond my comprehension.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                  Oh, watch it UB. You know what's coming..."If we'd had AD, we would have beat the Lakers, regardless of the fact that Dale, a much better defender, couldn't do **** against Shaq. Tony would have saved us, even if he was a lazy malcontent who couldn't even guard Marcus Camby, not that he tried or anything."

                  And Peck, yeah, I know Rick didn't say that, I was just looking to get a rise out of you. As for Benner, I naturally assumed the conspiracy buffs would just assume that the Pacers media guy was the one behind this web of deceit including the media and each and every coach Johnny's played for and teammate he's played with. You know, the one that made up the whole "he's great in practice" thing, and "he's the most talented player on our team", and "he bench presses more than anyone", and, the latest, the absurd idea that he might actually want to play.
                  Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                    Originally posted by Unclebuck
                    The bitterness many of you have towards Bender is beyond my comprehension.
                    It's quite simple, really. A fan fav in AD was sent packing for JB, who has been a bust so far. In addition, a few believe that we would have won the championship if AD had been in a Pacers uni during the 2000 Finals. So, in that respect, some people may believe that JB cost the Pacers a championship.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                      Originally posted by Unclebuck
                      The bitterness many of you have towards Bender is beyond my comprehension.
                      I can only speak for myself.

                      It truely is the Pacers fault for this. He was hyped to much. If they would have just come out & said "we've drafted a player who is not yet ready to play the game but we feel that he has the potential to become a very good player in a few years".

                      The problem, for me, is that they didn't do that. They hyped up the fact that he broke Jordans scoring record. Every setback was emballished with some form of mysterious great deed he could perform away from the playing floor & in practice, ie. he beats Bird routinely in h-0-r-s-e or even more recently he tears up O'Neal in practice.

                      Also I will not hide the fact that this guy getting his money & spot guaranteed has contributed to the loss of two players who I think would have been more benfitial to the team. Brad & Al.

                      I understand the knee injury, I have never faulted him for that. However it's hard see players like Artest, O'neal, Tinsley, Miller, Croshere, etc., etc. play with pain & hobbling while it just seems like Jon can't take a thing. How do I know? I don't. But Scot Pollard over the summer pretty much called him out on it.

                      The shoulder thing from last season was where I really got p!ssed.

                      Like I said in an earlier post, I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that Jon doesn't understand the basic concepts of basketball. He understands the spectacular but just does not get the basics. So, IMO, if he isn't able to get up & do a windmill dunk or a high flying block he doesn't think he's contributing to the team. When all along if he could have just come in & set a pick or even relieve Croshere for 3 min. spurts so the guy could have caught his wind he would have been helping.

                      I think a lot of it has to do with his fans though as well. I gave up a long time ago on him being a superstar, but I still hope he can be a contributer to the team. To many of his fans keep wanting to talk about him being a great savior. We don't need a savior we just need a contributer.

                      I'm with Doug on this. I have no expectations for him, if he contributes great if not we are not missing anything.


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

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                        That was how many years ago. The trade was 5 1/2 years ago.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                          Originally posted by vapacersfan
                          A Pacers fan never forgets
                          They don't?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                            Originally posted by Unclebuck
                            That was how many years ago. The trade was 5 1/2 years ago.
                            Well, Tony's half-assed play cost us a title 6 years ago, and I'm still not over that, so I can understand.
                            Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: JB wants to play, Rick holding him back

                              Originally posted by Kegboy
                              Well, Tony's half-assed play cost us a title 6 years ago, and I'm still not over that, so I can understand.
                              The problem wasn't trading AD.... the problem was trading AD for Bender.

                              6 yrs ago...And before giving AD too much blame let's not let Smits off the hook either.

                              -Bball
                              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

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