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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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Time to get ready for the Pats!

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  • Time to get ready for the Pats!

    Go COLTS!!! The Colts jugernaught keeps on rollin'!

  • #2
    Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

    I really wish I was more of a football fan - but congrats you guys. I'll cheer for your Colts even though I don't know much about them other than Peyton and Marvin

    But I have to go for the Indy team I guess

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

      Originally posted by rcarey
      I really wish I was more of a football fan - but congrats you guys. I'll cheer for your Colts even though I don't know much about them other than Peyton and Marvin

      But I have to go for the Indy team I guess
      You better root for the Indy team
      Super Bowl XLI Champions
      2000 Eastern Conference Champions




      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

        It's already started. Journalists are saying that Peyton can't win out side. That he can't win in hte cold. That the Colts don't stand a chance of beating the Patriots. I'd rather be the underdog and win than be favored and lose.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

          Peyton can win outside if the conditions are reasonable.

          In the 30's and wind at 10mph or less and no precipitation.

          If it is in the 20's with snow and gusting winds, I think we are done.

          Pats still need to fear one thing however. Each and every game against the Pats that Peyton plays he is always hindered by the one cornerback who out plays him. Ty Law.

          This time there is no Law and Peyton is coming in hot and the Colts are coming with Bob "Big Hit" Sanders.
          House Name: Pacers

          House Sigil:



          House Words: "We Kneel To No King"

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

            I'm really looking forward to the game. It's going to be a shootout.

            Take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't coming back. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

              This is the time for the Colts to make their move and get the monkey
              off their back. I believe that they have been playing at a higher level than
              the Pats for the past several weeks, plus the Pats appear to have a couple of
              key defensive players injured. Now is the time, not to put too much pressure
              on the Colts though.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

                I really think this is the year that we beat those guys. No Ty Law is really gonna hurt them. And DiamondDave I've been really impressed with Bob Sanders too. He could turn out to be one of hell of a player.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

                  Originally posted by Lnjcarp
                  I really think this is the year that we beat those guys. No Ty Law is really gonna hurt them. And DiamondDave I've been really impressed with Bob Sanders too. He could turn out to be one of hell of a player.
                  I said this before, I felt there was a reason that I got back into the Colts and Pacers this year. I really felt that this was going to be a special year and something/someone (Thank you God) told me that I wouldn't want to miss it.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Time to get ready for the Pats!

                    Originally posted by rcarey
                    I really wish I was more of a football fan - but congrats you guys. I'll cheer for your Colts even though I don't know much about them other than Peyton and Marvin

                    But I have to go for the Indy team I guess
                    Psh. and I thought I had you converted to a vikes fan.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I wondered how long it would take!

                      For Colts, nothing's proved until next weekend
                      Jan. 9, 2005
                      By Pete Prisco
                      SportsLine.com Senior Writer
                      Tell Pete your opinion!


                      INDIANAPOLIS -- We've seen this before, and that's the problem. We've watched the Indianapolis Colts roll up gaudy offensive numbers to win playoff games, their quarterback playing pitch-and-catch to a record-breaking tune and their fast-break style making some wonder if this offense can be stopped.


                      Peyton Manning can't celebrate long with the Patriots on deck. (Getty Images)
                      So when the Colts win a wild-card game in grand fashion as they did Sunday against the Denver Broncos -- blowing them out 49-24 at the RCA Dome in a game that really wasn't that close -- it might be a pretty thing to watch, but the reality is that it also brings to mind this thought:

                      So what?

                      That might seem a bit cruel, a bit callous, considering the dominance the Colts displayed against the Broncos, but anything short of a Super Bowl for this team will be a failed season.

                      It's that simple.

                      The skeptics will always be lurking until the Colts can have a summer ceremony to slip on those Super Bowl rings. Out-of-this-world passing numbers by Peyton Manning are nice. MVP trophies look good on the mantle, and it's wonderful to put more Colts names in the NFL record book than there are Smiths in a city phone directory.

                      But none of it really matters if there's no Super Bowl trip. To get there, the Colts will have to beat the defending champions when they travel to Foxboro, Mass., next Sunday to play the New England Patriots. It was the Patriots who beat them in the AFC Championship Game last season, keeping alive the thoughts of the legion of doubters who insist anything short of a Super Bowl is failure for this team.

                      "That's a valid point," Colts receiver Brandon Stokley said. "People can bring it up all they want, and we really can't say much about it. It's a valid point."

                      Manning put on a passing clinic against Denver for the second consecutive year, completing 27 of 33 passes for 457 yards and four touchdowns, proving once again that he can indeed play well and win big games, the idea that he can't a criticism that somehow won't go away.

                      For the second consecutive year, the Colts opened the playoffs with an offense-dominant performance against a Denver team that seemed helpless to stop them, so helpless that coach Mike Shanahan sent a we're-done message to his team in the second quarter when he tried an onsides kick down 21-3.

                      This was deja poo for the Broncos.

                      Manning once again turned the game into a 7-on-7 passing drill, throwing for 360 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. The yards were the most by a quarterback in the first half of a playoff game since the merger in 1970. His 457 total was the second most in playoff history behind Bernie Kosar's 489 against the Jets in 1986.

                      "It was outstanding execution throughout the entire game," Manning said.

                      The Colts game plan was simple, really. When they went to three-receiver sets last week in their season-ending loss to the Broncos, a game that was more like a preseason game for the Colts since their seed was locked in, they noticed the Broncos played star corner Champ Bailey on Marvin Harrison and put Kelly Herndon inside on Stokley, which left rookie Roc Alexander on Reggie Wayne.

                      A real rock might have been better in coverage on this day. At least it would have held its position.


                      Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley step up to answer Denver smack talk. (Getty Images)
                      Wayne was more open than a carnival barker's mouth, catching 10 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns, nearly all of that against an overmatched Alexander.

                      "It's nothing against Alexander," Manning said. "Reggie's had an outstanding year all season long. Whoever's been guarding Reggie is always in for a challenge."

                      Colts coach Tony Dungy admitted his team expected the Broncos to blitz a lot and play plenty of man behind it. With Bailey on Harrison, limiting him to four catches for 50 yards, it was natural that Manning picked on the rookie.

                      In fact, the Colts led 21-0 before even Harrison or Stokley caught a pass, which is significant since both went over 1,000 yards receiving this season with more than 10 touchdowns.

                      Harrison's ability forces teams to roll coverage to his side, which helps open things up for Stokley and Wayne. It also helps when tight end Dallas Clark, who did not play in the playoffs a year ago because of a broken leg, chips in with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.

                      It was on Clark's touchdown that Manning said the safety cheated to help Bailey, which left Clark alone in the middle of the field for a 19-yard score.

                      What made the Colts receiving group gloat a little more Sunday was they made the Broncos, and maybe some of those doubters, eat some words. Some Broncos came out last week and said the Colts receivers were soft, a reputation the team has as a whole.

                      "They don't like to be hit," Denver safety Kenoy Kennedy said. "They're small guys. Any time they can, they jump on the ground. You've got to be physical with them. They don't like it."

                      The Colts receivers heard the comments, and then came out and made the Broncos pay for them. Not only did they put up the big numbers, but they had some crunching blocks on those same defensive backs.

                      Broncos safety John Lynch was fined $75,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Clark last week, but it was Lynch and his mates who took the beating this time. Stokley nailed Lunch with a key block on one of Wayne's touchdowns, while Harrison got Bailey with one on another.

                      "I wasn't going to back down," Wayne said. "I wasn't going to fall to the ground or whatever they said."

                      Said Stokley: "We wanted to let our play do the talking for us."

                      It did, loudly. Not surprisingly, the Denver players did little talking.

                      "We didn't hear much from them," Stokley said.

                      Now comes the tough part, winning at New England. It's the game the Colts have been waiting to play, even if they didn't say so Sunday. It's a validation point.

                      Win, and they're for real.

                      Win, and they aren't soft.

                      Win, and Manning can kick to the curb all those who doubt his ability to win the truly big ones. He played poorly last year as the Patriots corners beat up his receivers.

                      "I played like an absolute dog in that game," Manning said.

                      It is something that has eaten at him for 12 months, from his now-legendary workouts through a regular season that saw him break the single-season record for touchdown passes.

                      Anything less than a Super Bowl just won't do.

                      "We've still got a lot to prove," Colts tight end Marcus Pollard said.

                      Do they ever.

                      Wild-card victories are nice and all, but if the Colts can win at New England next week, the doubters will scatter like ants on a stepped-on ant pile. If they lose, those doubters will be heard louder than ever.

                      Like I said, they beat up the Broncos again Sunday.

                      So what?

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