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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.
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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There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league. -
"Look, it's up to me to put a team around ... Lance right now." —Kevin Pritchard press conference
Comment
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There is no question Denari and Quinn are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for Myles to do anything, just as long as he's not tackling guys out on the floor, flailing toward the basket like he's lost all control of his body or passing directly to the opposition while looking right at them. So sure, when he does something good it definitely gets your attention.
Of course when Domas is triple teamed and getting hammered every play and still averages a double double and then some, they just go meh. Domas just about has to make play of the night on ESPN for them to praise him. And then there are the IMCU commercials which burn my *** that Myles gets....smh.Comment
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God, y'all some haters, lol.There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.Comment
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There is no greater distinction, for any Pacer, past or present, to be featured in the prestigious IMCU commercial series.Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank VogelComment
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I agree with this 100%. We're 14 and 7 after 21 games. Any way you cut it, that's pretty good. Miles is a large part of that. I like this team, just the way it is. I get real tired of people who are bound and determined to undercut someone. I don't care if it happens to other teams, we're from Indiana and should know better.Originally posted by the_real_lg33 View PostGo Pacers!Comment
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I agree, most other announcers are like that. Quinn and Chris are perhaps the most neutral announcers in the NBA.Originally posted by bball_nomad View PostGo Pacers!Comment
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So one day Bird is too mean to Hibbert. The next day he’s too nice to Turner. The guy can’t win.Originally posted by able View Post
The length people will go to blame other’s shortcomings on Bird continues to astound me. Guys like Hibbert and Turner are grown men and it’s on them to succeed.
The expectations which Bird might have raised by hyping Turner are minuscule in importance to the expectations which were raised by Turner’s large contract - a contract that Bird didn’t give him.Comment
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Well, we have our answer. He went dark for exactly why some of us said --- to cut the noise and negativity. And he's not the first Pacer to do so. TJ McConnell has been vocal that guys do so. He did a few years ago, and TJ Leaf did so last month. Malcolm Brogdon also stays away from social media. The article also mentions that Turner might be wiped out from playing USA ball.
https://theathletic.com/1433399/2019...-social-media/
'It's just not healthy': Why two Pacers recently went dark on social media
Scott Agness
OKLAHOMA CITY — One month ago after TJ Leaf’s best game of the season, he was discussing social media at his locker. He wasn’t active on Twitter but frequently used Instagram in the locker room, on the bus or whenever he was bored. It was there to keep his mind occupied.
“I try not to go on social media,” he said then, being coy. “Whether they know what they’re talking about or they don’t, I’m just trying to block out the noise. I know what I can do. I’m confident in how I can play, so I’m just trying to do that.”
Because of his inconsistent play and contributions as he tries to carve out a role for himself with the weight of being the Pacers’ 2017 first-round selection, Leaf is subject to a lot of criticism. Yet, he’s just 22 and would be a senior at UCLA if he had stayed all four years.
Shortly after our conversation on Nov. 3, Leaf quietly deactivated his Instagram account and says he’s better for it. Like many of us, he was reaching for his phone to fill dead time by scrolling and catching up on what he may have missed.
“Looking at the same things over and over again really,” he said this week. “Every time I lifted my phone, I just automatically pressed Instagram or Twitter without even thinking about it. I’m definitely on my phone less and I think it’s a good refresher, a way to restart my mind a little bit.
“One day I’ll probably just go back on. I definitely will be off more consistently now — go on for a little bit and then go off. I’m not going to stay on for months at a time because it’s a waste of time for me. You get caught up in way too much service-level stuff.”
Social media has so many great uses. You can follow your favorite star or celebrity, have the chance to connect with anyone from around the world and maybe you came upon this story from social media. Yet there are many negatives to it, especially for those in the spotlight. The criticisms stick with you more than any positive comment or interaction.
T.J. McConnell, whose locker is near Leaf’s at home and away games, suggested to Leaf that he eliminate the negativity. It’s much more than wearing headphones to block out the noise, it’s not using those platforms in the first place because the negativity is unavoidable even with the best filters.
McConnell, 27, hasn’t tweeted in 541 days and his last non-promotional tweet was 1,115 days ago when he thanked a fan who congratulated him on a win.
“I’ve said this to my friends who have asked for two years, and I think there are some good things about social media, but it gives people an unfair voice to say things and there’s no consequences for them,” McConnell said. “But if we would happen to respond, it looks bad on us because we’re professional athletes and we shouldn’t.”
McConnell knows because that used to be him during his first two years in Philadelphia (2015-17). Annoyed by what others wrote while trying to prove he belonged in the NBA, he would respond.
“I said it’s just not healthy. I spent hours on it, looking at it, and living and breathing by how people viewed me and my game — which is not how you should live your life. Once I got off it, it was like a weight was lifted off my chest and now I don’t even go looking for that stuff anymore.
“Even in the offseason, if I post something, I can almost guarantee you someone is going to get on there and say, ‘You suck!’ and sometimes they even cross the line. Someone is going to have something negative to say no matter what you do, so that’s why I stay off. It’s not really conducive for me.”
McConnell still has an Instagram account, but it’s run by his wife solely for marketing purposes.
“I think once I know I’m not going to get any more marketing deals, I’m not going to be on social media ever,” he said positively.
Another Pacers player chose to do the same this week.
After a three-point loss in Philadelphia last weekend, Myles Turner’s Twitter account vanished and all of his posts on Instagram were deleted.
“It’s just not a big deal,” he said Monday in Memphis. “It’s something that I just didn’t want to … I did it for myself and I’ll keep it at that.”
But it is a big deal because of how often he used social media. He was the team’s spokesman, often posting about a victory even before talking to the media.
Several other things are going on here. His points, blocks and rebounding averages are down this season, as is his usage rate. Domantas Sabonis, now a starter, has taken on a greater role and the Pacers have a better supporting cast. Not as much is being demanded from Turner, the longest-tenured Pacers player on the roster.
Another factor to consider is whether Turner is understandably wiped out. Training camp for USA Basketball opened the first week in August and then they traveled to Australia and China. He spent a long weekend in Wyoming and then it was time to report for Pacers training camp on Sept. 27. Four days later, he was on another flight around the world to India.
Turner then suffered a right ankle sprain and missed eight games to begin November.
Social media isn’t for Malcolm Brogdon either. He’s not on Twitter and only recently rejoined Instagram with one goal in mind: to promote the foundation that he launched in 2018: Hoops2O, which raises funds and awareness for clean water initiatives in East Africa.
“I’m only on there for branding, for the opportunity to reach so many people,” said Brogdon, who notably has a privacy glass cover on his iPhone so those around him can’t see his screen.
Even though he devotes very little time to social media, he is well-aware of the drawbacks. Listening to the noise, seeing comments from those who shouldn’t matter in your daily life and falling down the wormhole.
Each year before the season, all teams are required by the NBA to go through media training and that includes social media. They are informed of the pitfalls, how they can be unfairly targeted and how it is a direct reflection of the team. Pacers head coach Nate McMillan has enough to worry about, so it was news to him when I informed him this week that two of his players had gone off social media.
“Did they?” he asked. “I don’t do social media. I don’t read it, I don’t look at it. I know that’s a big part of society now. We do have people that track it, but I’m not on social media.”
Before each game, the Pacers’ official Twitter account posts the starting lineup. Brogdon has never been tagged and, at least for now, Turner cannot either.
(Top photo of T.J. McConnell: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today Sports)
WeLast edited by Kid Minneapolis; 12-06-2019, 12:54 PM.There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.Comment
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I don't think anyone disagrees that he disconnected because of "noise and negativety". Essentially he didn't want to face a tidal wave of criticism after a nightmare interview and then a game where he looked like a 3rd string backup stiff.Originally posted by Kid Minneapolis View Post
Also, I can't say when or if TJ Leaf disconnected but people were calling for him to be cut earlier this season. He was playing awful. I think they are both listening to their point guards.Comment
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It's the mentality of people like yourself that drive people away and I don't blame Turner, it's silly to sit there and listen to that nonsense. That "nightmare" of an interview in your mind, the rest of us recognized he was directly answering the question asked him by the reporter who explicitly mentioned sacrifice. You ignored that fact and focused only on the response and took it out of context. This inclination towards invented drama has been a repeated occurrence by you and others on here for years.Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
And yep, it's been a rough half month for Turner. Happens. All players go through it. No support from you.
And so I don't blame him one bit for trying to eliminate that nonsense in his life. It's draining and unnecessary. He'll get back on track and get right, and I think it was smart that he did shut down social media, good for him. That shows me he's doing what he needs to do for himself and that's what he needs to do. His heart is the right place.Last edited by Kid Minneapolis; 12-06-2019, 07:38 PM.There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.Comment
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1 point and 1 rebound at halftime. For a $20 million a year player. He's stealing money at this point. KP needs to trade this bum ASAP!!Originally posted by Kid Minneapolis View PostBeing unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank VogelComment
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I thought he was better than what he really is, he is not even Ian Mahinmi quality right now.@WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!
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Mahinmi was way better his last year in Indiana.Originally posted by vnzla81 View PostBeing unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank VogelComment
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I'm fairly certain this same crowd was all over McDermott last year. You all just need someone to key on and dump on a guy when he's down. Turner has carried this team at various times over the last few years and represented USA just a few months ago. You all are quick to forget that. Very much a "what have you done for me very recently" crowd. Turner will be back.
There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.Comment
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