AJ Barker..was it one year ago today?

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UpnorthGo4 said:
Without doubt this is the best post ever on the AJ Barker and Jerry Kill situation. The kool-aid drinkers in GopherHole won't agree, of course. A.J. didn't deserve to rejoin the team but that doesn't mean that the right coach, handling what happened in the right way, wouldn't have found a way to deal with the situation without turning the kid into a pariah in his home town. This was a huge fail for Jerry Kill as a coach, an educator, and a human being. And I am absolutely convinced that Kill agrees with me.
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Wow. That's impressive. At the very least I should thank you for reminding me that there are actually people that think like this.

Turned him into a pariah? As I recall, Kill did not do one thing, and did not say one thing publicly regarding the situation, or at the least did very little. You have no clue what happened. Zero. For all we know, this was the tip of the iceberg. Maybe he had multiple failed drug tests, maybe there were other incidents of insubordination, publicly questioning the coaching staff and training staff, who knows.

Good grief, what a pathetic perception of the situation. You make it seem as though all the ACTION surrounding the situation was conducted by the coach and/or staff. A player left the team and was vocal and public about it on his way out. Period. He was not thrown off, he was not suspended, he wasn't publicly outed as a cancer in the locker room. One person in this situation took any action at all and it was the departed.

Am I missing something here? Wow, do I feel sorry for you....
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
AJ was just a kid being a kid. Who here doubts that Urban Meyer would always find a way to keep his No. 1 receiver on the team for any kind of behavior short of a felony?
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I think Meyer would even distinguish between types of felonies.

It's all water under the bridge. I liked Barker as a player but you can't unsay some things and he said (posted) a lot.

I think it was one of the assistant coaches that supposedly got all over Barker about his religious beliefs (or lack thereof). I don't know if that was ever substantiated.

I'm a strong believer in the separation of church and sport (and I say that as a committed Christian), but that ship has sailed. As long as Kill doesn't start baptizing players at practice ala Dabo Swinney, I'm not going to get riled up about it.
 


UpnorthGo4 said:
Without doubt this is the best post ever on the AJ Barker and Jerry Kill situation. The kool-aid drinkers in GopherHole won't agree, of course. A.J. didn't deserve to rejoin the team but that doesn't mean that the right coach, handling what happened in the right way, wouldn't have found a way to deal with the situation without turning the kid into a pariah in his home town. This was a huge fail for Jerry Kill as a coach, an educator, and a human being. And I am absolutely convinced that Kill agrees with me.
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I appreciate your support of my comments, but I disagree with you about Jerry turning AJ into a pariah. Jerry didn't do anything of the sort. AJ alone created the image of AJ Barker. Kill basically said he was sorry for how this turned out. The folks who added fuel to the fire and really lashed out at AJ were people on GH. There are some really tough customers on this board who get their jollies cutting people down. It's really hard to handle and definitely quashes the intelligent and interesting discussions that otherwise take place on here.
 



BreakTheGopherCurse said:
The folks who added fuel to the fire and really lashed out at AJ were people on GH.
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Do you believe that was a result of the manifesto/media tour or would the reaction have been the same if Barker simply tweeted a generic message about the leaving the team or the U issued a bland statement about Barker deciding to pursue other opportunities?
 

Maximus said:
Do you believe that was a result of the manifesto/media tour or would the reaction have been the same if Barker simply tweeted a generic message about the leaving the team or the U issued a bland statement about Barker deciding to pursue other opportunities?
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Bingo. I recall posting at the time, if AJ REALLY wanted to get people talking about things going in inside the program that he perceived to be in appropriate/improper, the most effective thing to do would have been to leave quietly, saying something rather ominous like "it's better that I don't say anything at this time". Something like THAT would have had people speculating for months/years. Something like that would have raised eyebrows, raised questions, etc.

Instead, he's just a petulant child, and the only REAL thing to speculate upon is the hotness of the mother's best friend. How on earth do we not have a picture by now?
 

Maximus said:
Do you believe that was a result of the manifesto/media tour or would the reaction have been the same if Barker simply tweeted a generic message about the leaving the team or the U issued a bland statement about Barker deciding to pursue other opportunities?
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Yes, the GH'ers reaction was certainly a result of how poorly AJ handled the situation: his manifesto, media tour, and whatever else he did. He was out of line on all accounts. I guess I'm simply opining that there are lots of guys on here that really get off on trashing human beings. Maybe AJ is mentally ill. Maybe he has the emotional intelligence of a child. I know I'm a very flawed human being, I know I'm the cause of the problems I've encountered in life. But it still really hurts when other people take strong, harsh verbal shots.

One time on GH I posted my opinion on something. The very first response was by some guy who mocked my entire post and basically called me an idiot. I responded by telling him to go kill himself. Not one person on here said that the guy was out of line for mocking me or calling me an idiot. Yet, everyone said I was the bad-guy for telling him to kill himself. The guy strongly bullied me by mocking me and calling me names. I punched back by telling him to kill himself. Guess what, the people on here said I was the "bully", not him. I was really taken aback.

My point is simply that I honestly don't understand the mentality of many of the people on here. They're mean and cruel. On the other hand, there are some very intelligent and articulate guys on here who's analytical abilities and knowledge I'm envious of. So, all in all, I guess this place is no different than the rest of the world. Full of all sorts of different people with the least deserving ones often getting a lot of the love.
 

I don't know what happened and I'm willing to guess both Kill and Barker may have regrets. But I also know this--it only takes one person to poison a locker room. Sometimes the team takes precedence (even if I still root for Nick Nolte when I watch North Dallas Forty).
 



I guess if you've never been really down and out in life, never been deeply humiliated, never done anything really embarrassing to the point of debilitating yourself, never endured a lot of ridicule and mocking and spent a lot of time and energy wondering whether people respect you or think you're an idiot, then it's hard to relate to and go easy on AJ. What AJ did was not even remotely appropriate, but trashing him just doesn't seem right either. What he needs probably is a friend or two, not a bunch of GH'ers calling him names and mocking him. But, I know, it's a tough world out there. Wanting a kinder, gentler society is not realistic. Call me a pussy, I suppose I am. But I'll tell you one thing for sure. I'm not Christian, but Jesus Christ would stand with AJ and try to help AJ. He would also be appalled at all the people who mocked and ridiculed AJ. I've always been astonished at all the Christian people who do everything and anything except try to act like Jesus would. It's one of the most ironic things I've ever encountered in life.
 

TruDomGopher said:
I don't know what happened and I'm willing to guess both Kill and Barker may have regrets. But I also know this--it only takes one person to poison a locker room. Sometimes the team takes precedence (even if I still root for Nick Nolte when I watch North Dallas Forty).
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I agree and having AJ off the team was, I'm sure, the best for the team. He didn't deserve to be on the team any longer after that. All I'm suggesting is that there are some other lessons here to be learned not related to the team.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Without doubt this is the best post ever on the AJ Barker and Jerry Kill situation. The kool-aid drinkers in GopherHole won't agree, of course. A.J. didn't deserve to rejoin the team but that doesn't mean that the right coach, handling what happened in the right way, wouldn't have found a way to deal with the situation without turning the kid into a pariah in his home town. This was a huge fail for Jerry Kill as a coach, an educator, and a human being. And I am absolutely convinced that Kill agrees with me.
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Translation: If you disagree with UpnorthGo4, you're a kool-aid drinker.

To the public, Kill handled the situation about as well as anyone could. Didn't criticize him, didn't humiliate him. Barker did that to himself. Not sure how you can say Kill made him into a pariah when Barker is the one who made it all public, essentially making everyone turn on him. If he doesn't act like a baby, that wouldn't have happened.

You're kinda changing your stance too. Just earlier you said most coaches would have found a way to keep him on the team. Now you say he didn't deserve to rejoin the team.

You're also making a ton of assumptions. Maybe on the inside Kill handled it about as well as he could of as well. We don't know. But what we do know is that Barker acted very childish and selfish in his actions.
 

BreakTheGopherCurse said:
Yes, the GH'ers reaction was certainly a result of how poorly AJ handled the situation: his manifesto, media tour, and whatever else he did. He was out of line on all accounts. I guess I'm simply opining that there are lots of guys on here that really get off on trashing human beings. Maybe AJ is mentally ill. Maybe he has the emotional intelligence of a child. I know I'm a very flawed human being, I know I'm the cause of the problems I've encountered in life. But it still really hurts when other people take strong, harsh verbal shots.

One time on GH I posted my opinion on something. The very first response was by some guy who mocked my entire post and basically called me an idiot. I responded by telling him to go kill himself. Not one person on here said that the guy was out of line for mocking me or calling me an idiot. Yet, everyone said I was the bad-guy for telling him to kill himself. The guy strongly bullied me by mocking me and calling me names. I punched back by telling him to kill himself. Guess what, the people on here said I was the "bully", not him. I was really taken aback.

My point is simply that I honestly don't understand the mentality of many of the people on here. They're mean and cruel. On the other hand, there are some very intelligent and articulate guys on here who's analytical abilities and knowledge I'm envious of. So, all in all, I guess this place is no different than the rest of the world. Full of all sorts of different people with the least deserving ones often getting a lot of the love.
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I appreciate your contributions and hope you continue to post here.

But I don't understand how you can't see the difference between calling someone an idiot and telling someone to go kill themselves. I'm certainly not advocating someone calling you an idiot, but telling someone to kill themselves is much worse in my opinion.

Secondly, how can you look down on others about being mean and cruel when you told someone to kill themselves? You can't have it both ways.
 



I hear exactly what you're saying. And I can see why you feel that way. Allow me to explain if you will. If I walk by a stranger on the street asking me for money and tell him to go kill himself, that's despicable, mean, cruel, and horrible. But, if a guy punches me in the face, and my response is to tell him to go kill himself, I feel it's much different. I'm trying to tell him that his presence here is not needed. He's making the world worse and not trying to make the world a better place. I know it's harsh, but doesn't it take something harsh to get a bully to listen? My father committed suicide. He was a really nice man and never hurt anybody. He should still be in this world. Guys who go around bullying people, calling them names, mocking people, etc, I really wish they'd just go away forever. They add nothing to the beauty of the world. Rather, they take so much away from life and from others. Anyways, just my thought process. I will never say it again, however, because I know deep down it's not the right thing to say.
 

Reading these posts is like watching reruns of a soap opera. Same old stuff. Nothing changes. Nothing new. I hate bye weeks.:rolleyes:
 

I've lost track on this thread. Luckily for all I know the real answer here. AJ was a spoon fed Momma's boy that had everything in life handed to him. He thought he was bigger then the team and acted like it. Kill put him in his place and AJ, his parents, and his Mom's best friend didn't like it so he was gonna "show them". If what has (and hasn't) happened since isn't enough proof of that for you then nothing will be. I get it, some folks are compassionate and want to give a kid the benefit of the doubt, but he doesn't deserve that here. Good Riddance.
 


WWE is about to start. Story lines are similar to that of this board.
 


BreakTheGopherCurse said:
There are some really tough customers on this board who get their jollies cutting people down. It's really hard to handle and definitely quashes the intelligent and interesting discussions that otherwise take place on here.
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This is a tough crowd sometimes. Some topics are perfect for debate because they allow for expression of various opinions. If you present your opinions, be prepared to defend them, or perhaps you'd be better off keeping them to yourself. You have made some statements that are factually incorrect. Those will draw the harshest replies.

You state you're not a Christian, but claim to know what Jesus would stand for and how he would act. Like your comments about the AJ-Kill situation, I believe you make uninformed, inaccurate comments and have some very troubling views and double standards about how people should treat each other. Feel free to message me if you'd like further discussion about Christianity.
 

45north said:
Just one question on AJ. WWID? (What Would Incognito Do)
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Can you really ask that question without asking WWMMADAAD (What Would Martin's Mom And Dad And Attorneys Do?)?
 

dpodoll68 said:
O RLY? He was available - why did no other team (let alone Top 25) jump on the chance to acquire him? Why is he still a U student?
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Good chance it was because of what was suggested one year ago - it appears likely that he wouldn't have been able to play anywhere else. That is, Barker may have misunderstood the transfer rules as they relate to walk-ons who were "recruited"...

As the linked article says, Barker posted on his tumblr, "Thank you for not giving me a scholarship. As an unrecruited walk-on I can transfer without having to sit out a year, which I verified in the NCAA transfer-guide for 2012-2013."... the issue is that having your "unrecruited" status jeopardized doesn't take much at all. He may have been upset and misunderstood the NCAA transfer rules.

Would be curious to know if that's how it went down... of course if I was him I'd hate to admit it if that was the fact pattern.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
What was true one year ago remains true today. The Gophers would be a better team with A.J. Barker and the large majority of coaches with teams in the Top 25 would have found a way to deal with Barker's antics and still keep him on their teams.
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Other top 25 coaches wouldn't have taken the time to deal with his BS and they would've kicked him off the team immediately. Additionally he screwed up with Houston. He wasn't able coachable or to be a good teammate at either school.
*Dumbest post I've read in a while on GH. Smh...
 

speaking of Barker, what ever happened to him as a kicker?
i remember a piece on him... either in the Strib or t.v... when he was a senior at De..
article said he had the best kicking leg in Minnie preps history.. even better than Chip Lohmiller.
 

dboy said:
what happened to him as a kicker
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Barker banged touchbacks with ease all four years of high school at both St. Paul Academy & DeLa.

Spoofin said:
He thought he was bigger then the team and acted like it.
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This is part Barker and part coaching error early in his highschool career. Barker always got taped before practice which resulted in him consistently missing warm ups. He would walk out to practice, shoulder pads in hand, sit down on the bench, put his pads on, lace his shoes, say a prayer or two, and join practice when he felt like it. This was never corrected. This was accepted.
 

MN4life said:
...say a prayer or two, and join practice when he felt like it.
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This sounds like you were there, but Barker claimed to be an atheist. I wasn't aware atheists prayed.
 

everybody knows my name said:
It's too bad we don't have Derrick Engel. And it's too bad we don't have any promising young receivers like Maxx Williams or Drew Wolitarsky. I miss AJ Barker so much!
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We actually don't have Derrick Engel anymore. Sounding like he blew out his knee yesterday.
 


CWCWCW said:
At practice? Link?
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just one mention on twitter

#GingerStacheMan ‏@Domino_WWBD 8h

ICYMI: #Gophers WR Derrick Engel tore his ACL in practice last night. Season is over. No joke, my source is legit. Awful break for the team

Never heard of the guy
 

Maximus said:
just one mention on twitter

#GingerStacheMan ‏@Domino_WWBD 8h

ICYMI: #Gophers WR Derrick Engel tore his ACL in practice last night. Season is over. No joke, my source is legit. Awful break for the team

Never heard of the guy
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I haven't either. Hard to tell if he's blowing smoke.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/DaRealEfresh">@DaRealEfresh</a> if it helps....the rumor comes from his dad. Good enough for you? :)</p>— #GingerStacheMan (@Domino_WWBD) <a href="https://twitter.com/Domino_WWBD/statuses/402637234685222913">November 19, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

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