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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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Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

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  • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

    Woiw, looks like the Cavs have finally realized they are still in the playoffs.

    Comment


    • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

      Originally posted by Unclebuck
      Woiw, looks like the Cavs have finally realized they are still in the playoffs.
      Well, I was real impressed with LeBron. He decided with about two minutes to go he was going to try to will his team into that game, and he did.

      Of course, he was helped by a truly AWFUL fourth quarter performance from the Pistons. It was helped by the fact that Prince can't pass out of a double team, and Sheed wasn't hitting from inside, and the Pistons were still going to them instead of Hamilton and Billups.

      That's a relatively easy adjustment to make before Game 3, and that bad 4th quarter may be a good thing for the Pistons in this series.

      Comment


      • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

        Yeah, Im glad the Cavs made a run. It'll focus us better for game 3.

        It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

        Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
        Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
        NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

        Comment


        • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

          The Wizards are about the only team in the first round of the East that plays as little or less defense than the Cavs. I think the Cavs probbly would have lost with about any other matchup. Going from playing a team with no d to a team that plays great d, can't help.

          Comment


          • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

            Originally posted by skyfire
            The Wizards are about the only team in the first round of the East that plays as little or less defense than the Cavs. I think the Cavs probbly would have lost with about any other matchup. Going from playing a team with no d to a team that plays great d, can't help.
            We play defense!!!! Just not conventional defense. We play the passing lanes, not man to man. LMAO
            STARBURY

            08 and Beyond

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            • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

              I'd say the Spurs got a big ***-kicking tonight....

              It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

              Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
              Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
              NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

              Comment


              • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                I was really impressed by Josh Howard and Devin Harris. If both of them play well, we can beat anybody.
                "Remember the pain of my fist. That is my power!"

                Comment


                • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                  Last nights Piston Cavs game finally got exciting at the end. I remember just looking at the score at 48-28 and thinking that the Cavs need more playoff experience..then I realized CAVS CAN MAKE RUNS!

                  The battle of the Best in Texas is 1-1 heading to Dallas.

                  Comment


                  • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                    It's a good thing the Cavs made that late run, because it was looking like Mike Brown lost his team with the hack-a-ben strategy.

                    After watching the replay of game 2, Mike Brown sent Alan Henderson in just to foul Ben near the end of the 1st half. But after the first time, Henderson blatently ignored Brown when Brown told him to foul, so Brown told Illgauskus to do it, and the Illgauskus ignored him.

                    I don't think Brown's players appreciated being foul-gimmicks.....both Henderson and Z looked pretty angry.

                    It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                    Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                    Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                    NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

                    Comment


                    • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                      is my espn gamecast right


                      Miami 25
                      NJ 6

                      5:28 Left in the first Qrt

                      Wade with 13 Pts
                      Ya Think Ya Used Enough Dynamite there Butch...

                      Comment


                      • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                        It was correct. That game started off very nicely for Miami but just a living nighmare for Jersey.

                        The Heat got up to a quick 7-0 start and lead and never looked back. Not even glanced. At the end of the first quarter, the Heat got to 40 before the Nets could even reach 20. The Nets had quite a few turnovers in that quarter alone and led to MANY MANY Miami dunks and layups.

                        Miami was up by 27 or less. Dwayne Wade was amazing last night. He hit 3-3 3's (All in the first quarter) and finished 12-19 for 31 points Shaq was supportive and ended with 21 points although he missed 7 of his 10 freebies.

                        Final Score: 111-89

                        Also, I didn't stay up to watch the Clippers/Suns game but I checked the box this morning, the final was 122-97. Suns got a little whoopin last night

                        Comment


                        • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                          The brother of Larry Hughes just passed away

                          They're not sure when Larry will play again either. No link but I saw it on the ESPN bottomline.

                          Comment


                          • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                            yeah thats sad to hear, sounds like the kid had heart problems for a few years but still only 20


                            CLEVELAND -- The Cavaliers received news Thursday that suddenly made their 2-0 playoff deficit against the Detroit Pistons seem less important.

                            Guard Larry Hughes' brother, Justin, died early Thursday at age 20, Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said in a statement. Justin Hughes was born with a heart defect and had a heart transplant 10 years ago.

                            Larry Hughes missed practice Thursday to travel to St. Louis to be with his family. No timetable has been set on his return and it was unclear whether he would play in Game 3 Saturday at Cleveland.

                            "Right now, basketball should be the furthest thing from his mind," teammate Damon Jones said. "He has to be there for his family. They're going through a trying time right now. If he's able to get back, that's good. If he's not, we're going to continue to keep him in spirit in our hearts."

                            In December, Hughes missed practice to tend to his ailing brother. He said then that doctors were running tests to determine if the heart was rejecting.

                            "It's not good, but it's not as bad as it has been in past times that it's happened," Hughes said on Dec. 22. "It'll be probably a couple months before they get it where they want it to be."

                            Justin Hughes had spent some time with the Cavaliers after his brother joined the team as a free agent last summer.

                            "The times that he was around, he embraced the team and was excited about being at the basketball games," Jones said. "Just to see the excitement on his face was a special thing, to know what he was going through in his life."

                            LeBron James said that it was hard for the team to concentrate on basketball Thursday.

                            "I look at Larry as a brother of mine and for Justin to pass away during a time like this, it's very difficult to focus on anything but Larry and his family right now," James said.

                            Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said he will have to plan for Saturday's game in the event that Hughes doesn't play. But he said it was too early to begin that process.

                            Hughes has had a tough first season in Cleveland. He missed 45 games because of a broken finger, which required a second surgery after it didn't heal correctly the first time.

                            He returned in April in time to finish the regular season and has struggled in the playoffs, shooting 32 percent in eight games against Washington and Detroit. His 11.3 postseason scoring average is far below the 20.7 points he averaged for Washington in 10 playoff games last year.

                            While a somber mood permeated the Cavaliers' practice Thursday, the Pistons had one of their best practices in some time, Detroit coach Flip Saunders said.

                            The Pistons, who haven't swept a seven-game series since the 1989 Finals, are preparing for what they expect to be a tough road game in Cleveland.

                            "It's difficult to beat a team three times in a row, much less four," Saunders said. "That's why you don't see many sweeps anymore."

                            The Pistons may still respect the Cavaliers, but the lopsided series isn't getting the same respect from the TV networks. ABC dumped Game 3 from prime time Saturday in favor of Game 3 of the Dallas-San Antonio series.

                            "Our series has the team with the league's best record against the 21-year-old that a lot of people think should have been the MVP," Saunders said. "That's pretty good, but so is Dallas and San Antonio."

                            The Pistons say they don't want to allow a repeat of the fourth quarter of Game 2 when James went on a scoring flurry and pulled the Cavaliers within five points.

                            "We were more inept offensively, and that allowed him to get in transition," Saunders said. "From Day One, one of our keys to contain LeBron was to score at the other end so that he doesn't get in the open floor. He had more of those opportunities in the fourth quarter than in the previous seven quarters."

                            Richard Hamilton, who responded to James' late rally with a three-point play that helped seal the win, said they have to treat Game 3 like Game 1. He added that James' comeback doesn't provide extra motivation.

                            "Our motivation is the same as it always is. We want to finish it this year," he said

                            http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...ory?id=2441841.
                            Ya Think Ya Used Enough Dynamite there Butch...

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                            • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                              The Heat are marching to the foul line down the stretch and have opened an 8-point lead with just over 3 minutes to go.

                              Of course, Krstic can't make a shot to save his life against Miami.

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                              • Re: Random thoughts thread 2006.....playoff edition.

                                Vince is on fire.

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