Bidley admits he used betting app to bet against his own team
Roger Baddell, commissioner of Gee-Gees recreational sports leagues, has announced a year-long suspension for Calvin Bidley, a flag football quarterback who was caught violating the leagues’ gambling and substance abuse policy.
Bidley was found to have gambled on flag football games — including on games he played in — on multiple occasions throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons, according to a Gee-Gees Rec press release.
“There is nothing more fundamental to the success and reputation of our intramural league than upholding the integrity of the game,” wrote Baddell in a personal letter to Bidley, notifying him of the suspension.
“Your actions put the integrity of the game at risk and threatened to damage public confidence in intramural football.”
Bidley, who has played for the Hawk Tua’s of the Saturday night recreational league for the past two seasons, was compared to Bryce Young of the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers by a fellow Saturday night player, who refused to go on the record for fear of being targeted by the Tua’s linebackers in future games.
Bidley has led the Tua’s to an 0-18 record over the last two seasons and has racked up 44 interceptions, 24 fumbles, and been sacked a staggering 107 times over that span despite throwing for just seven passing touchdowns total.
The maligned quarterback sat down with the Tomato to clear the air over his playing abilities. “I’m getting a bad rap,” admitted the quarterback. “Listen, if I wanted to win those games, I could. It was getting hard to afford beer after games, so I’ve been hitting the other team’s moneyline every game we play and then throwing the game on purpose.”
Baddell announced its investigation found there was no evidence coaches, staff, athletic trainers, teammates, league supervisors, parents, significant others, spectators, content creators, or other players were aware of Ridley’s betting. He also announced that Bidley would owe the league a fine equalling his team’s registration fee for the past two years.
Though he admitted to throwing the games, Bidley referred to himself as an “escape goat” for the league, disputing the commissioner’s stance that no one else in the league knew about the scheme.
“Who do you think I was inviting to my crib after the game to drink all this beer I got for free?” pondered the controversial player as he wiped tears back from his eyes. “They’re trying to make me an escape goat for the league.”
Sources tell the Tomato that Gee-Gees intramurals are not offered on any of the major betting platforms operating in Canada, but rather that Bidley was placing bets on a mobile app developed and used “extensively” by Telfer students, which allegedly offers gambling on various intramurals games at the U of O.
