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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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At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

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  • #46
    Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

    Originally posted by DJVendetta View Post
    It would be nice if we had bigs that commanded more attention. That's what Bynum did and Turner and Bynum had great games. I miss Watson's presence badly, but Scola has just been God-awful as of late. He's turned into Hansborough with his terrible jump shot (where the **** did it go lol), except he's worse on defense. If Scola is hitting jumpers then defenses can't buckle down into the paint when Turner drives, but that's not happening. I still don't see why Copeland or Butler don't get more minutes, but hey I'm not a coach.
    It doesn't take a coach to see that Vogel's current rotation isn't working. Bench has been bad all season long and Scola has gotten worse and worse. Sloan stinks, too. Hope to see a healthy Watson sometime soon...
    Dear P_George,
    You have received an infraction at Pacers Digest.

    Reason: Unacceptable Comment and/or Content

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    • #47
      Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

      Originally posted by docpaul View Post
      Hmm. What's worrisome to me, is that everyone on the team... from Coach Vogel down to the players, are saying that they're not playing together. Regardless of the wins and losses, if you watch the team objectively, you can see this with your own eyes.

      They played tied together earlier in the year, and they can get back to it obviously. But this is more than "the Knicks getting lucky".



      Well we had a better 2nd half shooting wise. I thought they finally got the ball to Roy. Now if they keep doing that, Roy will become Roy again. And he's right, they've fallen in love with the JS. He and West need the ball more to open things up. As for the team, Vogel just needs to stop sending out the same rotations. Copeland, Butler, Allen, Turner, Watson. That should be the bench. Maybe at times, you can put Solo in place of Butler. But this Scola/Mahinmi stuff can't work. Good to see Vogel put Copeland out there in place of PG last night when PG went to the bench.

      He just needs to do that more often so they can develop a rythm. If Scola is gonna be on the floor, then Allen and Copeland should be out there with him. At least stretch the defense.

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

        I will say this and most of you know me, I don't ever get too high or too low.

        But if we keep playing at this level right up until the playoffs start (and playing just 1 great game isn't a trend, we need to play a stretch of 5 or 6 really good games) I think we are in real trouble - maybe even in the second round.

        .

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        • #49
          Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

          By the way, we also missed 8 free throws last night. We make those we win.

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

            Originally posted by BlueCollarColts View Post
            I hope you all here are willing to admit you were wrong when we turn it around
            If they turn it around I am more than willing to eat crow. In the meantime they have A LOT of work to do....
            PACER FAN ON STRIKE!!!-The moment the Pacers fire Larry Bird I will cheer for them again.

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            • #51
              Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

              Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
              I will say this and most of you know me, I don't ever get too high or too low.

              But if we keep playing at this level right up until the playoffs start (and playing just 1 great game isn't a trend, we need to play a stretch of 5 or 6 really good games) I think we are in real trouble - maybe even in the second round.

              .
              I'm really with you with the caveat that this has gone on for months now and I've been feeling a bit iffy for months, turned into full-blown pessimistic this month. People act like it's a bad shooting night or two here or there. No. It's a trend. And trends don't reverse overnight.

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              • #52
                Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                I will say this and most of you know me, I don't ever get too high or too low.

                But if we keep playing at this level right up until the playoffs start (and playing just 1 great game isn't a trend, we need to play a stretch of 5 or 6 really good games) I think we are in real trouble - maybe even in the second round.

                .
                Although one can interpret your response as a realistic one....this is the closest that I have seen UB give a rather pessimistic outlook about the Pacers.

                So, were we treated to "Fool's Gold" early in the season? I honestly dont know....i want to believe that it is possible to return to our previous form.....but the Team is doing very little to convince me of that they are capable of doing that.
                Last edited by CableKC; 03-20-2014, 05:39 PM.
                Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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                • #53
                  Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                  This team is not very good and they have showed little to indicate they are going to get good again anytime soon.

                  We have not beat a +.500 team since Feb7 against Portland and we pulled that one out of our @ss.
                  "Just look at the flowers ........ BANG" - Carol "The Walking Dead"

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                  • #54
                    Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                    This team is only slightly above average when the ball sticks like glue to their fingers. I'm talking mainly about Paul and Lance. But there is another problem. Our guys are not that good at moving the ball...when they try to do it. They haven't apparently had enough practice. It even sticks in West's hands and Hibbert is slow out there. Chicago has a fraction of our talent but might just beat us because they know how to move the ball. There is no "I" in team, except in Indiana apparently.

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                    • #55
                      Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                      I really don't see this team beating Chicago or Toronto in the second round if we don't get out heads out of our asses. The Bulls especially can disrupt our unity or whatever BS things Lance said to excuse him and PGs selfishness

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                      • #56
                        Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                        Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                        Although one can interpret your response as a realistic one....this is the closest that I have seen UB give a rather pessimistic outlook about the Pacers.

                        So, were we treated to "Fool's Gold" early in the season? I honestly dont know....i want to believe that it is possible to return to our previous form.....but the Team is doing very little to convince me of that they are capable of doing that.

                        I like the characterization of "fools gold" and I get where you are coming from, but let me spin it another way. Were we just so unbelievably good early on that our expectations were crazy to begin with and just playing merely "good" is a let down?

                        I really don't have the answer, just food for thought.

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                          Originally posted by joew8302 View Post
                          I like the characterization of "fools gold" and I get where you are coming from, but let me spin it another way. Were we just so unbelievably good early on that our expectations were crazy to begin with and just playing merely "good" is a let down?

                          I really don't have the answer, just food for thought.
                          We really aren't playing good. We are playing downright bad.

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                          • #58
                            Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                            Originally posted by Mad-Mad-Mario View Post
                            We really aren't playing good. We are playing downright bad.
                            Characterize it however you wish, but we are better than the team we play more nights than not. It certainly hasn't been pretty, but "bad" teams don't win at the rate we do.

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                              Originally posted by joew8302 View Post
                              Characterize it however you wish, but we are better than the team we play more nights than not. It certainly hasn't been pretty, but "bad" teams don't win at the rate we do.
                              Over the last 10 games we are 5-5. 14 teams have a better record over that stretch. We are by every definition middle of the pack. And then you think about the fact that 3 of those 5 wins came against the Bucks and Sixers. Its even less impressive. Hell none of the 5 wins were against teams with winning records.

                              Our last 10 games stretch all things told is probably one of the most pathetic in the league. Other than the Sixers and Bucks.

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                              • #60
                                Re: At what point does it become more than a "slump?"

                                Originally posted by King Tuts Tomb View Post
                                Lot of similarities between us this year and the Knicks last year.
                                Not really. The Knicks jumped on teams due to their abnormally hot 3 point shooting. We didn't rely on 3 point shooting or anything else that comes and goes. We relied on our defense which is something reliable. Our defense will always be there when we need it. 3 point shooting comes and goes.

                                Originally posted by King Tuts Tomb View Post
                                Bulls are also eerily similar to us last year.
                                That's a good comparison, though. The Bulls definitely have some comparisons with our last year team.
                                Originally posted by IrishPacer
                                Empty vessels make the most noise.

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