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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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Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

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  • Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...gh-by-brother/



    Bucs wideout Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

    Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith was already disturbed about the pattern of behavior by wide receiver Mike Williams.

    Now he has to worry about Williams’ health.

    According to Bobby Lewis of WTSP, Williams remains in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa after being stabbed in the thigh by his brother.

    A spokeswoman from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Williams was stabbed in the at his home on Sunday afternoon. Police are still looking for the brother in question.

    There hasn’t been any comment from the Buccaneers at the moment, as they continue to gather information.

    Another incident might not sit well with them a year after he signed a $40 million contract, but they now have to be concerned about his physical condition.

    UPDATE 8:48 p.m. ET: Right on cue, the Bucs issued the statement that doesn’t really say anything:

    “We are aware of the situation that occurred at the residence of Mike Williams and are working with him and the authorities to get additional information. While we have limited knowledge at this time, our primary concern is for the safety and well bring of all involved. We will refrain from further comment until we can get a better understanding of the situation.

  • #2
    Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

    Can't wait for the Bob Costas rant on knife violence.
    Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

      At least it wasn't right before the freakin conference championship game like what happened to Nick Harper. I still weep uncontrollably when I think about that game. All those Steelers fans blowing so Vanderjact would miss that kick wide.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

        Originally posted by Since86 View Post
        Can't wait for the Bob Costas rant on knife violence.
        weak take.

        if it was a gun, he'd likely be dead.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

          Originally posted by dal9 View Post
          weak take.

          if it was a gun, he'd likely be dead.
          He'd likely be alive and all so close to being called "Cheddar Bob"...






          Or Plaxico Burress...
          Originally posted by Natston;n3510291
          I want the people to know that they still have 2 out of the 3 T.J.s working for them, and that ain't bad...

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

            Originally posted by dal9 View Post
            weak take.

            if it was a gun, he'd likely be dead.
            Yeah, while Costas rants about why football players shouldn't have guns, Sean Taylor waves.
            Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

              http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...abbing-charge/

              Mike Williams’s brother turns himself in on stabbing charge


              Eric Baylor, the brother of Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Williams, has surrendered to police on a charge that he stabbed Williams.

              Williams was stabbed at 5 p.m. on Sunday, and when officers arrived in response to a 911 call, Baylor had fled. Baylor surrendered at 10 p.m. on Monday.

              The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is skeptical of the brothers’ story, which is that they were just messing around and the stabbing was accidental.

              “His account is that they were horsing around in the kitchen and he fell on the knife that his brother was holding,” said Cristal Bermudez Nunez, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, told FOX 13 in Tampa Bay. “Based on what Michael Williams says happened, and where it occurred in the home, that doesn’t match up with the evidence we found at the scene.”

              Other witnesses said Baylor stabbed Williams intentionally after an argument.

              “They explained that . . . Williams and Baylor were arguing and that is what led up to the stabbing,” Bermudez Nunez said.

              Baylor is charged with aggravated battery and domestic violence.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

                http://www.tampabay.com/sports/footb...tabbed/2171953

                Witnesses describe how Bucs' Mike Williams was stabbed


                TAMPA — Just minutes earlier, Clermon Vaughn had shaken the hand of Bucs receiver Mike Williams, who smiled and thanked him and his cousin for cleaning the carpets in Williams' Avila home on Sunday afternoon.


                "Next thing I know," Vaughn said, Williams and his younger brother, Eric Baylor, were arguing loudly in the foyer, then physically fighting. Then he thought Baylor had punched Williams, until he saw the small knife — "a paring knife, maybe three-four inches from the handle, like you'd cut an apple with," he would recall — fall out of Baylor's hand and onto the floor.

                "It went in him pretty good, I believe, from the amount of blood that was shooting everywhere," said Vaughn, who said Williams yelled to him to "call the ambulance and call the police."

                Williams, 26, was rushed outside the home, and a friend who had been hanging out at the house took off his belt to apply a makeshift tourniquet to Williams' left leg. The knife had punctured him in the thigh, just above the knee. Vaughn ran to his truck for a first-aid kit and towels to apply pressure.

                "We pressed down hard on it until the ambulance got there," said Vaughn, 39, who had never encountered such an emergency in 14 years of cleaning carpets.

                • • •

                William Carter, also 39 and cleaning the carpets with Vaughn, guesses it was 10, at most 15 minutes from when Williams arrived home, smiling, and when things got violent with his brother. Others in the house, at least a half-dozen, had been watching college basketball downstairs — it would have been during the second half of the University of Kentucky's upset of Wichita State University.

                "They were arguing. Mike was mad, and they got into it," said Carter, who said Baylor had damaged a Bentley automobile that belonged to Williams, the back window knocked out. "Mike wasn't the aggressor, but I guess he was a little upset about that and he told him to get out."

                Vaughn said the argument had escalated quickly. "He didn't come in the house upset," he said. "The mood wasn't that something was about to happen."

                "There was hollering," he said. "For a long time, they were talking back and forth to each other. Next thing I know, I see the man's hand come out and stab him in the leg."

                Police arrived quickly, and asked everyone from the house to go across the street, treating the house as a crime scene. Baylor, 23, was with the carpet cleaners when they went across the street. "He went walking down the street and left," Vaughn said. Baylor turned himself into police 29 hours later on a warrant and is facing a felony charge of aggravated battery/domestic violence.

                Vaughn said in the moments after the stabbing and before police arrived, Baylor was on the phone, looking nervous, panicked and remorseful.

                "Just pacing back and forth, like he didn't want to do what he did," Vaughn said. "The look in his face was a panic (like): I can't believe I just did this to my brother."

                • • •

                The noise from the argument in the foyer, then the sudden panic around Williams was frightening enough that Lana Sutmaier, a 61-year-old maid cleaning in the back of Williams' home, didn't want to go any closer.

                "All I heard was a lot of yelling, screaming at each other," Sutmaier said. "I thought 'Whoa. Something's going on, but I'm not going out there to check.' They were screaming and swearing, a lot of swearing, yelling real loud. I could hear it over the carpet cleaners."

                Sutmaier remained in the back of the house until police found her as they swept the house. She was still frustrated two days later and unsure why Williams would allow such a commotion into his gated community.

                "I wonder why he's letting these people come into Avila. He has to allow them to come through the gate," she said. "I think he's just not expecting them to cause trouble. I don't think he's thinking about that. He's assuming people will be respectful."

                Williams had told police that the stabbing was "accidental," but Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office investigators confirmed Tuesday that their findings — from interviewing witnesses and taking evidence from the home — were that the two were "in a physical altercation" and that Baylor "obtained a knife and intentionally stabbed" his brother.

                Baylor was released on $1,000 bail Tuesday evening from Orient Road Jail. He was ordered not to have contact with Williams, nor with the witnesses to the stabbing.

                Those witnesses — friends, carpet cleaners, the maid and a limo driver who had pulled up moments earlier — were held by police for as much as five hours, sitting outside on the lawn while each was interviewed. For much of that time, witnesses didn't know if Williams was okay.

                "The sheriff started asking if he had any family in the area," Sutmaier said. "Oh, my god, when they started asking for family, you get nervous, not knowing how serious the injury really was."

                Carter said he and Vaughn were never compensated and lost other scheduled jobs while they were detained. "It was kind of surprising, for this to happen when you're cleaning carpets," he said.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Bucs WR Mike Williams stabbed in thigh by brother

                  Originally posted by dal9 View Post
                  weak take.

                  if it was a gun, he'd likely be dead.
                  Offended? Get over it. Slippery slope? Yep.

                  Comment

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