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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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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.

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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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Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

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  • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

    We are already talking ourselves into Aldrich I see. Kill me now.

    Comment


    • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

      Originally posted by eldubious View Post
      I don't see all the hype about Bledsoe, who was horrid as a PG, and is just an undersized SG. He's more of a Ben Gordon type than a Rondo. I would rather see the Pacers look at Stephenson or take a foriegn player like Montijueas or Serafin (French produce good players).
      Those are really awful comparisons. One undersized SG who can't do anything but shoot, and one PG who can't shoot but can do everything else. Methinks Bledsoe is somewhere in the middle. He can shoot well, and I think he can handle PG responsibilities admirably. I don't understand why you think he was "horrid" as a PG, but okay, to each his own.

      Comment


      • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

        Originally posted by cdash View Post
        Those are really awful comparisons. One undersized SG who can't do anything but shoot, and one PG who can't shoot but can do everything else. Methinks Bledsoe is somewhere in the middle. He can shoot well, and I think he can handle PG responsibilities admirably. I don't understand why you think he was "horrid" as a PG, but okay, to each his own.
        Seeing as how he didn't get to play his natural position in his one-and-done campaign, I don't see how we can be too excited or pessimistic about his PG play. He certainly has potential as an athlete and as a player, but he is VERY high risk. The most encouraging thing he has on his record his his HS play. Really it becomes a question of whether you think he would be worth drafting out of HS, since his college year did nothing to help or hurt his stock.

        Comment


        • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

          Didn't Westbrook do about the same thing at UCLA? Not saying Bledsoe is going to be as good as Westbrook, but I would hate to pass on him if he does.

          Comment


          • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

            Judicata-

            In a word, exactly. Bledsoe hasn't done enough in any respect
            to give any indication of what kind of player he'll be in the NBA.

            Which brings me to a related point. Notwithstanding the fact that,
            after taking a PF in what was obviously a stellar, PG draft last year,
            reaching for a speculative PG this year might just compaund that
            error, who says that Bledsoe is the #2 PG in this draft ?

            The 'consensus' ?

            Is that the same 'consensus' that told us all that Jennings wouldn't
            cut it because he couldn't shoot the ball or that, based on his play at
            UCLA, Collison didn't look like he had what it takes to play PG in the
            NBA ?

            I recall a thread on PD a few wks ago where someone excused Bird for
            passing on Collison because, 'everyone else (between 13 and 21) passed
            on him too; he was ranked well down the PG list, etc.

            In short, the 'consensus', while worth acknowledging, is just group-think.
            For all we know, the UNLV kid oe someone else might actually be the
            #2 PG prospect. And it's Bird's job to figure that out. He's paid the
            big $$$ to evaluate a kid's skills-set, etc., extrapolate from there
            and choose the right kid.

            That might be Bledsoe. But the consensus aside, I've seen nothing
            yet is his short career at KY that seals it.

            Comment


            • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

              Originally posted by Hillman's 'Fro' View Post
              Judicata-

              In a word, exactly. Bledsoe hasn't done enough in any respect
              to give any indication of what kind of player he'll be in the NBA.

              Which brings me to a related point. Notwithstanding the fact that,
              after taking a PF in what was obviously a stellar, PG draft last year,
              reaching for a speculative PG this year might just compaund that
              error, who says that Bledsoe is the #2 PG in this draft ?

              The 'consensus' ?

              Is that the same 'consensus' that told us all that Jennings wouldn't
              cut it because he couldn't shoot the ball or that, based on his play at
              UCLA, Collison didn't look like he had what it takes to play PG in the
              NBA ?

              I recall a thread on PD a few wks ago where someone excused Bird for
              passing on Collison because, 'everyone else (between 13 and 21) passed
              on him too; he was ranked well down the PG list, etc.

              In short, the 'consensus', while worth acknowledging, is just group-think.
              For all we know, the UNLV kid oe someone else might actually be the
              #2 PG prospect. And it's Bird's job to figure that out. He's paid the
              big $$$ to evaluate a kid's skills-set, etc., extrapolate from there
              and choose the right kid.

              That might be Bledsoe. But the consensus aside, I've seen nothing
              yet is his short career at KY that seals it.

              Maybe the pacers should hire Bill Polian and his scouting staff. He seems to almost always pick the right players.

              Comment


              • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                Originally posted by pacers74 View Post
                Didn't Westbrook do about the same thing at UCLA? Not saying Bledsoe is going to be as good as Westbrook, but I would hate to pass on him if he does.


                Wasn't it that way with J'rue too?

                Comment


                • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                  Russell Westbrook's sophomore season (he barely played as a freshman) vs. Eric Bledsoe's freshman seeason...



                  Bledsoe's A/TO is shaky, but that's not uncommon for young PG's playing out of position...

                  05-06: D. Collison (J. Farmar) - 1.14 (2.3/2.0)
                  06-07: S. Curry (J. Richards) - 1.0 (2.8/2.8)
                  07-08: R. Westbrook (D. Collison) - .96 (.7/.7)
                  09-10: E. Bledsoe (J. Wall) - .96 (2.9/3.0)

                  Comment


                  • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                    I know it's only high school, but Bledsoe averaged 20pts 11 assists as a senior. That at least shows he has point guard skills.

                    Comment


                    • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                      Originally posted by CableKC View Post

                      But to be clear, I would only be okay with this if he is the clearly the BPA over anyone else by a mile....as in, it's obvious that Aldrich is way better then everyone else...as in a total no-brainer.

                      But IMHO, at the 10th spot.....there won't be a no-brainer where someone like Aldrich is totally a better player then someone like Udoh or any other Big Man. After the top 7 spots....I think that it's a crap-shoot. Just like any other draft before us, one can find a very solid Player in the teens if we look hard enough and do our homework.
                      Maybe he would be the better COLLEGE player by a mile, but he's going to have a tougher time getting those blocks and doing a lot of the things that he could do in college at the pro level. He's just not very quick. Cole should still be able to score inside, though. I think Udoh's defense will definitely translate better to the NBA, but he is obviously not as advanced offensively as someone like Aldrich.

                      Looking at what Indiana needs, I would see Udoh's athletic and lengthy shotblocking as more of an asset than Cole's scoring, which is something I think we're going to get from Hibbert already. If we didn't already have Hibbert, I'd be much more open to taking Aldrich. On the other hand, I think we really need someone like Udoh; we don't have a reasonably athletic, lengthy shotblocker like Udoh. In addition, Udoh seems like he meets the the character and maturity qualities Indiana would be looking for. I'd much rather have Udoh or Davis than Aldrich for our team.

                      Comment


                      • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                        Originally posted by Hillman's 'Fro' View Post
                        Judicata-

                        I recall a thread on PD a few wks ago where someone excused Bird for
                        passing on Collison because, 'everyone else (between 13 and 21) passed
                        on him too; he was ranked well down the PG list, etc.

                        In short, the 'consensus', while worth acknowledging, is just group-think.
                        For all we know, the UNLV kid oe someone else might actually be the
                        #2 PG prospect. And it's Bird's job to figure that out. He's paid the
                        big $$$ to evaluate a kid's skills-set, etc., extrapolate from there
                        and choose the right kid.

                        That might be Bledsoe. But the consensus aside, I've seen nothing
                        yet is his short career at KY that seals it.
                        The same Bird that couldn't figure out that Blair and Lawson were going to be good players. Bird stinks as a talent evaluator, he goes by character instead of talent, which is good for milk and cookie ads bad for talent.

                        Comment


                        • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                          Originally posted by cdash View Post
                          We are already talking ourselves into Aldrich I see. Kill me now.
                          LOL, preparing ourselves for the inevitable, cdash. better just enjoy the ride.
                          "To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

                          Comment


                          • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                            Originally posted by eldubious View Post
                            The same Bird that couldn't figure out that Blair and Lawson were going to be good players. Bird stinks as a talent evaluator, he goes by character instead of talent, which is good for milk and cookie ads bad for talent.
                            Whose to say Price and Tyler don't end up just as good as those two?

                            Comment


                            • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                              Originally posted by cdash View Post
                              We are already talking ourselves into Aldrich I see. Kill me now.
                              Just pray that the Pistons or the Jazz are smarter then us and draft him.
                              Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                              Comment


                              • Re: Official 2010 NBA Draft Recruiting Center

                                Originally posted by eldubious View Post
                                The same Bird that couldn't figure out that Blair and Lawson were going to be good players. Bird stinks as a talent evaluator, he goes by character instead of talent, which is good for milk and cookie ads bad for talent.
                                Just one question:
                                -How many teams, and how many GM's, & how many "talent evaluators" passed on Blair & Lawson - both before and after Larry?

                                OK, I lied, I have another two.
                                -How many years have they "lit up the league" to warrent such absolute distain for Larry's choice?

                                -How many All-Star Games have they (Blair & Lawson) been in?


                                It's funny, in this town, everyone throws out NFL draft grades as many hold B.Polin as "God", & preach his gospel that "It takes 3 yrs to judge a class", but after just 1 yr. Hansbrough sucks, & Blair & Lawson are K.Malone & J,Paxson.

                                So, in 2 more yrs., when LBlair is on the DL w/ knee issues & Lawson is still a b/u, will you still be posting you anti-Bird hate, or will you be wearing a Hansbrough jersey (6th man of the yr. canidate) while watching another Pacer victory, saying "I knew he was good" to everyone you know (like the rest of this town)?

                                (Don't answer, I've seen this before w/ Reggie & R.Smitts, & I'm sure I'll see it again)
                                Last edited by PacerGuy; 05-02-2010, 09:23 PM.
                                "Larry Bird: You are Officially On the Clock! (3/24/08)"
                                (Watching You Like A Hawk!)

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