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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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Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

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  • Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

    http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/j...ell-not-101811


    2. Amateur hour

    I’ll just go ahead and write it: Jim Caldwell should be the ex-coach of the Colts when the season is over.

    I take no pleasure in writing that. Caldwell is one of the most decent people you will ever meet. And it isn’t his fault the organization was ill-prepared for 2011 and Peyton Manning’s health. But Caldwell is a bad head coach.

    What are his skills? Why should he stay on in Indy? If you disagree with my take, enlighten me on his strengths. His in-game management has always been suspect, starting with his disastrous and goofy clock management at the end of the playoff loss to the Jets last year that had Manning shaking his head from the sidelines.

    He is supposed to be an offensive coach and a quarterback guru. Have we seen that? His winless team has appeared flat and uninterested. Sure, the team was built around one iconic star player. But this commentary dates back to all three years now on Caldwell. He took Tony Dungy’s team to the Super Bowl. Caldwell removed his starters in Week 16 of that year to get his team ready for the playoffs and eschew perfection.

    Bill Belichick won double-digit games when he lost Tom Brady for the year in Week 1. Caldwell’s 2011 Colts are a legit candidate to lose every single game. That’s coaching.

    Caldwell made sense, despite his awful showing as a college head coach, because when you employ Manning, continuity is key. Dungy wanted Caldwell to replace him. The great Bill Polian wanted someone to nod. It all seemed logical, three years ago. It was the right appointment.

    The Colts now need to look into the crystal ball. Is Caldwell the right man to usher in a new quarterback, maybe even Andrew Luck? Is he the right person to tell Manning that his time is up? Is he the right person to inspire and pick a system for the post-Peyton Colts?

    The 2012 Colts need a fresh voice. Change is inevitable by 2013. Be proactive, improve the head coach and do it at the end of the year. It will be the best thing to happen to the franchise.

  • #2
    Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

    I agree Caldwell is a bad head coach. The team he inherited from Dungy was very much capable of winning the super bowl however we came up short and have gone down hill from there. We can put blame on the O Line, weak D..etc but it starts at the top i think.

    Should Manning not come back at the same caliber he once was, which i doubt he will. Then sure let him get and lets start the rebuilding process... I think then and only then should we think about making a change at the head coach position. Then go from there.
    Last edited by aero; 10-19-2011, 10:51 PM.
    If you havin' depth problems, I feel bad for you son; I got 99 problems but a bench ain't one! - Hicks
    [/center]
    @thatguyjoe84

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    • #3
      Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

      Couldn't agree more

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

        He is either a very bad head coach, or he is simply "Luck"y.

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        • #5
          Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

          My friends and I have started a Jim Caldwell inspired drinking game. The rules are simple:

          1. Every time Caldwell's lips are not firmly pressed together, take a sip.

          2. Every time you see Caldwell actually speak a word to someone on the sideline, take a chug.

          3. Save a ton of money as a 6 pack will last an entire season!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

            Originally posted by Wage View Post
            My friends and I have started a Jim Caldwell inspired drinking game. The rules are simple:

            1. Every time Caldwell's lips are not firmly pressed together, take a sip.

            2. Every time you see Caldwell actually speak a word to someone on the sideline, take a chug.

            3. Save a ton of money as a 6 pack will last an entire season!
            Saving money is good, but doesn't sound like a very fun game.

            Fire the coaching staff, hire all new. I'm still on the Fisher wagon. Or some defensive minded coach that doesn't insist on using a vanilla cover 2.
            First time in a long time, I've been happy with the team that was constructed, and now they struggle. I blame the coach.

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            • #7
              Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

              Originally posted by Sparhawk View Post
              Saving money is good, but doesn't sound like a very fun game.

              Fire the coaching staff, hire all new. I'm still on the Fisher wagon. Or some defensive minded coach that doesn't insist on using a vanilla cover 2.
              You can't fire the coaching staff without ousting the Polians because Caldwell may be history but the Polians will just hire someone like him (easy to control)

              The problems are deeper than coaching with this team.

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              • #8
                Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                Originally posted by Basketball Fan View Post
                You can't fire the coaching staff without ousting the Polians because Caldwell may be history but the Polians will just hire someone like him (easy to control)

                The problems are deeper than coaching with this team.
                Right too many Polians so that's just one voice. i don't know where a father-son situation in sports has ever worked out.

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                • #9
                  Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                  If there was a Caldwell bobble-head, it wouldn't move.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                    Honestly, I'm surprised he is still employed.

                    Exit stage left Jim. Now!

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                    • #11
                      Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                      Mike Ditka on Mike and Mike had some interesting comments. Paraphrasing, he said that if you look at how this Colts team is constructed, there are a lot of bricks that are missing or in the wrong place. Nothing fits together and it had to fall apart.

                      He then said something about how players ought to be motivated by pride, if nothing else, to not let something like that happen.

                      Two comments that seem to aim first at Polian, then at Caldwell and the players.
                      The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

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                      • #12
                        Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                        Honestly, it looks like the team is backing the Fire Jim Caldwell movement. Pro teams don't lose by 55 points unless they want to.


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                        • #13
                          Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                          Well his replacement is sitting in the replay booth. Go ahead and give the job to Tressel.
                          You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                            Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                            Well his replacement is sitting in the replay booth. Go ahead and give the job to Tressel.
                            You ARE joking - right ??

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                            • #15
                              Re: Looks like the "Fire Jim Caldwell" movement may have a backer

                              I wouldn't mind Tressel. I don't think he would be a Polian lapdog.

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