Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #46
    Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

    Yes sir he is. He actually should be in the friendly skys as we speak. If I am not mistaken. I will have to shoot him a text in a while to see. They Made him Sit in the flight attendants quarters since a mask is not permitted on the plane.

    Comment


    • #47
      Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

      Wait, you guys are gonna be in Sacramento? Well I will see you guys there!

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

        Originally posted by kielbeze View Post
        Yes sir he is. He actually should be in the friendly skys as we speak. If I am not mistaken. I will have to shoot him a text in a while to see. They Made him Sit in the flight attendants quarters since a mask is not permitted on the plane.
        Okay....the list of PD members that will be in Oakland is going to be much bigger than normal.

        Can we get a roll call of who will be in Oaktown?

        I will start:

        CableKC
        naptown_seth
        Roaming Gnome
        Mrs. Roaming Gnome's
        kielbeze
        El Pacero

        I know that there are more...but I've lost track.

        Seriously.....for all those that will be in OakTown to see the Warriors.....we should take a picture to remember this West-Coast gathering for PacersDigest
        Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

        Comment


        • #49
          Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

          Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
          I'm curious, what do you like about Boston? The arena itself looks incredibly average on TV. The place is certainly loud when the Celtics are good though. Plus you have the banners, parquet, retired numbers, and all of the Celtic mystique.

          I've seen games in just two cities outside of Indy: The old Houston Summitt for a Pacers-Rockets game when I was a kid in 1996 (Rockets were defending champs at the time) and MSG for a Knicks-Grizzlies game back in 2004. The Will Smith movie "Hitch" filmed a scene at this game, which was pretty cool. MSG is a great place to see a game. I think the views from the upper level seats are much better than those at BLF.
          I meant Boston as a place, not so much the quality of the new arena. Even with the loss of the original Garden, it's still a place full of Celtics fans and Celtics history. I hate the Celtics, their fans and their history, but I respect the idea of them.

          Billy is bumming me out. I hope I enjoy the Oracle experience more than that. We have a parking pass but the train idea intrigues me. Gnome is driving so I guess it's his call.



          I saw a couple of Pacers games at the Summit. Very weird arena both in location and layout. I never got why they built it there and in that style, basically a grass hill with a black glass square on top (which is a church now). One thing they did do was have a food area that was off in it's own area rather than blocking the concourse walkway.

          Arenas I've seen
          The Hive (original Bobcats) - but not a Pacers game.
          Summit (old Rockets)
          Toyota Center (new Rockets)
          San Antonio (current, but did go to Boilers AlamoBowl in the A-dome)
          Dallas (current)
          Target Center (T'Wolves)

          I think Dallas has been my favorite, but the Spurs have something near and dear to my heart - YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO ENTER YOUR SEAT DURING THE GAME, ala baseball. They make you wait till a stoppage of play so you don't disrupt everyone. To me that says something about respect for the sport and made me appreciate their fans.

          I've been by Key Arena (Sonics), but never was there when a game was going on. Always wanted to see a game there. Loved the location and style.

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

            Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
            Billy is bumming me out. I hope I enjoy the Oracle experience more than that. We have a parking pass but the train idea intrigues me. Gnome is driving so I guess it's his call.
            Don't get bummed, I was at a DEN v GS game. You're seeing the Pacers in the Bay Area, minutes from San Fran, doesn't get much better than that.

            I like their trains because they all pretty much do the same thing.

            I'm hoping I can get away from work and make the Pacers Barclay debut. We went to the last Pacers game in Jersey, so I feel like I should make the first one in Brooklyn.

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

              Originally posted by CableKC View Post
              Okay....the list of PD members that will be in Oakland is going to be much bigger than normal.

              Can we get a roll call of who will be in Oaktown?

              I will start:

              CableKC
              naptown_seth
              Roaming Gnome
              Mrs. Roaming Gnome's
              kielbeze
              El Pacero

              I know that there are more...but I've lost track.

              Seriously.....for all those that will be in OakTown to see the Warriors.....we should take a picture to remember this West-Coast gathering for PacersDigest
              if i didnt have to work at 5 am on sunday i'd drive down and enjoy the back to back games

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                Billy is bumming me out. I hope I enjoy the Oracle experience more than that. We have a parking pass but the train idea intrigues me. Gnome is driving so I guess it's his call.
                Wait...what Train idea are you talking about?

                Taking the BART Train ( it's the local SF transit system ) from SF to the Oracle arena?
                Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                  Originally posted by kielbeze View Post
                  Yes sir he is. He actually should be in the friendly skys as we speak. If I am not mistaken. I will have to shoot him a text in a while to see. They Made him Sit in the flight attendants quarters since a mask is not permitted on the plane.
                  You mean I missed the TSA screen hilarity? Dammit!
                  "Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

                  "And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                    Originally posted by billbradley View Post
                    I'm hoping I can get away from work and make the Pacers Barclay debut. We went to the last Pacers game in Jersey, so I feel like I should make the first one in Brooklyn.
                    That would be bad***. Do you go to NYC a lot?

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                      Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                      I meant Boston as a place, not so much the quality of the new arena. Even with the loss of the original Garden, it's still a place full of Celtics fans and Celtics history. I hate the Celtics, their fans and their history, but I respect the idea of them.
                      Gotcha. Of all of the US cities that I haven't been to, Boston is probably at the top of my list. Would love to see Fenway too, even though I despise the Red Sox.

                      The only NFL games I've seen have been in Indy. I've seen baseball games in Cinergy and Great American in Cincy, AT&T in San Fran, and New Yankee Stadium. AT&T Park is absolutely beautiful right there on the Bay. I love New Yankee Stadium too, though a lot of people are critical of it. I never saw the old one though.

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                        Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                        That would be bad***. Do you go to NYC a lot?
                        I try to, slackin this year.

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                          Sorry it took a few days to hammer these out, but as some of you pointed out... My 4 game "on the road" streak is finally over. My wife is so happy too because she was thinking she was the jinx. Now, she is blaming Seth and Duke Dynamite for losses that happened on the road in her presence. Anyway, due to my phone's battery being on life support half the night my photos are extremely limited. As for being in Staples Center while the Pacers handled their business was just fantastic (not as good as going to the Sports Book this morning). Here are some shots that I did manage to get before my phone started laughing at me.

                          [b]A win on Chick Hearn night... One of my favorite broadcasters. It was nice to be in the building & see the Lakers honor him.


                          Banner City... From the gift shop all the way to stuff in the arena bowl you'd be hard pressed to find anything that says 2 other major league teams play in this building. The gift shop was beyond pathetic when it came to finding LA Kings or LA Clippers gear. The actual gift shop employee told me there was more across the street at the ESPN Zone.


                          This photo of Lisa (my wife) and myself was taken by Area55 member @indysportsgirl. It was really nice to meet here along with Justin Beck and his Aussie crew.


                          This Christmas tree is set up on this public ice skating rink. It's hard to see the rink from the temporary stage that was set up for the L.A. Symphony. Personally, It is one of the best I've ever seen. I love how the front of Staples, ESPN zone and the Nokia Theater make that grand public plaza. Kinda like the Fieldhouse and Georgia St... without the Harness Lofts Parking lot


                          The Final Score... Well, as for the Staples Center as a place to watch basketball... I personally liked it. I thought the lighting was perfect with it dark in the stands and the court lit up like a stage where basketball was the feature presentation. The building seems A LOT smaller than it does when viewed from TV, but I don't know about that balcony... Eventhough they are not as far away as it would seem... They are still UP a good bit with 3 layers of luxury suites separating them from the "club level".
                          I don't know what it was about the Staples Center organ, but it sounded like a real Stadium Organ in comparison to the too much treble, not enough bass Fairgrounds Fieldhouse Organ.
                          For many years, Peck and myself would make jokes about their P.A. announcer being layed back and low key, not the hype guys that we've grown so use to. He fits for the Lakers considering the fans and team know why their in business. No T-Shirt nonsense, No fool in sunglasses running around during timeouts screaming into the mic or this we wanna be a rock concert motif. The Lakers game day is about BASKETBALL!!! Not keeping the kiddos and non basketball fans entertained. I surely appreciated it! Staples Center gets 2 thumbs up.

                          BTW, the Laker Girls are good!

                          Last edited by Roaming Gnome; 11-29-2012, 06:45 AM.
                          ...Still "flying casual"
                          @roaminggnome74

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                            Originally posted by Roaming Gnome View Post

                            For many years, Peck and myself would make jokes about their P.A. announcer being layed back and low key, not the hype guys that we've grown so use to. He fits for the Lakers considering the fans and team know why their in business. No T-Shirt nonsense, No fool in sunglasses running around during timeouts screaming into the mic or this we wanna be a rock concert motif. The Lakers game day is about BASKETBALL!!! Not keeping the kiddos and non basketball fans entertained. I surely appreciated it! Staples Center gets 2 thumbs up.

                            BTW, the Laker Girls are good!

                            I love their PA guy. But then I like all the old time PA guys.

                            But it sounds like I would enjoy watching a Laker game. I just wish the pacers would do all of the above. And I love how they dim the lights except on the court. That is the way to do it

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                              No T-Shirt nonsense, No fool in sunglasses running around during timeouts screaming into the mic or this we wanna be a rock concert motif. The Lakers game day is about BASKETBALL!!! Not keeping the kiddos and non basketball fans entertained. I surely appreciated it! Staples Center gets 2 thumbs up.

                              I could not agree more.
                              {o,o}
                              |)__)
                              -"-"-

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Re: When Gnome Roams Naptown Will Follow (2012)

                                Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                                And I love how they dim the lights except on the court. That is the way to do it
                                The last couple of home games they've dimmed the lights in the seats at the Fieldhouse for the halftime show and I thought, "wait, why can't they do this for GAMES?"
                                BillS

                                A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                                Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X