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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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COVID-19

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  • Well, it's August and we may be seeing a more lethal version of the virus next month as temps and humidity drops. Good luck to you all.

    Comment


    • It could, theoretically, mutate into something more lethal, but it's not going to be more lethal just because the weather got cooler. The virus doesn't care where it finds hosts, and doesn't care what drove them to be in close quarters, including weather. More spread will mean more high risk contacts. That will drive fatalities. It could live longer in the air or surfaces in lower temps, so that could drive spread as well. ...But, unless it mutates significantly, it's still the same basic version of the virus with the same lethality.

      Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

      ------

      "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

      -John Wooden

      Comment


      • Originally posted by Bball View Post
        It could, theoretically, mutate into something more lethal, but it's not going to be more lethal just because the weather got cooler. The virus doesn't care where it finds hosts, and doesn't care what drove them to be in close quarters, including weather. More spread will mean more high risk contacts. That will drive fatalities. It could live longer in the air or surfaces in lower temps, so that could drive spread as well. ...But, unless it mutates significantly, it's still the same basic version of the virus with the same lethality.
        Yes, it could live longer in the air.....and on surfaces...and on your hands...on your mask. Essentially everywhere which is why it will spread radically worse in the winter. The reason why the impact will be greater is due to the viral load. You will get a greater dose of it in the winter and it will force your immune system to go into overdrive, which is why people die.

        So, you think it's bad now? I think it's going to get brutal if a vaccine isn't widely distributed before January 2021. I think we are on course for some really bad stuff happening for months starting as early as late next month.

        Comment


        • The thing that makes me laugh at the weather talk is that if the vast majority of the spread is in doors which studies indicate than all this UV, humidity and high temperature talk is meaningless in a temperature and humidity controlled room which almost the entire country operates on winter or summer.

          Comment


          • An earnest question for all of you and the long term effects of COVID on our country. The stock market had a large plunge back in February/ March. That sent my retirement accounts plunging about 25%. It has since inexplicably recovered and they are now at all time highs. Even as we see massive unemployment and the virus rage across this country. Congress is flirting with economic disaster. I assume many of you have observed the same pattern in your own retirement funds. Have any of you moved the bulk of your investments into a money market fund to essentially exit out of the market for the time being until the large correction occurs?

            With the recent 32% drop in GDP, shocking amount of businesses unable to pay their leases,massive unemployment, and congress looking at a huge impass over this next stimulus....I sense a market crash very soon.
            You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

            Comment


            • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
              An earnest question for all of you and the long term effects of COVID on our country. The stock market had a large plunge back in February/ March. That sent my retirement accounts plunging about 25%. It has since inexplicably recovered and they are now at all time highs. Even as we see massive unemployment and the virus rage across this country. Congress is flirting with economic disaster. I assume many of you have observed the same pattern in your own retirement funds. Have any of you moved the bulk of your investments into a money market fund to essentially exit out of the market for the time being until the large correction occurs?

              With the recent 32% drop in GDP, shocking amount of businesses unable to pay their leases,massive unemployment, and congress looking at a huge impass over this next stimulus....I sense a market crash very soon.
              My personal experience is that I was very tempted to move my money out of stocks but I decided against it. I am not a millionaire but I have family members that are including a brother who also decided to stay in the market. Most research shows if you try to time the market you will miss the up swing and will lose money in the end. I think a market crash will happen again but I do not think it will last especially if it is just about a stimulus plan being held up by politics. Of course I am 39 and have no plans on retiring early so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                An earnest question for all of you and the long term effects of COVID on our country. The stock market had a large plunge back in February/ March. That sent my retirement accounts plunging about 25%. It has since inexplicably recovered and they are now at all time highs. Even as we see massive unemployment and the virus rage across this country. Congress is flirting with economic disaster. I assume many of you have observed the same pattern in your own retirement funds. Have any of you moved the bulk of your investments into a money market fund to essentially exit out of the market for the time being until the large correction occurs?

                With the recent 32% drop in GDP, shocking amount of businesses unable to pay their leases,massive unemployment, and congress looking at a huge impass over this next stimulus....I sense a market crash very soon.
                I'm definitely wondering how long the party can last. My mutual funds have never really recovered, but my other stocks in my IRA have more than made up for those. I'm thinking I need to put in a safety valve for a sell off before I wakeup to see the crash happened and it's too late to do anything but ride it out...
                Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                ------

                "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                -John Wooden

                Comment


                • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
                  An earnest question for all of you and the long term effects of COVID on our country. The stock market had a large plunge back in February/ March. That sent my retirement accounts plunging about 25%. It has since inexplicably recovered and they are now at all time highs. Even as we see massive unemployment and the virus rage across this country. Congress is flirting with economic disaster. I assume many of you have observed the same pattern in your own retirement funds. Have any of you moved the bulk of your investments into a money market fund to essentially exit out of the market for the time being until the large correction occurs?

                  With the recent 32% drop in GDP, shocking amount of businesses unable to pay their leases,massive unemployment, and congress looking at a huge impass over this next stimulus....I sense a market crash very soon.
                  I actually got in a couple months ago, put a solid 10K into a mutual fund, gained 400 in like 2-3 weeks, then i had the same thoughts as you and got the F out...there is no way this holds up...

                  Comment


                  • I have had the same thoughts. My IRA and solo 401K are at all-time highs. I do not buy many stocks but have about a 20% return after 3 months with recent purchases. I fully expect an enormous correction.

                    Comment


                    • For those who care this is what my brother sent me in April.

                      https://theirrelevantinvestor.com/20...the-best-days/

                      There is also a similar post on missing the 10 best days in the market since the 1930s.

                      Point is timing the market can not be done. I am no investor though but most investors I talk to which are the ones that do not have my money tell me to stick with the strategy of long term gains. Meaning expect some down years in a diversified portfolio.

                      Comment


                      • Word has trickled out that the first day of practice for the Indy 500 has been canceled... yet no reason why is given. And it's not being widely reported... yet. Not sure if this means anything or what it could mean.

                        I'm still having my doubts 75,000+ fans are going to be allowed at IMS. Penske isn't going to pull that plug, but I still think ultimately medical voices are going to pressure elected officials enough that someone finally acts.

                        If this really does go forward with 75,000+ fans I can almost guarantee you that on Aug 26th (if not sooner) the governor will issue new gathering restrictions and the loophole that allows gatherings of over 250 ppl will be gone (once it's no longer needed for the Indy 500). There might even be a lower cap than 250 ppl.
                        Currently, 250 ppl IS the cap... BUT... if you present a plan to the health dept you can hold an event with thousands, including the Indy 500.
                        It's kind of hard for that loophole to not be way too lax for events when the state/Marion county are allowing the Indy 500 with 75,000+ fans.
                        So things that arguably shouldn't happen, are being allowed. Particularly in counties/cities with virus deniers either in local government or heavily in the voting base.

                        Should some entity act and kill the dream of fans at the Indy 500, you can rest assured the governor probably already has the order ready to remove this loophole in the state orders and it will be announced almost immediately (within a day) of the fans being canceled for the Indy 500. And if nobody acts and fans are allowed, look for that announcement on Aug 26th (if not sooner (though I suspect for optics he'll wait until Aug 26th since the current rules are scheduled to be revisited for Aug 27th... It might be a little too obvious to make a cap reduction the morning after the 500)).

                        At this point, I think Penske was bluffing when he said 'fans or no Indy 500'. I think economics will dictate it be ran, even with no fans. For one thing, the series needs races this season (contracts likely depend on it). For another, this is the diamond in the NBC contract. Sponsors are going to want the exposure and teams are going to want to give it to them. NBC likely has some financial outs if the race isn't ran.. and if a minimum amount of races are not ran, for that matter.
                        The Indy 500 is probably one of the easiest races to run without fans considering the TV contract, sponsor desires, and Penske owns the track and series. Maybe there's some type of insurance that would kick in with no race, but I suspect insurance would have some argument about running it with no fans and mitigating losses via the TV contract rather than canceling it entirely because of no fans.

                        Probably the outstanding question would be this year's purse. Teams might have to agree to something vastly different if there's no gate to provide the purse as in a normal year. Penske is not going to pay it out of pocket.
                        Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                        ------

                        "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                        -John Wooden

                        Comment


                        • Imagine having any confidence in this man leading us through this crisis...

                          https://twitter.com/axios/status/1290497186489348096

                          Comment


                          • To think that there is people that still supports this buffoon because he makes them feel good inside



                            @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Bball View Post
                              Word has trickled out that the first day of practice for the Indy 500 has been canceled... yet no reason why is given. And it's not being widely reported... yet. Not sure if this means anything or what it could mean.

                              I'm still having my doubts 75,000+ fans are going to be allowed at IMS. Penske isn't going to pull that plug, but I still think ultimately medical voices are going to pressure elected officials enough that someone finally acts.

                              If this really does go forward with 75,000+ fans I can almost guarantee you that on Aug 26th (if not sooner) the governor will issue new gathering restrictions and the loophole that allows gatherings of over 250 ppl will be gone (once it's no longer needed for the Indy 500). There might even be a lower cap than 250 ppl.
                              Currently, 250 ppl IS the cap... BUT... if you present a plan to the health dept you can hold an event with thousands, including the Indy 500.
                              It's kind of hard for that loophole to not be way too lax for events when the state/Marion county are allowing the Indy 500 with 75,000+ fans.
                              So things that arguably shouldn't happen, are being allowed. Particularly in counties/cities with virus deniers either in local government or heavily in the voting base.

                              Should some entity act and kill the dream of fans at the Indy 500, you can rest assured the governor probably already has the order ready to remove this loophole in the state orders and it will be announced almost immediately (within a day) of the fans being canceled for the Indy 500. And if nobody acts and fans are allowed, look for that announcement on Aug 26th (if not sooner (though I suspect for optics he'll wait until Aug 26th since the current rules are scheduled to be revisited for Aug 27th... It might be a little too obvious to make a cap reduction the morning after the 500)).

                              At this point, I think Penske was bluffing when he said 'fans or no Indy 500'. I think economics will dictate it be ran, even with no fans. For one thing, the series needs races this season (contracts likely depend on it). For another, this is the diamond in the NBC contract. Sponsors are going to want the exposure and teams are going to want to give it to them. NBC likely has some financial outs if the race isn't ran.. and if a minimum amount of races are not ran, for that matter.
                              The Indy 500 is probably one of the easiest races to run without fans considering the TV contract, sponsor desires, and Penske owns the track and series. Maybe there's some type of insurance that would kick in with no race, but I suspect insurance would have some argument about running it with no fans and mitigating losses via the TV contract rather than canceling it entirely because of no fans.

                              Probably the outstanding question would be this year's purse. Teams might have to agree to something vastly different if there's no gate to provide the purse as in a normal year. Penske is not going to pay it out of pocket.
                              IMO, there is just zero chance they run this as planned with 25% fans. Zero. I would be the most shocked I’ve ever been if they actually did it given everything that’s still going on.

                              I applaud them for trying to improvise and I definitely think they’ve tried to do what they feel is the right thing. But the tea leaves on this one should just be obvious at this point - there’s no way it’s happening with fans. No way is there going to be some 75,000 fan event in Indiana while everything else coast to coast continues to be cancelled.

                              I think the fan question is easy at this point, -i.e. no way it happens with fans. The bigger question to me is whether they decide to run it in an empty venue. My selfish desire is to just cancel it it fans can’t be there (I’d also rather see it cancelled than 25% as well). But that is admittedly just my selfish desire as a fan of the event with no real skin in the game other than attending every year for over 20 years. I know the Speedway has other considerations - mainly the TV deal with NBC. NBC has been a phenomenal partner so far, so their opinion carries a lot of weight. And I’m sure they would like it to be run empty if that’s the only possible way to do it.

                              While all sports are made better with crowds, the 500 more than any event on earth relies on a crowd to give it its century long reputation as a “spectacle”. It’s the greatest race on a Earth and has the crowd to prove it. I know I’m a broken record, but running some empty event in August and calling that the real thing is just sad. I’d rather the Speedway just sit empty until the real thing can be run on Memorial Day again. But I understand there is money to still be made on TV with an empty venue, so I’ll certainly support the decision to run it empty because I’m sure they need any money they can get right now.
                              Last edited by Sollozzo; 08-04-2020, 12:12 PM.

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