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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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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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Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

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  • #421
    Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

    http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...na-in-disarray

    The text came from a college basketball coach late Monday.

    It consisted of four words that created a simple question about Indiana's Tom Crean.

    "Can he survive this?"

    Needless to say, it's never good when your colleagues are asking such questions literally days before the start of your season. Likewise, it's never good when a caller waits on hold during your first coaches show of the year to ask why you still have a job. And it's never good when the local columnist is essentially calling for your job. And it's never good when your boss is forced to try to defuse the entire situation publicly.

    "Tom is absolutely not in trouble," Indiana athletic director Fred Glass told the Herald-Times. "Tom is part of the solution. He's not part of the problem."

    Before we go any farther, let me say this: I believe Glass when he insists Crean is not in trouble ... at least not now. He won't be fired today or tomorrow. He won't be fired for anything that's happened already. Technically, that's all Glass is saying. And I believe him.

    But what happens when Crean posts a losing record in the Big Ten for the fifth time in seven seasons? And misses the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in seven seasons? And doesn't secure the type of recruiting class that excites anybody? And has more off-the-court issues (because history suggests he'll have more off-the-court issues)?

    Then what?

    Will Glass back him then?

    Honestly, I doubt it, if only because a frustrated mob of Indiana fans would then set their sights on Glass. So, make no mistake, Tom Crean is absolutely in trouble here. Again, he won't lose his job today or tomorrow ... or even next week (unless something new and wild emerges at some point in the next week). But Crean was never going to have a roster good enough to compete at the top of the Big Ten this season, and now that ho-hum roster has four players starting the year either suspended or injured by one of the suspended players. Consequently, most smart projections have the Hoosiers missing the NCAA Tournament, and I think those projections are probably accurate. And when you combine those projections with the fact that six Indiana players have generated troubling national headlines for off-the-court transgressions since February, it's reasonable to predict doom.

    Which is crazy.

    Twenty months ago, Indiana was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

    Now it's a mess.

    So the question is simple: What happened?

    "There is definitely a disconnect between Tom and the players," one source close to the program told CBSSports.com, and that source added it's been that way for years. Where the disconnect originated is up for debate, and how it escalated to a point where one underage player who was drinking (Emmitt Holt) seriously injured another underage player who was drinking (Devin Davis) by striking him with a vehicle this past weekend is unclear. But it's hard to deny the disconnect, and that disconnect has been obvious for a while.

    One example is Noah Vonleh's decision to leave IU after one season.

    To be clear, it's not that Vonleh left.

    He should've left.

    But what I always found interesting about Vonleh's decision was how he announced it while Crean was totally in the so-called dark. In other words, Vonleh told me on the record and for public consumption before he told Crean. And, though I was appreciative, I've been doing this long enough to know that's not how things normally go down.

    Typically, a player tells his coach first.

    Or that player (or his agent) simply leaks the news anonymously.

    But Vonleh was perfectly comfortable announcing to the world, late on a Sunday night during the NCAA Tournament, that he was exiting the program and becoming a professional without first having disclosed the news to Crean, and that's an undeniable sign of some sort of breakdown between a coach and a player.

    I'm told that disconnect also existed when Crean's team was top-ranked in 2012-13.

    "It's just that those guys were so talented that they rallied around each other and won," a source said. The same source detailed how there are no seniors on this Indiana roster and just two relevant juniors. Those two relevant juniors -- Yogi Ferrell and Hanner Mosquera-Perea -- have both been caught violating the law in cases related to alcohol, and is it any surprise some of the younger players have unfortunately copied the example they've set?

    "It's just a bunch of young guys running around," a source said. "No leaders."

    Beyond all that, it's worth pointing out the news that Troy Williams and Stanford Robinson will miss two exhibitions and two regular-season games for failed drug tests leaked Monday -- less than three days after the alcohol-fueled incident that has Davis still lying in a hospital with a head injury, and it's difficult to believe that's a coincidence considering a source told CBSSports.com those drug tests were failed "several months ago."

    My guess: Somebody with knowledge of the failed drug tests recognized leaking them now is a good way to pile on Crean, and, well, it worked. The seventh-year coach spent his first coaches show listening to a caller ask why he still has a job, and, unless Crean overachieves with this roster, that question will be repeated lots over the next four months.

    None of which means Tom Crean is a bad guy.

    None of which means Tom Crean is a terrible coach.

    (Personally, I've known him for a while and like him just fine.)

    All this means is that Tom Crean is in a tough spot at a high-profile job with a passionate fan base, and those tough spots are hard to escape. Yes, I know, he has a buyout of $12 million, and that's an awesome job by his agent. But $12 million won't prevent a school with Big Ten money from pulling the plug on a coach overseeing a roster in disarray who doesn't win enough, and that's why Tom Crean had better win enough this season. Or else.

    Comment

    • #422
      Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

      Originally posted by cdash View Post


      That's almost as nonsensical as one of Jim Irsay's tweets

      Comment

      • #423
        Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

        Originally posted by PacersHomer View Post
        Stevens will never go back to college. He's an NBA coach. Hated recruiting, loves metrics.
        Yeah, it would take a monumental offer or for Brad to completely fail in the NBA. Don't see either one of those as realistic. IU is the only place that even comes to mind, but it is a pipe dream of pipe dreams.

        Brad likes basketball. College is way too political. Everyone always says NBA isn't about fundamentals of the game, I htink that's more true in college. College is now more about the game played off the court than on it, it seems.


        Comment

        • #424
          Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

          Originally posted by cdash View Post



          Guess who just made himself part of the problem, Fred.
          i'd be fine if glass was sent off too to be honest.

          Comment

          • #425
            Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

            Has anybody checked the bridges and overpasses to find out what happened to hoosierguy?
            "I had to take her down like Chris Brown."

            -Lance Stephenson

            Comment

            • #426
              Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

              Originally posted by travmil View Post
              I still see completely irrational fools posting comments in the news stories about this stuff that it's time to bring in Stevens like there's any shot of that happening. Then you have others who say It's time to bring the general back. LOL. Is this the average IU fan or are those the outliers?
              those are simply the ones who shout the loudest.

              Comment

              • #427
                Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                How much more could you possibly miss the point?

                Obviously all college athletes are going to party, it's how you control it as an administration. This administration has zero control.
                Amen.

                Comment

                • #428
                  Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                  Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                  Who could IU even attract at this point?
                  An easy answer would be someone like Randy Wittman. Two things he would provide are leadership and discipline. He is also a person who cares greatly about the program and university.

                  Comment

                  • #429
                    Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                    I really want to understand why everyone is freaking out about this weed thing.... Ok yes they broke the rules and deserve to be punished etc... But it was marijuana man, 80% of college kids probably smoke it, I don't understand why we need to act like the program is embarrassing for it. I completely understand the Devin Davis fallout, but the Williams and Robinson thing is pretty minor to me

                    Comment

                    • #430
                      Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                      It's because of how many times it's happened in the past year.

                      It also isn't happening that Crean apparently knew about the failed tests for several months and chose not to release them.

                      Also, if the argument is "Everybody is doing it" then Davis and Holt are just as innocent in their underage drinking fiasco.


                      Comment

                      • #431
                        Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                        Originally posted by Trader Joe View Post
                        It's because of how many times it's happened in the past year.

                        It also isn't happening that Crean apparently knew about the failed tests for several months and chose not to release them.

                        Also, if the argument is "Everybody is doing it" then Davis and Holt are just as innocent in their underage drinking fiasco.
                        I'm not saying the players should be deemed innocent for it, they are held to a certain standard and when they fail to meet it they deserve to be punished. I just think the Robinson and Williams thing is a relatively minor incident that will be forgotten by most people in 2 months

                        Comment

                        • #432
                          Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                          It would have been if 4 other players haven't made headlines since February


                          Comment

                          • #433
                            Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                            Originally posted by BlueCollarColts View Post
                            I'm not saying the players should be deemed innocent for it, they are held to a certain standard and when they fail to meet it they deserve to be punished. I just think the Robinson and Williams thing is a relatively minor incident that will be forgotten by most people in 2 months
                            i doubt this will be forgotten in 2 months.
                            the program is in trouble- no real way to sugarcoat it.
                            even with everyone available, this is likely a fringe ncaa team at best with a coach making a fortune and not producing on the court and apparently with little control/influence on the players off it.
                            throw in the fact that robinson already got in trouble for being an idiot before back in april and it really isn't as minor as might have been.
                            robinson is a problem.

                            Comment

                            • #434
                              Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                              Originally posted by clownskull View Post
                              i doubt this will be forgotten in 2 months.
                              the program is in trouble- no real way to sugarcoat it.
                              even with everyone available, this is likely a fringe ncaa team at best with a coach making a fortune and not producing on the court and apparently with little control/influence on the players off it.
                              throw in the fact that robinson already got in trouble for being an idiot before back in april and it really isn't as minor as might have been.
                              robinson is a problem.
                              I guess I should say if they win it will be forgotten

                              Comment

                              • #435
                                Re: Indiana University Athletics Thread 2014-15

                                Originally posted by BlueCollarColts View Post
                                I just think the Robinson and Williams thing is a relatively minor incident that will be forgotten by most people in 2 months
                                In part it is a bigger thing because it is almost like failing an intelligence test rather than a drug test.

                                You know well in advance, I believe, when drug testing will occur. It is just before the fall practices start, and then it is in the NCAA tournament.

                                If you cannot then be clean for the test, then

                                a) you don't really care about letting down your team, your coach, your school, your fans;
                                b) you have a serious issue; or
                                c) you are absolutely as dumb as a box of rocks
                                The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

                                Comment

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