Anonymous Players and Staff make unsubstantiated allegations

[BleedGopher]

Bleed...you are a national treasure in GopherNation!

Very proud to say we've briefly met a couple of times...once at the corner of Oak and Washington (you had LittleBleed with you) and again at the Citrus Bowl against Mizzou. Some other times too around 212 but obviously those two were very memorable for me.

Hope AZ is going well. This site's traffic will crash when you retire. Long Live BleedGopher!

As for the asshat that started all this, Mr. Journalism AJ could learn a thing or two about how the title a piece. Your factual title would certainly draw more clicks in the end than his.

Thanks Billd! If by chance you and Mrs Billd are at the Gopher/UNC game let me know, would be great to reconnect!

Go Gophers!!

 

[gopherfan007]

After working for the team in the early years of Fleck.. Do I like him as a person? Not exactly, but he's a good coach, which matters at the end of the day. I've shared my story a few times along with other former coworkers but it's nothing to this level.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

Why? He has earned an academic PhD. I would have big trouble with it if is were honorary or purchased. I think that it is standard for lawyers who have earned a Juris Doctorate degree to still be called "Mister." Not sure of the history of that convention.

Put your name then PhD after it then I just work with a couple people who have PhD’s and none of them insist to be called doctor. To each their own

 

[WAGopher]

In the interview, DeRusha asks Perez if either the Fitzgerald firing from Northwestern or the B1G football media days had anything to do with the timing of the article. Perez replied no, and said he was working on the story before Fitzgerald was fired, and that his first draft was 10 days ago.

Mmmm, Fitzgerald was fired on July 10th, 17 days before the interview. If he was working on the investigative story before then, he most likely would have had a first draft before then too. Real investigative stories can take a few months of research and vetting. He only had six players he talked to out of at least 150 that have left the program under Fleck.

Not quite believing he out in his due diligence to write a well researched story.

 

[NotAFanOfBecky]

This clown: https://www.cfbpa.org/about-jason

Well his story sounds amazing…like he’s a true warrior for social justice. Sadly, like many involved in that it is or becomes some kind of grift. I have a feeling this isn’t about social justice, this is about an axe to grind as many have alluded. Also, is it just me or does it seem he wrote that himself? He sounds like a hero! Kind of weird to write about yourself that way…but that’s just me.

 

[bamor5229]

More echo chamber reverberation from the perpetually aggrieved can be found at the link below. It's crazy how many commenters seem to believe every word that was written by that hack.

Report: P.J. Fleck Built A "Toxic Culture" Celebrating P.J. Fleck | Defector

The toxic cultures found within college football have been coming to light over this offseason, as a sport that attracts the most megalomaniacal personalities comes to terms with a labor force that suddenly has things like “options” and “financial incentives” thanks to NIL. The latest program to...

defector.com

 

[IceBoxGopher]

More echo chamber reverberation from the perpetually aggrieved can be found at the link below. It's crazy how many commenters seem to believe every word that was written by that hack.

Report: P.J. Fleck Built A "Toxic Culture" Celebrating P.J. Fleck | Defector

The toxic cultures found within college football have been coming to light over this offseason, as a sport that attracts the most megalomaniacal personalities comes to terms with a labor force that suddenly has things like “options” and “financial incentives” thanks to NIL. The latest program to...

defector.com

There sure are a bunch of random sports "news" websites that I've never heard of before this "report."

 

[GophersInIowa]

More echo chamber reverberation from the perpetually aggrieved can be found at the link below. It's crazy how many commenters seem to believe every word that was written by that hack.

Report: P.J. Fleck Built A "Toxic Culture" Celebrating P.J. Fleck | Defector

The toxic cultures found within college football have been coming to light over this offseason, as a sport that attracts the most megalomaniacal personalities comes to terms with a labor force that suddenly has things like “options” and “financial incentives” thanks to NIL. The latest program to...

defector.com

To show how legit that site is, it links the twitter page for the writer of the story. He hasn't posted since 2021.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Made myself listen to Perez's interview with Derusha. Almost tapped out in the first 30 seconds when he tried to play the victim card and paint himself as some sort of Martyr for being willing to take the bullets.

He claims there is more coming and that more players have come forward. The reality is that it is not hard to find disgruntled former players at any program but so far all he has is big steaming pile of nothing that he is trying to make seem like something bigger.

And I don't buy his claim for one second that the timing of this has nothing to do with what went down at Northwestern. If anything he maybe went to his "editors" with it before the Northwestern thing and they weren't willing to run with it because it was so flimsy and then Northwestern happened so they figured this was a chance for them to get noticed. It seems like the vast majority of what he has or at least thinks he has is tied to the 2017-2018 timeframe although he claims the players he is talking too were Fleck recruits and not holdovers from the Kill era.

Guess we will see what if anything comes from the future reporting. Chances are it will all turn out to be just an annoying distraction that the players and coaches have to deal with but won't end up being anything of any real consequence. And at least to this point the response to his reporting has actually served to make the program look better in some ways.

 

[upnorthkid]

Disgruntled player says disgruntled thing while refusing to look in the mirror. Thank goodness we keep giving them microphones

 

[MNVCGUY]

Disgruntled player says disgruntled thing while refusing to look in the mirror. Thank goodness we keep giving them microphones

That is the beauty of the times we live in. If you have a story to tell you can find someone willing to give you a platform. Doesn't matter if the story is true or accurate, someone will be willing to put it out there because the standards for what passes as journalism these days are essentially gone.

 

[upnorthkid]

That is the beauty of the times we live in. If you have a story to tell you can find someone willing to give you a platform. Doesn't matter if the story is true or accurate, someone will be willing to put it out there because the standards for what passes as journalism these days are essentially gone.

Yep agreed. And you will find people out there who will consume it because it agrees with their preconceived notion about the world/person/idea and they will spread it as truth.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

More echo chamber reverberation from the perpetually aggrieved can be found at the link below. It's crazy how many commenters seem to believe every word that was written by that hack.

Report: P.J. Fleck Built A "Toxic Culture" Celebrating P.J. Fleck | Defector

The toxic cultures found within college football have been coming to light over this offseason, as a sport that attracts the most megalomaniacal personalities comes to terms with a labor force that suddenly has things like “options” and “financial incentives” thanks to NIL. The latest program to...

defector.com

The comments there…amplify how civilized this site is.

Yep, anyone with an anecdote, biased viewpoint, or philosophy of whatever bent no matter how deranged (me, for example) has a platform in the age of the internet, social media, and homespun media sites to create narratives. Narratives can spin out of control pretty quickly if not nipped early. Even established and more legitimate media sites alter perceptions of reality with misleading headlines.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

That is the beauty of the times we live in. If you have a story to tell you can find someone willing to give you a platform. Doesn't matter if the story is true or accurate, someone will be willing to put it out there because the standards for what passes as journalism these days are essentially gone.

Exactly. The trend is to try and take down any popular figure any way possible. Its happening all over the world politically and, as we well know, in the USA.

 

[stocker08]

Even the notoriously antagonistic Power Trip Morning Show blasted the article yesterday morning. Author/s are basically getting dismantled all over the place.

 

[FredCoxRocks]

Made myself listen to Perez's interview with Derusha. Almost tapped out in the first 30 seconds when he tried to play the victim card and paint himself as some sort of Martyr for being willing to take the bullets.

He claims there is more coming and that more players have come forward. The reality is that it is not hard to find disgruntled former players at any program but so far all he has is big steaming pile of nothing that he is trying to make seem like something bigger.

And I don't buy his claim for one second that the timing of this has nothing to do with what went down at Northwestern. If anything he maybe went to his "editors" with it before the Northwestern thing and they weren't willing to run with it because it was so flimsy and then Northwestern happened so they figured this was a chance for them to get noticed. It seems like the vast majority of what he has or at least thinks he has is tied to the 2017-2018 timeframe although he claims the players he is talking too were Fleck recruits and not holdovers from the Kill era.

Guess we will see what if anything comes from the future reporting. Chances are it will all turn out to be just an annoying distraction that the players and coaches have to deal with but won't end up being anything of any real consequence. And at least to this point the response to his reporting has actually served to make the program look better in some ways.

His irrelevant, off-the-rails humble brag about being the first one on Josh Harris approved as owner of the Commanders was just plain weird. The guy was rambling and seemed very nervous. He was like a Jesse Eisenberg on cocaine.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Thanks goodness PJ has a winning record!

 

[GophersInIowa]

The comments there…amplify how civilized this site is.

Yep, anyone with an anecdote, biased viewpoint, or philosophy of whatever bent no matter how deranged (me, for example) has a platform in the age of the internet, social media, and homespun media sites to create narratives. Narratives can spin out of control pretty quickly if not nipped early. Even established and more legitimate media sites alter perceptions of reality with misleading headlines.

Completely normal.

He is 100% the kind of guy, that once he is convicted of being a serial killer who had sex with the corpses then ate them, neighbors and co-workers are all like, Yeah, I always thought he was kind of "Off".

 

[GophersInIowa]

Even the notoriously antagonistic Power Trip Morning Show blasted the article yesterday morning. Author/s are basically getting dismantled all over the place.

Even Iowa and WI fans see how stupid it was. Nebraska fans not so much but that isn't surprising.

 

[upnorthkid]

Even Iowa and WI fans see how stupid it was. Nebraska fans not so much but that isn't surprising.

Amazing from the fan base who was pumped at how much their coaches were bragging about their lineman puking

 

[MNVCGUY]

His irrelevant, off-the-rails humble brag about being the first one on Josh Harris approved as owner of the Commanders was just plain weird. The guy was rambling and seemed very nervous. He was like a Jesse Eisenberg on cocaine.

Up until yesterday nobody knew who he was. Now he is getting way more attention and scrutiny than he has ever gotten before most likely.

He is trying to defend his work and capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame. I'm sure he probably isn't a big fan of the way his story is being mocked in a lot of places.

Will be interesting to see what his next angle on this is since he claims to have more. In the end though will be shocked if any of it amounts to anything more than a mild annoyance for the program.

 

[CurveballJesus]

Hickey: A very prepared PJ Fleck offers his defense of Minnesota's program

PJ Fleck was well-prepared for major questions about Minnesota's football culture -- and so were a handful of Gophers players.

saturdaytradition.com

Wow. Another pile of shit "doing a journalism." They certainly stick together.

 

[CurveballJesus]

His follow up has been released. It contains, wait for it, 1 new anonymous former player! Saying nothing new!

BOMBSHELL.

I think one of his unnamed sources is AJ Barker's mom's best friend

 

[Tucker32]

Lol. Love when people call themselves a doctor when they studied politics and history

Why? He has earned an academic PhD. I would have big trouble with it if is were honorary or purchased. I think that it is standard for lawyers who have earned a Juris Doctorate degree to still be called "Mister." Not sure of the history of that convention.

Exactly. Yes, Jason Stahl is a clown. However, he does have a doctorate - it is totally appropriate.

 

[GophersInIowa]

His follow up has been released. It contains, wait for it, 1 new anonymous former player! Saying nothing new!

BOMBSHELL.

I think one of his unnamed sources is AJ Barker's mom's best friend

He tweeted yesterday that he was getting a lot of former players reaching out to him.

 

[UMwolverine]

I'm a Michigan fan so no dog in this fight. I'm also a retired college professor with a PhD. As far as using Doctor as a form of address, outside of academia, I almost never use it. The ones who insist on using it outside of academia are mostly asshats who are full of themselves.

This former Minnesota faculty member who is pushing the nonsense about Fleck, strikes me as a loser whose greatest skill is the art of inflated self promotion.

He does have a PhD, but his highest career level was adjunct faculty, the lowest echelon of faculty. Adjuncts are part timers who generally sign contracts semester to semester, get no benefits, and can have their contracts not renewed for any or no reason at all. The next step up is full time instructor, then assistant, associate, and full professor.

There are plenty of PhDs who are unable to make careers in academia, but for someone who is committed, spending multiple years as an adjunct often means there are shortcomings preventing professional advancement.

Dr. Asshat makes a big deal about being "demoted" by UM as a form of punishment. It's not possible to be demoted from the lowest rung of the ladder. He quit because of his supposed demotion and did not want to fight the "demotion." The only thing that makes sense is something else he brags about: coordinating some some sort of freshman orientation program. The fact that they let an adjunct do this tells you much of what you need to know. At the schools I've taught at, which range from community college (yes, as an adjunct) to a private college to a large state university, overseeing freshman orientation was never seen as a plum job that people sought out.

Apparently he was promised this freshman orientation position for 3 years (and duties for this would not have been a year round or full-time position). It's obvious the university investigated the accusations he made, and like anybody with a lick of common sense would discover, the allegations were taken out of context and manipulated all with the aim of putting Fleck in a negative light, never mind that there wasn't much there at all. With his exaggerated and spiteful claims, It's no wonder Dr. Asshat was not continued in that position.

Now Dr. Asshat is trying to position himself as some sort of voice for student athletes victimized by coaches and college administrators. Given what he has provided so far, student athletes (and everybody else) should realize he will twist and take out of context the words of student athletes to promote himself and his agenda without a care for the damage it does to not only the coaches but student athletes as well.

 

[alchemy2u]

Also, Quinn Carroll and Sam Renner have tweeted supporting Coach Fleck and the football program. Sounds to me like you get out what you put into the program.

That is a synopsis of everything in life. "You get out of it what you put in" If you half ass it and expect things to be handed to you, then you get a half ass experience with a lot of disappoints.

 

[DarthGopher]

I'm a Michigan fan so no dog in this fight. I'm also a retired college professor with a PhD. As far as using Doctor as a form of address, outside of academia, I almost never use it. The ones who insist on using it outside of academia are mostly asshats who are full of themselves.

This former Minnesota faculty member who is pushing the nonsense about Fleck, strikes me as a loser whose greatest skill is the art of inflated self promotion.

He does have a PhD, but his highest career level was adjunct faculty, the lowest echelon of faculty. Adjuncts are part timers who generally sign contracts semester to semester, get no benefits, and can have their contracts not renewed for any or no reason at all. The next step up is full time instructor, then assistant, associate, and full professor.

There are plenty of PhDs who are unable to make careers in academia, but for someone who is committed, spending multiple years as an adjunct often means there are shortcomings preventing professional advancement.

Dr. Asshat makes a big deal about being "demoted" by UM as a form of punishment. It's not possible to be demoted from the lowest rung of the ladder. He quit because of his supposed demotion and did not want to fight the "demotion." The only thing that makes sense is something else he brags about: coordinating some some sort of freshman orientation program. The fact that they let an adjunct do this tells you much of what you need to know. At the schools I've taught at, which range from community college (yes, as an adjunct) to a private college to a large state university, overseeing freshman orientation was never seen as a plum job that people sought out.

Apparently he was promised this freshman orientation position for 3 years (and duties for this would not have been a year round or full-time position). It's obvious the university investigated the accusations he made, and like anybody with a lick of common sense would discover, the allegations were taken out of context and manipulated all with the aim of putting Fleck in a negative light, never mind that there wasn't much there at all. With his exaggerated and spiteful claims, It's no wonder Dr. Asshat was not continued in that position.

Now Dr. Asshat is trying to position himself as some sort of voice for student athletes victimized by coaches and college administrators. Given what he has provided so far, student athletes (and everybody else) should realize he will twist and take out of context the words of student athletes to promote himself and his agenda without a care for the damage it does to not only the coaches but student athletes as well.

This is what I suspected, but did not have the insights you provided into the inner workings of faculty promotion. Fantastic information!

I had a director who insisted on being referred to as doctor in a private corporation because he had a PhD. He was also a narcissistic asshat that liked to embellish his accomplishments. It finally caught up to him and he was fired.

I saw a lot of parallels reading this guy's information and how he wrote his articles. Loves to write in the first person and uses "I" frequently. Generally indicates an inflated sense of self.

Like most asshats, this will eventually catch up to him. Just a matter of when.

 

[alchemy2u]

Modern day journalism/media summed up perfectly here. Unverified and unnamed sources spewing negativity towards a popular product/person. All because there are too many journalists compared to jobs. These people need to be dealt with sternly.

NO! This person is not a journalist!

The modern day problems are with the instant credibility that is given to anyone who posts crap on the internet. Their objective is to make money, not to report news. We really need more journalist and the credible outlets that use standard journalist principals and standards. The newspapers are all being consolidated and profits milked by publishing generic non local stories.

We still have not learned how to harness the internet so that the original creators get compensated for their work. This is the whole argument behind the writers/actors strike. The current streaming and social media models treat the majority of the content as being free with all of the profits going to the streamers.

 

[MNVCGUY]

His follow up has been released. It contains, wait for it, 1 new anonymous former player! Saying nothing new!

BOMBSHELL.

I think one of his unnamed sources is AJ Barker's mom's best friend

Haven't seen the follow up and not going to go hunting for it but this is pretty much what I assumed it would be. More anonymous BS that doesn't really lead to anything.