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Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

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"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.

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

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  • #61
    Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

    The Vegas idea (that Vegas thinks the Bulls have a better chance of taking down Miami) has a few flaws that bear pointing out. The first, is that the line or odds set in Vegas is heavily altered by the betting patterns of customers. Chicago is home to MANY a delusional fan to whom gambling is part and parcel of the whole sports deal. When you combine the propensity to gamble on sports with the overwhelming number of people (population wise) in the greater Chicagoland area you get a significant lowering of the odds. Vegas is literally hedging their bets, covering their *** in layman's terms. When you combine the historic appeal of the Chicago Bulls franchise, particularly from the MJ era, with the fact that Indianapolis is a VERY conservative town you get overwhelmingly worse odds for Chicago and a relative bargain for a bet on the Indiana Pacers, who on paper are at LEAST as good, if not better than Chicago.

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    • #62
      Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

      Originally posted by Hicks View Post
      Right, but his point is that didn't happen until the LAST time they played one another, therefore if there's this alleged unofficial 'rule' that they have to beat one another in the post season for it to be a rivalry, it was not a rivalry until essentially it was already over. A hindsight rivalry. And I doubt any of us who watched those seasons of NFL football would agree that it wasn't a rivalry before the Colts beat the Patriots in the AFC title game, therefore his point is sound: That shouldn't be the pass/fail bar for a rivalry.
      I see your point but that's not how I felt at the time. I hated the Patriots whenever the Colts played them but until the Colts actually beat them, the Colts were never favorites. I guarantee you that the Patriots didn't really fear Peyton Manning and the Colts until after they were defeated in the AFC Championship game. Remember the the "4th and 2" game?

      I don't think the Miami Heat really views the Pacers as a rival either because they've been able to get the best of the Pacers. However, they did feel a rivalry with the Boston Celtics because of being eliminated from the playoffs in previous seasons (Lebron with Cleveland and Wade with Miami).

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      • #63
        Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

        Trading playoff wins is a legitimate way to form a rivalry between two teams. I don't think anybody disagrees with that statement. But this doesn't exclude the possibility that there are other possible motivations for a rivalry. Athletes are human beings, not robots, and there are many different things that motivate people.

        If you wait until the second team "wins one" and ignore the competitiveness and the fun of the matchups, you will probably miss out on watching your rivalry. Because these days, especially in the NBA, teams are in such constant flux that long term rivalries will never really exist anymore.
        Time for a new sig.

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        • #64
          Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

          Originally posted by naptownmenace View Post
          I see your point but that's not how I felt at the time. I hated the Patriots whenever the Colts played them but until the Colts actually beat them, the Colts were never favorites. I guarantee you that the Patriots didn't really fear Peyton Manning and the Colts until after they were defeated in the AFC Championship game. Remember the the "4th and 2" game?

          I don't think the Miami Heat really views the Pacers as a rival either because they've been able to get the best of the Pacers. However, they did feel a rivalry with the Boston Celtics because of being eliminated from the playoffs in previous seasons (Lebron with Cleveland and Wade with Miami).
          I disagree with this. I don't think the Miami Heat will ever say the Pacers are a rival because declaring somebody a rival implies some measure of competitive equality. And if we were to beat them in the playoffs? Interview them, ask them about the rivalry, and my bet is that they will avoid the question and spout off some tried and true drivel about "the better team today won" or "they played a great series, but we really beat ourselves because of..." Ego usually stops athletes who have or recently had the competitive advantage.
          Last edited by aamcguy; 10-21-2013, 01:56 PM.
          Time for a new sig.

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          • #65
            Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

            Let him keep his eyes on MIA right up until the time the Pacers are kicking the Bull's A@@.

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            • #66
              Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

              Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
              I disagree with this. I don't think the Miami Heat will ever say the Pacers are a rival because declaring somebody a rival implies some measure of competitive equality. And if we were to beat them in the playoffs? Interview them, ask them about the rivalry, and my bet is that they will avoid the question and spout off some tried and true drivel about "the better team today won" or "they played a great series, but we really beat ourselves because of..." Ego usually stops athletes who have or recently had the competitive advantage.
              Agreed. MIA knows what IND is. They may not say it out loud, but you can bet they prepare for the IND game unlike for any other game.

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              • #67
                Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
                I disagree with this. I don't think the Miami Heat will ever say the Pacers are a rival because declaring somebody a rival implies some measure of competitive equality. And if we were to beat them in the playoffs? Interview them, ask them about the rivalry, and my bet is that they will avoid the question and spout off some tried and true drivel about "the better team today won" or "they played a great series, but we really beat ourselves because of..." Ego usually stops athletes who have or recently had the competitive advantage.
                Agreed. MIA knows what IND is. They may not say it out loud, but you can bet they prepare for the IND game unlike for any other game.

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                • #68
                  Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                  Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
                  I disagree with this. I don't think the Miami Heat will ever say the Pacers are a rival because declaring somebody a rival implies some measure of competitive equality. And if we were to beat them in the playoffs? Interview them, ask them about the rivalry, and my bet is that they will avoid the question and spout off some tried and true drivel about "the better team today won" or "they played a great series, but we really beat ourselves because of..." Ego usually stops athletes who have or recently had the competitive advantage.
                  That's not always true. Lebron openly acknowledged the Celts and Bulls as rivals but not the Pacers prior to their matchup with the Pacers back in March.

                  Originally posted by King James
                  ...to a question about whether he deems the Indiana Pacers to be the Heat’s primary rival in the East.

                  Against Boston, Chicago more than Indiana,” James said. “We’ve only had one series with those guys. So I would say it’s Boston. In our first year, we played those guys in the second round, and then last year we played in the Eastern Conference finals. And I have a lot of history with them before I got here, as well as the guys who have come here before. Indiana’s not a rival at this point.”
                  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sp...acers-s/nWm8Q/

                  Notice that LeBron talks about the rivalries with the Bulls and Celtics because of their repeated past history. Wade was swept by an upstart Bulls team lead by current Bulls players Kirk Heinrich and Luol Deng. If the Pacers knock them out of the playoffs, I think he'll admit that they are officially a rival.

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                  • #69
                    Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                    Originally posted by naptownmenace View Post
                    That's not always true. Lebron openly acknowledged the Celts and Bulls as rivals but not the Pacers prior to their matchup with the Pacers back in March.

                    http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sp...acers-s/nWm8Q/

                    Notice that LeBron talks about the rivalries with the Bulls and Celtics because of their repeated past history. Wade was swept by an upstart Bulls team lead by current Bulls players Kirk Heinrich and Luol Deng. If the Pacers knock them out of the playoffs, I think he'll admit that they are officially a rival.
                    Firstly, actions speak louder than words. Secondly, that was before this past playoff series.

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                    • #70
                      Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                      Originally posted by naptownmenace View Post
                      That's not always true. Lebron openly acknowledged the Celts and Bulls as rivals but not the Pacers prior to their matchup with the Pacers back in March.

                      http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sp...acers-s/nWm8Q/

                      Notice that LeBron talks about the rivalries with the Bulls and Celtics because of their repeated past history. Wade was swept by an upstart Bulls team lead by current Bulls players Kirk Heinrich and Luol Deng. If the Pacers knock them out of the playoffs, I think he'll admit that they are officially a rival.
                      And now there's a second series in the eastern conference finals that went 7 games. And the rest of the article is talking about how the Heat said they beat themselves in the two losses to Indiana earlier in the year and that Indiana only pushed it to 6 games because of Bosh's injury.

                      Meanwhile they're giving props to the (at the time) over-the-hill Celtics and the Rose-less Bulls, neither of whom really posed a threat to the Heat that year. Oh, and this article was right before they faced the Pacers ago. So I was wrong in saying they would never admit it, but I have doubts as to how genuine it was.
                      Last edited by aamcguy; 10-21-2013, 05:35 PM.
                      Time for a new sig.

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                      • #71
                        Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                        Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
                        And now there's a second series in the eastern conference finals that went 7 games. And the rest of the article is talking about how the Heat said they beat themselves in the two losses to Indiana earlier in the year and that Indiana only pushed it to 6 games because of Bosh's injury.

                        Meanwhile they're giving props to the (at the time) over-the-hill Celtics and the Rose-less Bulls, neither of whom really posed a threat to the Heat that year. Oh, and this article was right before they faced the Pacers ago. So I was wrong in saying they would never admit it, but I have doubts as to how genuine it was.
                        It goes both ways, the Pacer's players could easily say they also beat themselves in the ECF last season. Too many careless turnovers, and a blown defensive assignment. Fix one of those and the Pacers were in the Finals.

                        The reality is the Pacers are the Anti Heat/Bulls. They don't have #1 pick or slew of lottery picks. Yet they are every bit as competitive as those 2 teams. Even though there is nobody on the Pacers who is superior or even equal to Lebron, Rose, Wade. Superstar players only show respect to other superstar players.
                        You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

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                        • #72
                          Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                          I think all 3 (Heat, Bulls, Pacers) are rivals with each other
                          Smothered Chicken!

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                          • #73
                            Re: Rose: Pacers great, but Heat only true rival

                            Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                            It goes both ways, the Pacer's players could easily say they also beat themselves in the ECF last season. Too many careless turnovers, and a blown defensive assignment. Fix one of those and the Pacers were in the Finals.

                            The reality is the Pacers are the Anti Heat/Bulls. They don't have #1 pick or slew of lottery picks. Yet they are every bit as competitive as those 2 teams. Even though there is nobody on the Pacers who is superior or even equal to Lebron, Rose, Wade. Superstar players only show respect to other superstar players.
                            So true! I would also say that Superstars only fear/respect other Superstars. They might feel differently about the Pacers this year and I wouldn't be surprised to hear LeBron admit that the rivalry is real now - especially if Paul George takes the expected next step in his developing into a Super-Star player.

                            Either way, it's a rivalry for us Pacers fans whether the Heat or Bulls want to believe it. My guess is the Heat and Bulls fans might not view it that way because the Pacers have never beaten them when it counts. I expect that to change this year.

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