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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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  • BlueNGold
    replied
    OK, I have a question. Before I ask it, bring up the chart of USA here: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

    Now scroll down and look at the charts.

    Notice back in April the cases were about 25,000 a day. There are 250,000 a day today. But more important is comparing this to deaths which are near equal with April, maybe a bit higher.

    Back in April, there were about 2000+ deaths a day. There are about that many today though a little higher.

    Is it possible we had a much higher number of infections 25,000 a day to the point that a significant percentage of the US population has had the virus at one point or another?

    I realize the treatments are better now and the deaths wouldn't have been as high. It's kind of hard to put a number on that.

    Still I suspect we had at least 100,000 deaths a day on average since March. Maybe up to 250,000 actual infections, many not caught with tests.

    If true we might be looking at 50 to 100 million people in the US having had it at some point. Up to 1/3 of the population.

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    Originally posted by Bball View Post
    Questions arise over Charley Pride's death and his attendance at this year's CMA's (and the wisdom of holding the CMA's). He performed at the CMA's on Nov 11th. He was admitted to the hospital late Nov, and died Dec 12th.
    https://ew.com/music/charley-pride-c...ment-covid-19/
    He likely got it there.

    Notice cases were quite low in August and September. Once October hit and things started to cool off, this virus has taken off like a rocket. EXACTLY as I expected.

    There's a strong correlation with temps and this virus, similar to influenza. . It survives longer in colder and less humid weather, leading to larger viral loads. How long this virus survives in various temps and humidities was graphed out at the beginning of the pandemic. It's true that people are inside more in the winter but for those who are all about science they should agree that this virus survives much better in low temps and humidity.

    So yes, he probably got a load of country virus. Still, he was going to be 87 years and the clock was ticking anyway.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bball
    replied
    Questions arise over Charley Pride's death and his attendance at this year's CMA's (and the wisdom of holding the CMA's). He performed at the CMA's on Nov 11th. He was admitted to the hospital late Nov, and died Dec 12th.
    https://ew.com/music/charley-pride-c...ment-covid-19/

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    Originally posted by vapacersfan View Post

    Myocarditis can sit dormant for weeks, even months, before being detected. One of the most frustrating thing IMO about it.

    I do agree its early to come out any conclusions.

    Hopefully the young man is recovering well.
    Yes on all counts. The problem I see with associating it with the virus is...it just stresses people out. But I do think the people close to the situation need to jump on that and determine if it was a factor. I get that. I just don't think it needs announced to the masses when there isn't any proof yet. People have enough to worry about right now.

    Now I don't have a young one competing in sports, but that would just be another concern to pile onto everything else going on.

    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied
    Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
    I just think people need to avoid assuming this was related to Covid and ask the team doctors if they tested him for myocarditis. He had it months ago and while that condition can drag out there is no proof it did. Really, this is more to tamp down the hysteria over it. Nobody knows. That doesn't mean I am saying you put you head in the sand. It means stop the D speculating when it really could have been anything.
    Myocarditis can sit dormant for weeks, even months, before being detected. One of the most frustrating thing IMO about it.

    I do agree its early to come out any conclusions.

    Hopefully the young man is recovering well.

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    I just think people need to avoid assuming this was related to Covid and ask the team doctors if they tested him for myocarditis. He had it months ago and while that condition can drag out there is no proof it did. Really, this is more to tamp down the hysteria over it. Nobody knows. That doesn't mean I am saying you put you head in the sand. It means stop the D speculating when it really could have been anything.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bball
    replied
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ty/3828902001/
    As of Thursday, coronavirus has killed a higher percentage of Gove County residents than any other county in the United States: One out of every 132 people has died.

    Their intertwined stories illuminate the toll the pandemic has taken on communities across the country as emotional debates over how to control the infection have unfolded amid mounting losses.

    Even today, mask-wearing remains controversial in Gove County, and friendships are being strained as authorities struggle to persuade their neighbors to follow basic public health guidelines, such as avoiding large gatherings.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bball
    replied
    Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

    Maybe Hank Gathers had Covid.

    Why do all roads lead to Covid...?
    It's like this: We have information that tells us that this coronavirus can lead to heart issues. It's one of the reasons the Big Ten originally opted not to have a fall football season before changing course. We're in a pandemic. We know the team as recently as late Nov. was shutdown due to Covid-19.

    300,000 people in the US have died of Covid-19. Millions have been infected.

    It's not a reach to wonder if this could be connected to Covid-19. Nobody is saying it definitely is, but plenty are of the mind it needs to be looked into. It could be another Hank Gathers situation. It could be a wakeup call about the ramifications of this virus, even on young, seemingly healthy people.

    If there IS a connection, then it's a pretty clear sign some kind of changes will be needed. It tells us that current protocols aren't good enough. Changes will be needed, near term and short term. We can't have a regular occurrence of players dropping to the court in "critical but stable" condition just to play a game for our entertainment and their enjoyment.

    Yes, some people could put their head into the sand and make snide remarks. That's pretty much how this pandemic has burned out of control in this country in the first place. Or we could see this as a potential warning sign that needs to be addressed and researched to make sure we can manage risks and give people the information they need to make proper, informed decisions.

    It could very well be this has nothing to do with Covid. It could be a coincidence this happened during a Covid-19 pandemic. Or maybe it's not coincidence.

    The smart thing is to do everything we can to find out. Things like this are what we need to know moving forward. We need to know this is a one-off incident... not just the first in what is likely to be several of these issues in the season, and coming seasons, for players that have been infected with Covid-19.

    There's nothing wrong with intellectual curiosity and actual research. There's nothing wrong with science wanting answers. There's nothing wrong with questions.

    Wanting to ignore the pandemic, and the deaths, doesn't mean we can.

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    Originally posted by vapacersfan View Post

    I am not sure if you are trolling or not.

    Either way thoughts and prayers for Johnson. If it is/was myocarditis I can say first hand myocarditis is no joke and I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
    Absolutely not. My reply was to the assertion it was a Covid situation. I don’t think so and I think people are jumping to conclusions. BTW I was watching the game when Hank Gathers collapsed and it was the saddest thing I have ever seen in sports.

    We also have people who believe Charley Pride at the age of 86 died from Covid. Why do people have to jump to that conclusion? I know the news is saying Pride died from Covid but the dude was turning 87 in March. Most are dead years before that. I realize Covid might have cut him a bit short and technically it got him but y87 is enough. People need to just accept this thing is temporary and signing off is natural.

    Edit: D near everyone has Covid now. If you get it or really anything bad happens to you yes you may get sick and die especially if you are 86 or 87 years old.
    Last edited by BlueNGold; 12-13-2020, 04:22 AM.

    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied
    Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post

    Maybe Hank Gathers had Covid.

    Why do all roads lead to Covid...?
    I am not sure if you are trolling or not.

    Either way thoughts and prayers for Johnson. If it is/was myocarditis I can say first hand myocarditis is no joke and I would not wish it on my worst enemy.

    Leave a comment:


  • vapacersfan
    replied
    Florida Gators star Keyontae Johnson in critical but stable condition after collapsing on court

    https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ollapses-court

    The Gators were coming out of a timeout Saturday when Johnson collapsed on the court. He was given emergency medical attention and taken to the locker room.

    Like most of his teammates, Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 during the summer. Although the cause of Johnson's ailment was not immediately known, the coronavirus can lead to myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart muscle.

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    Originally posted by dal9 View Post
    ^damn, wonder if it's that heart complication that goes with covid...espn story didn't mention covid at all
    Maybe Hank Gathers had Covid.

    Why do all roads lead to Covid...?

    Leave a comment:


  • BlueNGold
    replied
    So Charley Pride is dead of the virus. MSM making hay over that. Of course, he's 86 years old. I mean, that's well over the average age people die.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bball
    replied
    I can find plenty of news about that Nov 22nd shutdown due to Covid-19 but nothing specifically about 'who' was positive. I don't see anything about a summer issue... but the current news is dominating the search so I'm not exactly surprised it would be buried.
    So, the only thing I can find for certain is the team had a Covid shutdown announced Nov 22nd due to "positive tests and contract tracing...", less than a month ago.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bball
    replied
    I'm trying to find exactly when (or if) he actually tested positive for Covid-19 since the reporting is vague on when except "over the summer". I'm seeing this from less than a month ago though-
    November 22, 2020
    Johnson and the Gators won't participate in team activities for a week due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing protocols.

    Leave a comment:

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