About

Joel A. Barker is passionate about many things; God, family, and sports to name a few.

First, as a fan, and later as a respected blogger, editor, and sportswriter, Joel has been immersed in the world of sports for much of the last 25 years.

Beginning his writing career as a senior in high school, Joel published his first e-newsletter covering college football in 1999. Upon discovering the vast world of the internet blogosphere, Joel ran and wrote for numerous webistes before becoming a Senior Writer at bleacherreport.com in 2009.

At B/R, Joel has served as a National College Football Featured Columnist, Tennessee Vols Featured Columnist & Community Leader. During his three-plus years at B/R, Joel has covered National Signing Day events, the Big Orange Caravan, the '09 Chick-Fil-A Bowl, 2010 SEC Media Days, and the '10 & '11 Music City Bowl.

A member of the Football Writers Association of America, Joel’s work has been published at LATimes.com, CBSSports.com, Tennessee.Rivals.com, askmen.com, ajc.com, GoVolsXtra.com, and knoxnews.com.

Follow Joel on twitter at twitter.com/joelabarker.

Email: joelabarker@gmx.com

Short List

  • Favorite Athletes

    Peyton Manning, Chipper Jones, Dale Murphy, Eric Berry, Tim Tebow

  • Favorite Sports Teams

    Atlanta Braves

  • Favorite Coaches

    Tony Dungy, Bobby Cox, Tom Izzo

  • All Time Sports Moment

    The Slide - Sid Bream scores gamewinner in bottom of the 9th, Game 7, 1992 NLCS

  • Most Memorable Game Attended

    2009 Chick-Fil-A Bowl - My first game as a member of the media

  • Most Unbreakable Sports Record

    Dimaggio's hit streak

  • Ruth or Mays?

    Mays

  • Unitas or Montana?

    Montana

  • Jordan or Russell?

    Jordan

  • Pele or Maradona?

    Maradona

  • Tiger or Nicklaus?

    Tiger

  • Petty or Earnhardt?

    Petty

  • ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 or SEC?

    I cover the SEC, so... the SEC

Bulletin Board

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  • Sherrie G posted 166 days ago

    Sherrie G

    When the Vols enter the field on Saturday, so will my heart along with every other fan’s in, around or nowhere near Neyland Stadium. Because we are Tennessee. We are a family of Volunteers, bound and bred by a tenacious spirit that doesn’t live and die by wins and losses – but an invisible tie that binds us to the greatest love in college football. University of Tennessee football. ♥

  • jennifer teamah posted 215 days ago

    jennifer teamah

    HI CAN WE BE FRIENDS?

    I am jennifer by name,am friendly and good looking young girl , I want us to be friends, for friendship can not be seen or even touched because true friendship does not matter with anything but it must be felt within the heart.Contact me (singlejennifer1@yahoo.in)so that i will send some of my pictures to you so that we shall continue from there to know eachother.I will be waiting to hear from you soonest.

    jennifer CoolSmile. Contact me (singlejennifer1@yahoo.in)

  • Ryan Wooden posted 402 days ago

    Ryan Wooden

    Great news, as of right now I have Devrin Young scheduled to be a guest on the show.

  • Michael Ellis posted 410 days ago

    Michael Ellis

    Joel, do you know who the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was against for the Vols at the end of regulation and what it was for? I thought it was for Gerald Williams removing his helmet but a local reporter wrote in his column "today" that it was after the referee said the game was over and even after Dooley and Davis had shaken hands that Williams was assessed the penalty for removing his helmet. Can this be so? A friend of mine said he thought it was for roughing the place kicker. Just wondered if you definitively knew. Thanks.

  • Gage Arnold posted 517 days ago

    Gage  Arnold

    Hey Joel! Just finished up the most recent article on this weeks best players. Would love to have your input on it. Hope you like it!

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/465080-college-footballs-all-paris-hilton-team-week-two-edition

  • Steven Resnick posted 520 days ago

    Steven Resnick

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/461810-building-back-respectability-what-bleacher-report-needs-to-do-to-regain-it

  • lonnie swanson posted 522 days ago

    lonnie swanson

    Wow, what a game huh? I was scared there for about 1 quarter. I really wanna give it up to Tennessee for playing there hearts out. I think that if the Vols play the rest of the season the way they did in this game, they could with 8 or 9 games and that would be a real boost of confidence for next season. - I will be honest with you. When they pulled out to a 13-3 lead, I was saying how is that possible. I dont wanna make that sound like an arrogant thing, but as you stated before in your live game post, Oregon is a true top 5 team. I really hope the Ducks get that recognition. Tennessee will do real well in the future under Dooley. As you know, he is dealing with a really young team so there is tons of room to only get better. Yes, I know Cal came in a couple years ago and got tatered, but i will tell you something, it seems like every year Cal gets ranked super high, they are always overrated. Oregon was returning almost everyone from last years squad who went and played in the Rose Bowl. There preseason ranking was true. If Masoli wouldnt have screwed up, they would have been ranked higher. My point is, Tennessee didnt have much of a chance in the game in the first place. I know you knew that. So this cant be much of a disappointment to you and other Vols fans. The Vols hung in there as long as they were capable of doing, and then talent took over. I truly wanna say that it was an awesome experience watching the Ducks play in Knoxville. I only seen it on the tv, but Oregon doesnt seem to get a chance to play teams with such heritage and tradition. Ya, USC has alot of tradition, but its crooked, lol! So once again, thanks for the experience. Next year, the Vols will get to experience the noise of Autzen. If you look up the loudest stadiums in college football up on google search, they will tell you the top ten. I know that Vols fans are die hard, but I have to always ask this, how can a stadium that cant crack 60,000 people (to my knowledge), make just as much noise as 80,000 to 100,000+ people?. Thats cause us Duck fans are mad-loud. A columnist wrote 7ish years ago "Autzen Stadium is where great teams come to die". We will lay out a welcome rug for you guys when you come here next year. After all, you guys gave us a lightning storm, lol. Good luck the rest of the year. Lonnie

  • Gage Arnold posted 523 days ago

    Gage  Arnold

    Hey Joel! I'd love if you could check out my article. Just trying to get some exposure on it and get some opinions on it. Appreciate it brother! Have a great day!

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/458689-college-footballs-all-paris-hilton-team-week-one-edition

  • Rallo Tubbs posted 558 days ago

    Rallo  Tubbs

    If Any1 Wants To Join My 12 Team 14 Roster Slot 1 IR No $ Keeper League IWill Need Your Facebook, If U have Aim and Email I will need 2 grade/scout your mock draft team aleast a B+ Roster Setup 1 QB 2 RB 2 WR1 TE D/ST 1 K 6 Bench Players NO FLEX PLAYER NO $ Dynasty ESPN League SCORING RULES QB: TD 6 25 YRD: 1 INT -2 RB: TD 6 10 YRD 1 WR SAME TE SAME D/St and Kicker learn when join da league+++ MUST USE ROTOWORLD.COM

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/431081-br-fantasy-football-league

  • Brian Rhodes posted 564 days ago

    Brian  Rhodes

    Take a look at this mate and let me know what you think. It's quite comprehensive and took a while to write.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/428171-the-football-league-championship-201011-season-preview

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