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

Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

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

  • #31
    Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

    Dude, you know the Cards and Pacers support isn't remotely similar.

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

      Originally posted by RWB View Post
      So very true!!! My son who is 28 came to my house last night to watch the game. This is a young man who Mrs. RWB and I raised to be a fan of basketball (started in a biddy ball league at the age of four and played all the way through high school ball) who had the Pacers ingrained into his head. Loves and played the game himself but rarely comes over for a Pacers game but during Colts football season he brings his wife in Colts garb all the time to watch.

      Here's the punch line.... after seeing some of the star treatment Lebron was getting he says "See that dad, that's why I almost never watch the NBA". It really hit me like a ton of bricks... Is it possible too many folks here in Indiana know the game too well? I'm not talking NBA basketball but basketball in general. Are there too many folks who've either played or watched enough in their lifetime to know the NBA is not pure so to speak? I'm sad to say maybe this is a possibility at least in this state.

      On a side note someone mentioned Kansas City as a city that will get the Pacers. Doubt it considering KC actually had the Kings (Kansas City Kings) before they moved to Sacramento.

      Side note #2: I live near Terre Haute, not one billboard, not anything around here to promote the Pacers. MAybe if someone in the Pacers organization would promote outside Indy that would help. Would be interesting to see how many folks in here who attend games actually live in Indy/Indy metro.
      I think you're really onto something. I don't make it to very many games unfortunately, but my wife and I were at last night's Miami game. I told her that the Heat are everything that is wrong with the NBA. And I think that the Indiana public understands that. The. NBA is not the same basketball game we all grew up playing.

      The Pacers are, however. This is where the marketing thing comes in. I live in Lafayette, and in the last year, I've seen one billboard advertising FSN as "Your station for the Pacers" with a picture of DWest, and I think two billboards for whatever dentist's office sponsors the team with a picture of a cheerleader.

      I work for Lids/Hat World, and I've seen a big increase in demand for Pacers stuff this season, but the Pacers aren't taking full advantage of their current success, in my opinion. Blue & Gold should be everywhere. It's coming around, and interest is rising in people I know and work with, so I don't see any way the team leaves.

      The problem is the NBA itself. BLF was packed last night, but I felt like there were way too many Miami "fans" in the building. The NBA has created a disloyal fan base of people willing to jump bandwagons to follow superstars. The Pacers are great because they are fighting that trend. If PS&E could recognize that and show the state, the support would be there. People are excited about IU being a top team, but I don't feel like they recognize that the Pacers are too.
      It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

        Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
        It's my understanding the Pacers, by NBA rule, cannot market beyond a 75 mile radius of Indy.

        Radius starts where? The boundries of Marion county since Indy is unigov? Terre Haute is within 75 mile radius.

        Besides a 75 mile radius is ridiculous. Especiallly to the south, east, and west of Indy since their isn't a NBA team for hundres of miles in those directions. Few FT Wayne and northeastern Indiana residents are driving to Detroit. The Region will go to Chicago games, but the rest of the state should be Pacers to advertise. Terrible rule for the Pacers.

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

          We have been a winning team for two seasons now, and have all high character guys. EVERY game should be a sell out. If I was Mr. Simon, I would be pissed. Selling out every game should not be a pipe dream with a winning team
          Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

            I agree that marketing and advertising for this team has been a real problem. If you can't get the local news stations to lead with what happened during your game tonight, then you aren't marketing very well. I think the Pacers need to throw some bones to the local news stations and demand better coverage. Last nights Friday Fastbreak show on Fox 59 had highschool basketball as the Lead. All I know is that on Sundays the local news is built around what happened to the Colts. The Pacers need to achieve that sort of coverage for their game days as well, instead of getting 30 secs at the end of hour. This is freaking Indianapolis. Sports is pretty much what we got.
            You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

              It's been talked about a lot more in the NFL, whose attendance was down last year (the freakin NFL's attendance was down, let that sink in). It's the TV effect. You can pay for cable, see all the games on your big HDTV, chill on the couch and drink beer for a quarter of the price. It's different with the playoffs, there's a big time sorta "gotta be there" feeling, but for a random regular season game? I mean be honest, which would you prefer?

              If we were to get a new building I'd put capacity at like 10k. There's just no reason to expand on that in a market like ours so make it more of a premium ticket, try and institute a real family environment type thing. I don't mean family as in bring the wife and kids, I mean fan camaraderie. Welcome the cable viewers, but give incentive to get in the building. I just really think this is something that REALLY needs addressed in long season sports like NBA and MLB, make being in the building somehow better than chilling on the couch at home. NHL's got plenty of faults but everybody tells you how different and awesome it is to watch it live. I don't know anything about hockey so it just may be a part of the game that the NBA couldn't change, but look into it at least. Why are in the arena hockey fans so much more satisfied than watching at home fans?

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                The new revenue sharing and CIB deal (gross as it is) has me feeling like losing the team is just a nonstarter, just won't happen. If Herb and Mel didn't sell before all this help for small markets started I can't see a reason Herb would now.

                But once Herb decides it's time to move on? I'm terrified.
                This.

                Fact is the city has bent over backwards to help the Simon family and not just with the pacers but with their entire business. As long as they own the Pacers I am not worried but if they decide to sell then every Pacer fan should be worried IMO.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                  Originally posted by Pacergeek View Post
                  We have been a winning team for two seasons now, and have all high character guys. EVERY game should be a sell out. If I was Mr. Simon, I would be pissed. Selling out every game should not be a pipe dream with a winning team
                  The Indy area needs to attract and keep young successful adults. Indy ranks really low in this and is one of the reasons they don't sell out. If you are thirty and have kids your not bending over backwards to go to a game every week.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                    There are a lot of factors playing into the attendance. Immediately following the Brawl and all of the issues off the court look at what happened in our sports landscape. The Colts continued to be good and demand a sellout season ticket base. IU improved drastically. Butler made multiple NCAA tourney runs including 2 National Championships. Purdue had solid teams. Heck, the Fever are contenders most years.

                    There are just a lot of good products competing for attendance revenue. Unfortunately for the Pacers, in a time of sports "ups" in Indianapolis, the Pacers were bottom feeding in salary cap hell and Jim O'brien.

                    The Pacers are now a wonderful product. They have lacked star power that people can latch onto. Danny Granger was close, but not quite there. They need a Reggie Miller type to associate with. Paul George may be that guy while Roy could be the Rik Smits. I say give it 2 more years and see where we are at. They are probably only a few clutch playoff performances from Paul George away. How about Paul scores 8 points in 9 seconds to close out the Heat in the ECF this year.

                    Boom baby, Pacers are back.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                      I'm not trying to knock any programs, but until Butler starts selling out all their own games, IU stops playing games an hour+ from Indy, and Purdue stops being Purdue, those're just crap excuses. And the Fever don't even play during the same time of year so that doesn't even matter. The "lots of good college programs" excuse is just that, an excuse. When IU was down after Sampson it's not like Pacers ticket sales shot up. Before half the state even knew Butler was in Indy 4 years ago it's not like the Pacers were selling tickets. Before Morgan Burke...nevermind I'll go on a nutty rant.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                        Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                        It's been talked about a lot more in the NFL, whose attendance was down last year (the freakin NFL's attendance was down, let that sink in). It's the TV effect. You can pay for cable, see all the games on your big HDTV, chill on the couch and drink beer for a quarter of the price. It's different with the playoffs, there's a big time sorta "gotta be there" feeling, but for a random regular season game? I mean be honest, which would you prefer?
                        Well I love going to Pacer games, we got a half season package for a few years now. I think with the scoreboard the HDTV effect is pretty moot. Its an amazing experience to see replays on that things.

                        Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                        If we were to get a new building I'd put capacity at like 10k. There's just no reason to expand on that in a market like ours so make it more of a premium ticket, try and institute a real family environment type thing. I don't mean family as in bring the wife and kids, I mean fan camaraderie. Welcome the cable viewers, but give incentive to get in the building. I just really think this is something that REALLY needs addressed in long season sports like NBA and MLB, make being in the building somehow better than chilling on the couch at home. NHL's got plenty of faults but everybody tells you how different and awesome it is to watch it live. I don't know anything about hockey so it just may be a part of the game that the NBA couldn't change, but look into it at least. Why are in the arena hockey fans so much more satisfied than watching at home fans?
                        Well for one thing Hockety is violent as hell. Thats why its so neat to watch live. I've never been to a live Boxing match, but I bet its pretty neat just because it violent.
                        You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                          Originally posted by mrknowname View Post

                          the city needs better public transportation system. i wonder how many people feel its too much of a hassle to drive downtown and find a parking spot.

                          I totally agree with you and stated something very similiar last season. Everyone has a different view of what constitutes a hassle and an inconvenience. That view dictates what people are willing to do or not do.

                          Personally, I'd love to see a bus pick people up at different areas of the city to transport fans to and from a Pacers game at BLF. Southern Plaza would be a geat place on the southside. Indy southsiders and people south of Indy could catch the bus from there. It's sets on US 31, next to I-465, and not far from I-65.

                          If I was Indy bus service, I'd give it a try using Southern Plaza as the test. Advertise it heavy and give it a shot. JMOAA

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                            Originally posted by littlerichard54 View Post
                            There are a lot of factors playing into the attendance. Immediately following the Brawl and all of the issues off the court look at what happened in our sports landscape. The Colts continued to be good and demand a sellout season ticket base. IU improved drastically. Butler made multiple NCAA tourney runs including 2 National Championships. Purdue had solid teams. Heck, the Fever are contenders most years.

                            There are just a lot of good products competing for attendance revenue. Unfortunately for the Pacers, in a time of sports "ups" in Indianapolis, the Pacers were bottom feeding in salary cap hell and Jim O'brien.

                            The Pacers are now a wonderful product. They have lacked star power that people can latch onto. Danny Granger was close, but not quite there. They need a Reggie Miller type to associate with. Paul George may be that guy while Roy could be the Rik Smits. I say give it 2 more years and see where we are at. They are probably only a few clutch playoff performances from Paul George away. How about Paul scores 8 points in 9 seconds to close out the Heat in the ECF this year.

                            Boom baby, Pacers are back.
                            I do think you're right about the need for a "Miller Moment" of sorts. Defense and team-play are the calling card for us right now, and well, that's just not as exciting as 8 points in 9 seconds, or buzzer beating threes to beat the champs. That stuff will come. I think there's also a lot of work to do to simply introduce the Pacers to the next generation. I feel like there are no Pacers fans under my age (24) at all. I wear my gear around town and people act like they've never heard of the Pacers.

                            Get the brand on signs, tv, radio - who know how hard it is to find these games on the radio if you don't live in Indy? Get the players out in the state. Get merchandise somewhere outside of the Home Court Giftshop. The national media isn't going to do it for you. The Spurs have one of the best players of all time on their roster, and how often does ESPN have anything like the "Heat Index" for them? The Pacers organization simply has to perform a media blitz, and then be fortunate enough to have the team provide the excitement and big moments that solidify it.
                            It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                              Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                              Well I love going to Pacer games, we got a half season package for a few years now. I think with the scoreboard the HDTV effect is pretty moot. Its an amazing experience to see replays on that things.



                              Well for one thing Hockety is violent as hell. Thats why its so neat to watch live. I've never been to a live Boxing match, but I bet its pretty neat just because it violent.
                              That's great. Thanks for buying a package, sincerely, it's more than I do. That doesn't answer the question though. You do it because you can and you want to, why should Joe Schmoe? To pay for gas, parking, refreshments, and just put the time in? When he or she can get a pretty great experience at home and not have to worry about getting home in time to get enough sleep?

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: Pacers eventually to end up in Sacramento?

                                Originally posted by ilive4sports View Post
                                or when baltimore lost the colts, Charlotte lost the hornets, Cleveland lost the Browns, and etc.
                                The difference is that those markets actually matter and those cities have businesses and people who can afford to own a team.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X