Barker Transfering?!?!

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Bayfieldgopher said:
A post from Shipley's blog in the PPress.

Alan Turner · Subscribe · Owner at Advantage Training & Fitness LLC
If you're on here ranting about how A.J. is right you've clearly never played sports past high school or you completely have no idea how athletics works as A whole.

I played for Kill from 03-07. Played wide receiver just like A.J., walked on just like A.J., earned A scholarship like A.J. wanted my sophomore year after proving to not only the coaches but my teammates as well...its clear to everyone INSIDE the program when someone deserves money, also just like A.J. I injures ny ankle BUT my senior year and it was A stress fracture AND missed NO GAMES. It was my choice to play not Kills. I then garnered chances in the NFL which I am very thankful for.

My point is I am very similar to A.J. in many ways, Kill gave me an opportunity. Tough ppl play this game, mentally tough. Coach Kill broke A.J., if you're in the military and your life is on the line the last thing you want is the guy that has your back next to you to be mentally weak and break. Same thing goes for sports. Any coach that she's what A.J. did will now see HIS true colors. What do you think a coach like Nick Saban, Les Miles, or Urban Meyer would be saying. Be real people. If you want the real facts on who a person is ask the people that fought for Kill over the years and helped him have a successful coaching career.
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Poor comparison. AJ never earned a scholarship and has also not show he was deserving of one. If this person actually did earn a scholarship then he deserved it and could not possibly be compared to AJ. I have no idea why this guy would identify himself with AJ. He stuck with it until he achieved his goal, AJ didn't.
 

CentralGopher said:
Poor comparison. AJ never earned a scholarship and has also not show he was deserving of one. If this person actually did earn a scholarship then he deserved it and could not possibly be compared to AJ. I have no idea why this guy would identify himself with AJ. He stuck with it until he achieved his goal, AJ didn't.
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I think that is the point...AJ badly misjudged the situation. If he would have handled his injury according to what the team prescribed, and had a heart to play through some pain, he probably would have gotten the Scholarship for next year. I will caveat that with the thought that Coach Kill does not have has many scholarships next year so it was not a sure thing.
 

I went back and watched the interview on KARE TV, and listened to the interviews on KSTP radio.

What I took away: Barker is all about AJ - and not about the team. Everything I heard was me, me, me - as when he said that Kill "had no choice" but to play Barker, because Barker was (in his mind) clearly the best receiver on the team. This guy thinks that he's the center of the universe - but football is a Team sport, not an individual sport. Sometimes, you have to put your individual goals or opinions to the side for the greater good of the team - see M. Gray, among others.

Barker also said something to the effect that he's sorry he won't be there to "help Nelson realize his full potential," - because, in his mind, only the great AJ Barker can make that happen.

The irony here is that Barker's Mom's friend called Kill a narcissist. Based on his comments, I think Barker is the real narcissist in this case.
 


Holy *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#!!!! I got married this weekend so I've been totally out of the loop and just read through all 34 pages! Sorry that most of this has been said already:

1. If everything he said is true, it's a little alarming. However, I don't think it's anything that is fire-able or something that alone gives the program a black eye. Concerning, but not the end of the world.

2. The letter made Barker look very bad. It was a lot of gibberish and the same thing over and over. It's almost like he had to reiterate things to make himself believe them. Everything he said in the letter may very well be true. It was just written extremely poor. I like the comment someone else made that most people would have gotten half way through writing the letter and realized it was not good.

3. He has every right to not be happy with not getting a scholarship or if he felt wasn't treated fairly. His approach was so wrong on so many levels, however. He most definitely seems like he wants the attention and wants people to feel bad for him. He's admitted that he has issues with authority and he made some mistakes with the injury, yet acts like he's a victim.

4. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but from what I know so far, it seems like he went from doing nothing to something very extreme. Like I said I just read through everything today, so this may have been touched on somewhere already, but was there any mention of Barker ever trying to meet with Kill, other coaches, or Teague prior to this coming out? You'd think there would be other steps that could have been taken before going this extreme. It would be like if you have a neighbor who plays their music too loud. You'd think the first step would be to call them or stop by sometime to let them know. If they disregard that, then you take further action like calling the police. Most people don't just automatically call the police before ever letting them know the music is too loud.

5. The people hurt the most by this are the players. It would have been much better to come out after the Michigan St. game so it wasn't just a few days before a game. It's a huge distraction, that's for sure. And I do feel bad for the seniors. They've been through so much in the past 4/5 years.

6. Was the scholarship that was given to a kicker, Wettstein?
 


G I I..."I got married this weekend"

Congrats, we did not even know she was pregnant. :)
 

most of the pages were about yer wedding. just kiddin'. congrats! doc beat me to it
 


First thing is all the allegations should be looked into like they all should be people's concerns cannot be just pushed off to the side, second anyone who has never been manipulated by their coach has never been coached... Lastly Read through this young man's twitter feed and you will see how many grains of salt you need.

AJ Barker‏@A_Barker_82

One day your twitter feed may be the best representation of you and your identity
 



Thanks for the congrats guys. It was a tough decision doing it during the football season but it looks like it was a good game to miss!

So if it was given to Wettstein, I can't fault Kill at all. Even though he hasn't been very good this year, at that point (after UNLV game) he had helped the team in his career more than Barker and it's not even close.

Here are the words of one of my mother’s closest friends to you Coach Kill, “He’s an ego-maniacal, self-centered, narcissistic jerk who appears to care about no one but himself, and certainly not AJ’s health. And AJ just happens to be his best player, who he obviously will sacrifice at the drop of a hat”.
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Forgot to comment on that. I find it kinda ironic Barker includes this when his decision to make this into a circus kinda makes him seem pretty selfish.
 


So I'm a little out of the loop in terms of Gopher Football these days. I still follow everything that goes on, but not to the extent of when I was living in Minnesota. But a couple summers ago, I was back in town for a wedding and decided to hit up the first day of Fall camp. This was 2011 and Kill's first year. When I got home from the practice, I posted my oberservations. Kind of funny to look back on what I saw from Barker:

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/bo...pdates-Analysis-Links-etc&p=420377#post420377

The coaches seemed to be getting on AJ Barker a ton. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just constant chirping towards him. I actually think he looks pretty good out there from time to time. Runs some really fluid routes and seems to have good body control. But how many butterflies will there be in his tummy on Saturdays?
 

GophersInIowa said:
Holy *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#!!!! I got married this weekend so I've been totally out of the loop and just read through all 34 pages! Sorry that most of this has been said already:

1. If everything he said is true, it's a little alarming. However, I don't think it's anything that is fire-able or something that alone gives the program a black eye. Concerning, but not the end of the world.

2. The letter made Barker look very bad. It was a lot of gibberish and the same thing over and over. It's almost like he had to reiterate things to make himself believe them. Everything he said in the letter may very well be true. It was just written extremely poor. I like the comment someone else made that most people would have gotten half way through writing the letter and realized it was not good.

3. He has every right to not be happy with not getting a scholarship or if he felt wasn't treated fairly. His approach was so wrong on so many levels, however. He most definitely seems like he wants the attention and wants people to feel bad for him. He's admitted that he has issues with authority and he made some mistakes with the injury, yet acts like he's a victim.

4. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but from what I know so far, it seems like he went from doing nothing to something very extreme. Like I said I just read through everything today, so this may have been touched on somewhere already, but was there any mention of Barker ever trying to meet with Kill, other coaches, or Teague prior to this coming out? You'd think there would be other steps that could have been taken before going this extreme. It would be like if you have a neighbor who plays their music too loud. You'd think the first step would be to call them or stop by sometime to let them know. If they disregard that, then you take further action like calling the police. Most people don't just automatically call the police before ever letting them know the music is too loud.

5. The people hurt the most by this are the players. It would have been much better to come out after the Michigan St. game so it wasn't just a few days before a game. It's a huge distraction, that's for sure. And I do feel bad for the seniors. They've been through so much in the past 4/5 years.

6. Was the scholarship that was given to a kicker, Wettstein?
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Congrats to Mrs. GophersInIowa!

Go Gophers!!
 




Dr.Don said:
She better not be a Hawkeye Fan, or it will be hell to pay.
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Mrs GopherInIowa's Fandom (in order of preference):

1. Gophers - that would be the best
2. Cyclones - Shared hatred of the Hawkeyes
3. Division II or III - won't get in the way of Hawkeye Hatred.
 




Congrats! I was not checking up on this thread as much today because I was groing tired of the Barker drama and I continue to feel it is blowing over already. I'm glad I stopped in to check it out. Congrats and may you have many happy years together with Mrs. GophersInIowa.
 



Catechol said:
And you surprised her by reading thirty-four consecutive pages of message board posts on what I presume to be your honeymoon ;)

I'm glad I got married in the spring.
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Haha, no honeymoon yet. That will be in a few weeks.

Thanks for the congrats everyone.
 



G_i_I: Congrats on the nuptials. The whole Barker/Coaching staff fracas just shows how interesting the times we live in are, but it's not difficult to catch up.
 

I have one piece of advice for Mr. Barker.

A Mentor of mine, while I was a young man, told me that "as I proceed through life I should abstain from burning any bridges behind me" no matter how tempting. The reason being is that "you never know when you may have to recross those bridges". I'm now retired and take pride in heeding his advice. I can truthfully say all those bridges are still intact and I'm a better person for it. Just some sound advice for you to consider, A.J. You'll have a more rewarding and fruitful journey through life if you follow that type of philosophy.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Thanks for the congrats everyone.
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Is it weird that I pictured you exactly as you appear in your avatar (same pose and all), as your bride-to-be walks down the aisle towards you?

Congrats! And I really hope your honeymoon "in a few weeks" is referring to our bowl game...
 



As a High School Football Coach in Minnesota, I can without hesitation say that this will hurt Jerry Kill's recruiting future short term. This gives the program a black eye, regardless of where the truth really lies. I'm good friends with Barker's high school coach and spoke with him today. He's perplexed that the kid would make these type of statements in public. Anyway you look at it, it's a no win situation for either party.
 

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