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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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Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

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  • Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

    I noticed in another thread that someone had mentioned how Indiana fans don't come out to support the Pacers or the NBA. Here is my take:
    Indiana folks grow up on bball. They know how the game is supposed to be played. The Pacers have done a fantastic job at building a team that the state can be proud of. I REALLY like this team. Great work-ethic. Class individuals on the team. true professionals.
    The "star treatment" for the big name players and teams really turn the average Indiana fan off. Plays that get called one way for player x and another for player y are a big turnoff. The nfl at least has a review of dirty plays (hits) and levy fines against players that don't play "the right way". Does the nba do this? An example would be during the Heat game there was a possession where we had the ball and Battier and West got into a small scrap. The officials made sure it stayed calm. On the ensuing play at the other end you see Chalmers cut baseline and come up the middle behind West and clearly lower his shoulder and crush West from behind. Was a foul called by the baseline official that is supposed to be watching that area? What about the weak side official? He did not call it either. It was clearly an intentional dirty play! Will the NBA fine Chalmers? I bet not. Had this happened to Lebron it would be handled differently I am sure. This is what drives fans from Indiana away from the NBA. I think most fans love these Pacers but can't stand the double standard of the NBA.

  • #2
    Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

    I would also say a big part of it is America just downright likes football more than basketball

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

      Originally posted by Coach View Post
      I noticed in another thread that someone had mentioned how Indiana fans don't come out to support the Pacers or the NBA. Here is my take:
      Indiana folks grow up on bball. They know how the game is supposed to be played. The Pacers have done a fantastic job at building a team that the state can be proud of. I REALLY like this team. Great work-ethic. Class individuals on the team. true professionals.
      The "star treatment" for the big name players and teams really turn the average Indiana fan off. Plays that get called one way for player x and another for player y are a big turnoff. The nfl at least has a review of dirty plays (hits) and levy fines against players that don't play "the right way". Does the nba do this? An example would be during the Heat game there was a possession where we had the ball and Battier and West got into a small scrap. The officials made sure it stayed calm. On the ensuing play at the other end you see Chalmers cut baseline and come up the middle behind West and clearly lower his shoulder and crush West from behind. Was a foul called by the baseline official that is supposed to be watching that area? What about the weak side official? He did not call it either. It was clearly an intentional dirty play! Will the NBA fine Chalmers? I bet not. Had this happened to Lebron it would be handled differently I am sure. This is what drives fans from Indiana away from the NBA. I think most fans love these Pacers but can't stand the double standard of the NBA.
      You're wrong.

      The NFL plays one game a week. You can plan on that, discuss it all week, build up the hype for each and every game. Plus tailgating is an event in itself, and there's only 8 home games to do that. And the NBA (or any other sports league) simply can't have an event that reaches the level of the Super Bowl. And the NFL plays in 5 months out of the year, compared to 8 for the NBA. Less is more. The NBA, nor any other pro sports league, can't compete with the NFL.

      As for Indiana, if the Colts hadn't drafted Peyton Manning, they'd be a candidate to move to Los Angeles like Jacksonville is. If the NBA corrected the so-called "double standard" many Pacer fans complain about constantly, it would have ABSOLUTELY NO effect on whether Indiana fans would embrace this team. Just remember, if the Pacers had LeBron James on their team, they'd sell out every night.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

        Originally posted by BlueCollarColts View Post
        I would also say a big part of it is America just downright likes football more than basketball
        Because football is such a fast paced action packed exciting sport? I bet half of the casual football fans don't even know what a cornerback does in football. To me it's all about the hype.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

          Originally posted by Handoverfist View Post
          Because football is such a fast paced action packed exciting sport? I bet half of the casual football fans don't even know what a cornerback does in football. To me it's all about the hype.
          Lol thats why I love basketball so much. So fast paced and exciting. After buying various season ticket packages over the past 5 years, I can't even watch the NFL. I find it to be quite slow and bit boring.
          You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

            The NBA is having a record-setting year while the NFL is concluding a down year....but lets not let a few facts interrupt a great story...

            And I suppose you missed Wades suspension for kicking the dude in the nuts???? Why do Pacer fans seem to embrace the poor little me, victim mentality??? Thankfully, Bird, Vogel and company surely dont.
            The Most Common Cause of Stress is Dealing with Idiots

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

              The primary reason the NBA can't compete with the excitement of the NFL or even NCAA basketball is the predictability. The structure of a one-and-done postseason makes upsets much more likely and thus, games are much more exciting. This also carries over into the regular season, where each game in the NFL (16) and NCAA bball (30ish) carries significantly more weight than in the NBA (82). This is also compounded by the NBA's tendency to favor star players and large-market teams, making upsets significantly more unlikely.

              How can the NBA improve? Hard cap, less biased officiating, fewer regular season games, and a reduced post-season (best 3-of-5 per series). Of course, none of those things will happen, because the NBA is all about $$$ over integrity. Thanks again, David Stern.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                Originally posted by shags View Post
                You're wrong.

                The NFL plays one game a week. You can plan on that, discuss it all week, build up the hype for each and every game. Plus tailgating is an event in itself, and there's only 8 home games to do that. And the NBA (or any other sports league) simply can't have an event that reaches the level of the Super Bowl. And the NFL plays in 5 months out of the year, compared to 8 for the NBA. Less is more. The NBA, nor any other pro sports league, can't compete with the NFL.

                As for Indiana, if the Colts hadn't drafted Peyton Manning, they'd be a candidate to move to Los Angeles like Jacksonville is. If the NBA corrected the so-called "double standard" many Pacer fans complain about constantly, it would have ABSOLUTELY NO effect on whether Indiana fans would embrace this team. Just remember, if the Pacers had LeBron James on their team, they'd sell out every night.

                I agree and don't forget in the NFL every team has a shot at an SB... in the NBA you pretty much can figure who's going to win it all its not really a surprise most of the time.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                  As said earlier, the NFL is perfect for television. The stop and go works well for tv breaks and quick analysis. It's one game a week, easy to remember. And the shorter schedule means games count. The Colts were probably not as good as some other teams that missed the playoffs, but there's a penalty for not producing in the regular season. Despite playing Sub-500 ball most of the season I think many people expect the Lakers to make the playoffs and contend. The Heat are winless against the Pacers, Knicks and Bulls but are still the favorites to win the East because they'll "win when it counts." Why even bother watching till playoffs?

                  That and, unlike the NFL, a sizable number of college ball fans think the pro game is inferior in quality (rightly or wrongly). Typical view of the NBA is "Iso for 20 seconds then drive with your star."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                    Originally posted by shags View Post
                    You're wrong.

                    The NFL plays one game a week. You can plan on that, discuss it all week, build up the hype for each and every game. Plus tailgating is an event in itself, and there's only 8 home games to do that. And the NBA (or any other sports league) simply can't have an event that reaches the level of the Super Bowl. And the NFL plays in 5 months out of the year, compared to 8 for the NBA. Less is more. The NBA, nor any other pro sports league, can't compete with the NFL.

                    As for Indiana, if the Colts hadn't drafted Peyton Manning, they'd be a candidate to move to Los Angeles like Jacksonville is. If the NBA corrected the so-called "double standard" many Pacer fans complain about constantly, it would have ABSOLUTELY NO effect on whether Indiana fans would embrace this team. Just remember, if the Pacers had LeBron James on their team, they'd sell out every night.
                    Appreciate you telling me I'm wrong. Lol. Didn't know that you were the old wise man at the top of the mountain. The reasons that I stated are the EXACT reason why most of the people that I know that are HUGE basketball fans enjoy high school and collegiate basketball but do not watch the pros. It is entertainment. Not basketball in its pure sense.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                      I completely agree with the best 3 of 5 playoff series. Some of those first round 1 and 8th seed series seem to take forever to wrap up. Back when Jordan, Bird and Magic were playing it seemed like the NBA was more of a legit sport. I think a lot of college basketball fans see it as more of a American Gladiators type of sport. I know where I work that I am the only NBA fan in a sea of crimson red and Colt blue.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                        Originally posted by Handoverfist View Post
                        Because football is such a fast paced action packed exciting sport? I bet half of the casual football fans don't even know what a cornerback does in football. To me it's all about the hype.
                        i bet u the casual basketball fan couldnt tell u what SG or SF stand for...... if football is all hype then what is basketball?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                          I think many people in Indiana don't completely trust the NBA. There's a sense with some people that the NBA won't ever "let" a team like the Pacers win a championship, maybe even more so since that ex-ref threatened to write that book a few years ago. You'll never see a Pacers/Warriors Finals. Or Hawks/Grizzlies. There's too much money involved. The NBA always seems to get that sexy matchup in the Finals.

                          I'm not saying that I completely buy into this^, only that that's the sense I get from a lot of people. I can certainly understand it, though. After Game 1 of the semis last year I was about to punch something when I realized our entire starting 5 were in foul trouble whilst Miami's "Big Three" had a combined 2 fouls.

                          This current Pacer team is definitely under the radar as far as the national media is concerned. But, to be fair, we haven't had that "on the map" moment yet. I always thought Reggie's 25 point 4th quarter was the "moment" that really put that 90s team on the national radar. We were sexy after that. If we want to be respected or noticed, then we need something similar to happen in this year's playoffs. Maybe it will be Paul George dropping 40 at MSG. Or maybe Granger hits a buzzer-beater to beat LeBron and co. Maybe it could even be a brawl or fight.

                          On one hand who cares if we're noticed. Maybe being under the radar is a good thing? On the other hand, do we need to be respected or noticed for the NBA to "allow" us to advance?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                            Originally posted by PacerPenguins View Post
                            i bet u the casual basketball fan couldnt tell u what SG or SF stand for...... if football is all hype then what is basketball?
                            Football has more moving parts, an offensive and defensive unit, special teams, field goal unit ect. Not to mention all the complex plays. I like football and I'm a big Colts fan, but after all these years of watching football I still couldn't tell you what every player does on a football team.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Why the NBA can't keep up with the NFL.

                              I think a huge part of it, is the fact that officials dictate the sport.

                              Now, officials can make impacts in other sports as well, but none quite like basketball. College basketball is still popular, why? Because officials let people play. There aren't touch fouls in college basketball. David Stern has actively ruined the sport by catering to superstars. I sure as hell wouldn't pay money to go watch LeBron James shoot FTs all day long. Don't get me wrong, LeBron James is one of if not the most athletic person on this planet - he can draw fouls more than most. However, anyone who thinks he or any other superstar doesn't get favorable treatment is blind.

                              You don't see that as often in the NFL. A bad call is a bad call, but its not because a certain player is more known than someone else. Same with baseball and hockey. Those games are dictated by the players - the NBA isn't.

                              Comment

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