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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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  • The good news is that kids less likely to be long haulers.

    Comment


    • So I get called by my Doctors office yesterday saying that he wants me to come in right away to go over my lab results and xrays. I was expecting my lecture about my blood sugar (which I got as well) but he told me he wanted to talk about my x-rays. He compared them to a set I had taken just a couple of years ago and he said I had major scaring in my lungs that were not there before. He then proceeded to tell me that he has only ever seen two things cause this type of scarring and that is surgery or a very nasty bug. He said that even though I tested negative for the virus with all of the signs and symptoms I had he just does not know what else could have done this as I am also free of any other form of infection. So now I have to see a pulmonologist to see what can be done going forward. He did give me a steroid inhaler which has helped tremendously.

      I still don't know exactly what is wrong yet however I will say this. If this was covid, and from everything he has said I believe it was, I am very grateful to have gotten the vaccine back in December and January when I could. With my history of age, weight, diabetes and previous COPD issues I honestly believe I would either have been on life support or dead.


      Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

      Comment


      • Originally posted by Peck View Post
        So I get called by my Doctors office yesterday saying that he wants me to come in right away to go over my lab results and xrays. I was expecting my lecture about my blood sugar (which I got as well) but he told me he wanted to talk about my x-rays. He compared them to a set I had taken just a couple of years ago and he said I had major scaring in my lungs that were not there before. He then proceeded to tell me that he has only ever seen two things cause this type of scarring and that is surgery or a very nasty bug. He said that even though I tested negative for the virus with all of the signs and symptoms I had he just does not know what else could have done this as I am also free of any other form of infection. So now I have to see a pulmonologist to see what can be done going forward. He did give me a steroid inhaler which has helped tremendously.

        I still don't know exactly what is wrong yet however I will say this. If this was covid, and from everything he has said I believe it was, I am very grateful to have gotten the vaccine back in December and January when I could. With my history of age, weight, diabetes and previous COPD issues I honestly believe I would either have been on life support or dead.
        Has your O2 saturation changed at all Peck and did they give you the dexamethosone during your infection or did they hold off on that due to your diabetes or bc the infection wasn't severe enough to warrant it.

        if you want to know if you had an infection and the pcr test was done too late in the infection then consider doing an antibody test. That test has to be to the nucleocapsid and not the spike protein. A number of companies offer this test and it should pick up antibodies not generated by the vaccine. You are in a good time line to get a positive result with this type of test..

        I personally would do this test for peace of mind and possible future insurance ramifications if you have long term damage to your lungs.
        Last edited by Gamble1; 08-05-2021, 08:54 AM.

        Comment


        • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post

          Has your O2 saturation changed at all Peck and did they give you the dexamethosone during your infection or did they hold off on that due to your diabetes or bc the infection wasn't severe enough to warrant it.

          if you want to know if you had an infection and the pcr test was done too late in the infection then consider doing an antibody test. That test has to be to the nucleocapsid and not the spike protein. A number of companies offer this test and it should pick up antibodies not generated by the vaccine. You are in a good time line to get a positive result with this type of test..

          I personally would do this test for peace of mind and possible future insurance ramifications if you have long term damage to your lungs.
          I finally got a zpak in week two and three with steroids. But other than that just over the counter stuff. My sats were 90 which really isn't that far from my normal so no real hypoxia that I know of.


          Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

          Comment


          • I wonder how Sturgis is going to fare with this Delta Variant, and whatever other variants are out there. Or what new variants Sturgis will create.

            I have a sneaking suspicion that while they could stick their heads in the sand last year and ignore some things... This year could be different. It might be hard for them to ignore what comes home with them from Sturgis.

            A biker rally, likely with the majority not taking Covid seriously, and of those who do take it seriously, they will merely acknowledge its existence and either think it won't affect them or if it does it will only be them and it is what it is (and they "refuse to live their life in fear").
            Meanwhile, hanging out in tight crowds. Inside... outside...
            All with a more transmissible form of the virus on the upswing.

            What could go wrong?
            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


            • The Mt. Vernon school board "doctor" video... OMG...
              People quit latching onto outliers.
              Quit reposting these outliers.
              It's especially bad when it's like this school board example- Anyone that has been paying attention should be able to quickly debunk some of the things he brings up (like his 'masks don't work' argument totally neglects to mention droplets). Much of what he says should be easy to recognize as BS because he's just repackaging quackery and pseudo science that's already been explained and debunked. Some of it because a little critical thought could go a long way (the vaccine is causing a summer bump in infections? But then how do you explain the same last year, when there was no vaccine... doctor?). And finally... Making a big deal out of the obvious (the vaccine doesn't stop infections (but it does seem to be doing awfully well with minimizing them and mitigating them)). But he basically stops with making the point the vaccine doesn't stop infections, as if that is a point at all when it's put into any actual context.

              And his statement the CDC, NIH, and ISDH don't follow science?? Red flag that all that follows will be hokum.
              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


              • So from the SI of brownsburg.

                At our August School Board meeting last night, I shared the following data summary with the School Board.
                • Elementary Week 1: 4 positive cases; 42 quarantines
                • Middle School Week 1: 6 positive cases; 137 quarantines
                • High School Week 1: 1 positive case; 9 quarantines
                • Week 1 Totals: 11 positive cases; 188 quarantines

                The weekly charts that include positive cases and quarantines so far this year compared to the data from 2020-2021 are listed below.

                The School Board’s June decision for masks to be optional remains in place; however, the School Board committed to revisit the data in the coming weeks and adjust the plan if necessary.

                There are a few points worth emphasizing:
                • Many differ on the role/importance of masks.
                • We all want our students safe.
                • We all want our students in school especially when compared to being quarantined.
                • For some, this issue is an emotional one—for some, even divisive.
                Not sure how we can say we want our students safe but not require mask in a pandemic.

                Comment


                • Thinking about getting that 3rd shot as I'm afraid of getting the delta variant.
                  @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post
                    Thinking about getting that 3rd shot as I'm afraid of getting the delta variant.
                    Not sure you can get a third shot unless you are immunocomprimised.

                    Fauci believes we will all need to get a third shot at some point but it is complicated.

                    Do you wait for the booster that addresses the mutational change or do you get what is already produced now?

                    What you want to do is maximize the protection you get from each shot. This is why they are not recommending it for everyone at this point.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post

                      Not sure you can get a third shot unless you are immunocomprimised.

                      Fauci believes we will all need to get a third shot at some point but it is complicated.

                      Do you wait for the booster that addresses the mutational change or do you get what is already produced now?

                      What you want to do is maximize the protection you get from each shot. This is why they are not recommending it for everyone at this point.
                      How about getting double vaccinated? some people recommend it.
                      @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post

                        How about getting double vaccinated? some people recommend it.
                        Yeah it isn't something I think a doctor will do on purpose unless you lie or the clinic doesn't have you in the data base.

                        A double vaccine is essentially a booster.. It is designed to increase your antibody titer in your blood. By switching the vaccines you are just switching delivery systems.

                        The reason I favored the mRNA vaccines is because your body won't recognize that deliver system and attack it which will prevent the mRNA entering the cell. For Johnsons shot and Astrazenca and all the Russian and Chinese shots the main issue is that the delivery system aka viruses can be attacked by your body if it is seen twice or more. This means boosters are probably less effective in these vaccine models. This is also why mixing vaccines is being done in places that choose Chinese vaccines. The purpose is to gain higher antibody titer but the reason these chinese shots are not as effective is because they used a virus that is widely seen in people already so you kill the vaccine in your body before a big antibody titer is made.
                        Last edited by Gamble1; 08-12-2021, 04:19 PM.

                        Comment


                        • A little bit of an update here.

                          My daughter was exposed to covid at school on last Friday however here covid positive classmate test came in this Thursday and we were notified that she was not a close contact aka 6 feet. Early this week I asked her how many kids were missing in her class and she said 3. Again this is before the test and before any parents was notified. This suggest communal spread in that classroom.

                          I tested my daughter with a rapid at home test and she is negative. This delay in exposer to test to notification is very concerning to me.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post
                            A little bit of an update here.

                            My daughter was exposed to covid at school on last Friday however here covid positive classmate test came in this Thursday and we were notified that she was not a close contact aka 6 feet. Early this week I asked her how many kids were missing in her class and she said 3. Again this is before the test and before any parents was notified. This suggest communal spread in that classroom.

                            I tested my daughter with a rapid at home test and she is negative. This delay in exposer to test to notification is very concerning to me.
                            Carmel, Noblesville, and HSE schools just announced all students must wear masks at school regardless of vaccination status. I suspect there will be many other districts that make the same call, whether sooner or later.

                            One thing the vast majority of schools and parents seem to agree on is in-person learning is superior for many reasons. Refusing to require students to mask up in this context is akin to throwing in the towel and eventually being dominated by remote learning. In fact, some schools have already had to go remote at least temporarily. Hoping my kids' (under 12) school system will implement it soon.

                            If you aren't requiring vax or it's not available to your students' age group, there's really no other alternative to try and keep things under control.
                            I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

                            -Emiliano Zapata

                            Comment


                            • I sort of told you guys about a crew member of ours who had a lot of people in his family get covid. It has just gotten worse and worse for him. First of all he was vaccinated himself so he never even had symptoms. However what happened was that there was a childs birthday party and they have a very large family. Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Brother, Sisters and so on and so forth. Anyway one of the children had Covid however was apparently symptom free and interacted with everyone, as in hugs etc. it was their birthday of course so it is to be expected.

                              Anyway long story short. 30 people from this party were diagnosed with Covid. 17 of which have been hospitalized in one capacity or another 5 have now died and there are a few that are on life support. This poor guy has had to attend multiple funerals in the past two weeks. I have no idea of the vaccination status of any of them so I can't state, although I have a guess.

                              We have seen a massive uptick in calls here btw. Also we are now seeing severely critical patients like we did during the last surge.

                              This **** is real people, nobody should blow this off.


                              Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

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