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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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An answer for Fortaz......

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  • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

    Originally posted by beast23
    But I think you guys are mistaken if you think there was any panic on the part of the Pacers, or even in thinking that they may have reached a collective decision of "we want Artest gone". Not during last summer, anyway.
    Panic, no. Anxious, yes. As I noted above during/after the ECFs.

    Comment


    • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

      Originally posted by vapacersfan
      Thats a good point.

      I dont live in Donnie Walsh's house, but tit wouldnt surprise me if he would think about "How would we be without JO" or "How would we be without Tinsley"

      As for the summer, I dont know if managment was in panic mode, but they def. shopped him around....
      i agree one hundred percent with everything uve said here....i dont think weve ever seen anything remotely resembling a panic mode from the walsh regime....

      the absolute closest thing i could think of would be the bender acquisition....one could definitely argue that after cambys playoff performance he put a premium value on a long athletic player that could affect a game both offensively as well as a weakside defender....he knew he had one of the very best low post defenders in dd....i think he might have become enamored a bit with what he saw camby do freelancing from the weakside on the defensive end....

      however, as much as we might hate to admit it....and history would definitely change our opinion....there were other very pertinent and very valid reasons to do that deal....it obviously didnt materialize the way that we all wouldve liked, no matter what happens from here on out....

      however....no one gets it right every time....there are simply too many variables

      'shopping somebody around' is a very subjective term...and i would hesitate a bit when discussing the mindset behind saying that....however if having trade conversations with one or two teams is shopping him around....then i would agree....i would never agree, however that that signifies wanting him gone....for i have a feeling the majority of players are shopped around based on the aforementioned definition and its a bit presumptuous to think that all these players are deemed by the team to 'need to be gone' status....

      its a business....in this business, player transactions are a part of it...teams constantly are on the look -out to alter and or better their teams....to attempt to put a negative spin on a player or the teams feelings of that player based on these types of discussions is a reach at the very least...

      Comment


      • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

        Originally posted by foretaz
        exactly....some here would have u believe that the pacers front office suffers from the same afflictions as ron artest and are prone to the same misguided knee jerk reactions that ron and a lot of fans are....

        uhhh....dont think so...donnie walsh has an unbelievably long history of rendering unemotional, agonizingly methodical and painstakingly thought out decisions....

        the implications of some on here are laughable...
        Who here is implying otherwise? Although Ron's behavior in the ECFs certainly got a very real and immediate emotional reaction from management. They were pissed.

        Comment


        • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

          Originally posted by Harmonica
          Who here is implying otherwise? Although Ron's behavior in the ECFs certainly got a very real and immediate emotional reaction from management. They were pissed.
          wow...am i to assume that this or was, at the time, some sort of earthshattering scoop??? i can probably think of a number of things they were pissed about after losing the ECF...

          lol..cmon...

          humans are emotional....when did i say they werent?...however, successful businessmen dont succumb to making decisions based on said emotions...in fact they do just the opposite...and as i said....donnie walsh is probably one of the very best at doing this....

          remember, again...we are not talking about larry brown....this is donnie walsh

          Comment


          • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

            Originally posted by foretaz
            wow...am i to assume that this or was, at the time, some sort of earthshattering scoop??? i can probably think of a number of things they were pissed about after losing the ECF...

            lol..cmon...

            humans are emotional....when did i say they werent?...however, successful businessmen dont succumb to making decisions based on said emotions...in fact they do just the opposite...and as i said....donnie walsh is probably one of the very best at doing this....

            remember, again...we are not talking about larry brown....this is donnie walsh.
            I think we're basically in agreement.

            But I wouldn't dismiss Ron's unusual behavior during the ECFs as being a strong indicator as to how they evaluated him as a player and what decisions stemmed from that.

            Comment


            • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

              Originally posted by vapacersfan
              I dont know for a fact, but from people I have talked to in the "know", at least in the Wizards organization, everyone is shopped. It can sometimes seem like its fantasy basketball. So I agree with your first part.

              You just dont want to seem to give up on the mindset that people were tired of him. We were given plenty of signs from managment that is was time for him to go, and I stronly beleive if the Maloofs would have pulled the trigger on Peja for Artest, that we wouldnt even be having this discussion. FOr better or worse, there is no doubt in my mind he would be gone.

              Right now the Maloof brothers look like geniouses (actually they did on 11/19) but thats a topic for another thread/day
              actually ur closer to understanding than u might think....

              u say u believe just about everyone is shopped....i agree...

              ur main reason for saying the pacers organization was tired of him is the fact that he was shopped and purportedly almost traded-though how close a trade is , to me, of little importance...it either is or isnt...but realize if everyone is shopped, that it cant mean theyre tired of him, for if it did, they would be tired of everyone...

              however....i think ur missing my point....

              whether or not the pacers were tired of him(which, how someone would know this is of little importance-let alone very subjective) MAKES NO DIFFERENCE IN THE OVERALL SCHEME OF THINGS....

              ok...i agree....the pacers were tired of him....so what...i think the whole notion is ridiculous....not only can i really not know, but it makes no difference...

              i get tired of things all the time...so what...some of things i enjoy i might get tired of occasionally....i love to play golf...more than anyone u know, i assure u....but there are those rare times where im flat tired of it and need to just take a break and get away....i clear my mind, rejuvenate and am rarin to go....

              i just dont get the significance that the pacers might have been tired of ron artest, except to those who seem to want validation that the crap ron has done is bad.....to which ive said...YUP...UR RIGHT...

              it simply makes no difference....i just want to say to people...so what? the only thing that matters is what u end up doing or not doing about it....in other words...whats the end result?? the end result was ron artest was a pacer and remains a pacer...and thats really all that matters to this point...

              its like some want to take this supposed notion of the organization tiring of him as some reason to say...see im right in my disdain for him...cause the pacers grew tired of his antics....hey...whatever...suit urself...if u have enuff convictions u dont need to twist and distort and most importantly interpret the feelings of others that u simply have no way of knowing, no matter what is 'purported' or otherwise...

              as ive said...if people wanna find a reason to hate...in this case artest....it wont be hard...

              i do wonder though....i wonder if the pacers organization 'tired' this season of being unable to defend any perimeter player of any significance....

              Comment


              • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                This thread is really long... is it worth reading?
                Here, everyone have a : on me

                Comment


                • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                  here...this might help to clarify things....

                  ultimately im not really concerned about what herb and mel simon, donnie walsh, larry bird, or rick carlisle think.....they have my support and respect for this simple reason....they all have track records regarding what they do that strongly suggest they are very very good at what they do....

                  and what that means to me is they are thinking of just about every angle possible at one point or another....regarding every situation....not just artest....i also understand they are human beings and subject to all the emotions that human beings are....

                  one of the very reasons all these individuals are so successful is because they are able realize where emotion stops and rationale begins...theyre able to channel those emotions into the energy to make very wise and well thought out decisions....

                  so...i trust them....and i have no interest in knowing what they were thinking so that i might second guess them down the road when things dont work out....and i do find it rather silly if u would believe they would allow any kind of info to get out that would allow this sort of thing....but thats off topic...

                  all im ultimately really concerned about is what they DO....and shopping a player doesnt really qualify....if they trade that player-that does....i dont care about all the potential deals that almost happened...while fun maybe to discuss it has zero bearing on the situation....and when someone wants to say that this deal got exed because of this that and the other...i kinda laugh....u dont know that...u simply dont know that...u only know what people want u to know then u formulate that based on what ur personal desire is....

                  i dont care who the pacers work out...i dont care who larry has scouted...once again...its fun for discussion....eliminates the boredom of the offseason....soon its gonna get really boring with a lockout....what i care about is who they draft or what sort of deal they make to trade that pick and how that impacts the team....

                  these are ultimately the only things that matter....not what they think...what they do...and when u understand that there are many variables in this business or any other...u realize the possibility exists to always go back and second guess knowing what u know in the future...

                  all u can do is realize the people making the decisions are very intelligent and proven...and they make the best decision they can based on everything they know at the time....given their track record....im cool with that....

                  being one of the top teams in the league for about the last 15 years makes it pretty easy....i mean we could always be atlanta...or worse...the knicks

                  Comment


                  • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                    Originally posted by vapacersfan
                    Well KG is shopped around, but he wasnt about to go.

                    If the Maloofs said "ok", then RA wouldnt be a Pacer.

                    Regargless, its all a moot point seeing as none of the above happened.

                    I have to go show a house, Ill check back into the thread when I get home...
                    So, the bottom line is that you are "shoppin' that house" and you definitely "want it gone"?

                    Just asking. Because I'd really have no way of knowing. Just a perception.

                    Comment


                    • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                      Originally posted by beast23
                      So, the bottom line is that you are "shoppin' that house" and you definitely "want it gone"?

                      Just asking. Because I'd really have no way of knowing. Just a perception.

                      my guess is if he wants it gone he can definitely get rid of it.....if he wants to sell it to better himself or the owner-in this case make some benjamins, then he will only sell it if he gets what he wants out of it....

                      in this day and age its not hard to get rid of something u want gone....

                      Comment


                      • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                        Originally posted by foretaz
                        ...in this day and age its not hard to get rid of something u want gone....
                        Let's don't go quite that far.

                        Somehow, I don't think you are the father of a teenage girl... that might have a boyfriend that you might not approve of?

                        I've been their and done that... believe me, they are like bad pennies. The little ****s just keep coming back. Very hard to get rid of.

                        Comment


                        • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                          Originally posted by ILovethePacers
                          This thread is really long... is it worth reading?

                          Not only is it thirteen pages long, but its a conversation between Peck and Fortaz. And if you haven't seen it yet, Fortaz's posts make Peck seem brief. So the answer is, "yes, but only if you've got nothing else to do today."
                          Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
                          Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
                          Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
                          Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
                          And life itself, rushing over me
                          Life itself, the wind in black elms,
                          Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

                          Comment


                          • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                            Originally posted by Jay@Section204
                            Not only is it thirteen pages long, but its a conversation between Peck and Fortaz. And if you haven't seen it yet, Fortaz's posts make Peck seem brief. So the answer is, "yes, but only if you've got nothing else to do today."
                            god it feels good to look at this thread and laugh....seriously....peck wears me out...im sending him a damn bill for my friggen keyboard...if anyone ever attempts to use this keyboard that doesnt know how to type theyre screwed....

                            i never knew u could erase the letters of the keyboard.....btw....what does it mean when there appear to be hairline fractures in the keys?

                            Comment


                            • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                              Originally posted by foretaz
                              god it feels good to look at this thread and laugh....seriously....peck wears me out...im sending him a damn bill for my friggen keyboard...if anyone ever attempts to use this keyboard that doesnt know how to type theyre screwed....

                              i never knew u could erase the letters of the keyboard.....btw....what does it mean when there appear to be hairline fractures in the keys?

                              Always knew you had an excuse for not using the shift key.
                              Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                              Comment


                              • Re: An answer for Fortaz......

                                Originally posted by foretaz
                                i have no interest in knowing what they were thinking so that i might second guess them down the road when things dont work out....and i do find it rather silly if u would believe they would allow any kind of info to get out that would allow this sort of thing....
                                There's no way of preventing that from happening if they share their thoughts and feelings with people, which they obviously do.


                                Originally posted by foretaz
                                and when someone wants to say that this deal got exed because of this that and the other...i kinda laugh....u dont know that...u simply dont know that...u only know what people want u to know then u formulate that based on what ur personal desire is....
                                I'd agree somewhat with this, but not entirely. It just depends on a person's level of candidness with certain people—wife, family, friends, etc.

                                But I agree with the rest of your post from which these two quotes were pulled.

                                Comment

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