Martin Calladine
@uglygame.bsky.social
Writer of books, most recently: No Questions Asked: How Football Joined the Crypto Con (amzn.to/42aKE0w). Investigative pieces at http://theuglygame.wordpress.com/
Pinned
Martin Calladine
@uglygame.bsky.social
· Jan 22
🚨 Out now 🚨
NO QUESTIONS ASKED
How football joined the crypto con
What happened when football got into crypto? It's a tale of fraudsters, ghostship firms, bogus investments, pyramid schemes, gigantic losses and organised crime.
Get your copy here: amzn.to/42aKE0w
NO QUESTIONS ASKED
How football joined the crypto con
What happened when football got into crypto? It's a tale of fraudsters, ghostship firms, bogus investments, pyramid schemes, gigantic losses and organised crime.
Get your copy here: amzn.to/42aKE0w
The last time the Chicago Bears put up a statement victory, half their fans weren't even born.
November 28, 2025 at 11:19 PM
The last time the Chicago Bears put up a statement victory, half their fans weren't even born.
Reposted by Martin Calladine
Absolutely unbelievable story of negligence and greed, with Barca signing a deal with a crypto firm that, while it may not be a fraud, it is so opaque that there's no way for fans to assure themselves that it's not.
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
FC Barcelona’s tie-up with Samoa-based crypto start-up sparks backlash
Heavily indebted club faces accusations of desperation over sponsorship deal with little-known firm Zero-Knowledge Proof
www.ft.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Absolutely unbelievable story of negligence and greed, with Barca signing a deal with a crypto firm that, while it may not be a fraud, it is so opaque that there's no way for fans to assure themselves that it's not.
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
Reposted by Martin Calladine
For £1600, Chelsea FC will let you "lay out your favourite player's kit and boots" this weekend hospitality.chelseafc.com/match-by-mat...
VVIP Dressing Room Experience
hospitality.chelseafc.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:29 PM
For £1600, Chelsea FC will let you "lay out your favourite player's kit and boots" this weekend hospitality.chelseafc.com/match-by-mat...
A lot of love for Nick Robinson on this one. He makes it perfectly clear he wants to get Badenoch to say "welfare spending is unchristian," knowing she won't be able to resist being so edgy. He must've been surprised that he had to ask her a second time to get her to bite.
November 28, 2025 at 1:02 PM
A lot of love for Nick Robinson on this one. He makes it perfectly clear he wants to get Badenoch to say "welfare spending is unchristian," knowing she won't be able to resist being so edgy. He must've been surprised that he had to ask her a second time to get her to bite.
Absolutely unbelievable story of negligence and greed, with Barca signing a deal with a crypto firm that, while it may not be a fraud, it is so opaque that there's no way for fans to assure themselves that it's not.
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
FC Barcelona’s tie-up with Samoa-based crypto start-up sparks backlash
Heavily indebted club faces accusations of desperation over sponsorship deal with little-known firm Zero-Knowledge Proof
www.ft.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Absolutely unbelievable story of negligence and greed, with Barca signing a deal with a crypto firm that, while it may not be a fraud, it is so opaque that there's no way for fans to assure themselves that it's not.
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
www.ft.com/content/9fb4...
Reposted by Martin Calladine
New contender for typo of the year
November 27, 2025 at 7:09 PM
New contender for typo of the year
Reposted by Martin Calladine
These people always write to the Times instead of just giving me £50 and a hammer.
November 27, 2025 at 3:45 PM
These people always write to the Times instead of just giving me £50 and a hammer.
Reposted by Martin Calladine
Now that is a blue plaque.
November 26, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Now that is a blue plaque.
Reposted by Martin Calladine
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
Reposted by Martin Calladine
About to lead this locker room of young men to a 76-3 loss in the state championship
November 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM
About to lead this locker room of young men to a 76-3 loss in the state championship
Reposted by Martin Calladine
Thoughts on gambling duty rises.
This is celebrated as a win by campaigners but note that shares in the biggest players (Ladbrokes owner Entain and Paddy Power owner Flutter) are up.
I suspect this is because investors are betting that some of their smaller rivals will be forced out of the market.
This is celebrated as a win by campaigners but note that shares in the biggest players (Ladbrokes owner Entain and Paddy Power owner Flutter) are up.
I suspect this is because investors are betting that some of their smaller rivals will be forced out of the market.
November 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Thoughts on gambling duty rises.
This is celebrated as a win by campaigners but note that shares in the biggest players (Ladbrokes owner Entain and Paddy Power owner Flutter) are up.
I suspect this is because investors are betting that some of their smaller rivals will be forced out of the market.
This is celebrated as a win by campaigners but note that shares in the biggest players (Ladbrokes owner Entain and Paddy Power owner Flutter) are up.
I suspect this is because investors are betting that some of their smaller rivals will be forced out of the market.
A world in which decision-makers in all fields read fewer smart thinking books and more Robert Caro is a better world.
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...
How a legendary historian is quietly fueling OKC's championship rise
As OKC GM Sam Presti formed a Thunder team built for a dynasty, he was inspired by a man who has been working on the same project for more than 50 years.
www.espn.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
A world in which decision-makers in all fields read fewer smart thinking books and more Robert Caro is a better world.
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...
www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...
Ironically, this is a policy that will primarily appeal to the kind of wealthy, able-bodied people who feel no shame about parking in disabled spaces.
“The Motability scheme was set up to protect the most vulnerable. Not to subsidise the lease on a Mercedes Benz,” Reeves says.
Misleading and nasty in equal measure.
Misleading and nasty in equal measure.
November 26, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Ironically, this is a policy that will primarily appeal to the kind of wealthy, able-bodied people who feel no shame about parking in disabled spaces.
Now that is a blue plaque.
November 26, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Now that is a blue plaque.
Sends a shiver down the spine of anyone old enough to remember the Thames Valley Royals.
www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...
www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...
Sheffield United’s US owners in shock Sheffield Wednesday sale inquiry
Prospect of two rivals being part of same stable would cause alarm among both fanbases
www.telegraph.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Sends a shiver down the spine of anyone old enough to remember the Thames Valley Royals.
www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...
www.telegraph.co.uk/football/202...
Reposted by Martin Calladine
Development money is the means by which FIFA's senior leadership controls its less wealthy member associations.
With this deal, it's letting Saudi Arabia in on the action directly.
With this deal, it's letting Saudi Arabia in on the action directly.
November 25, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Development money is the means by which FIFA's senior leadership controls its less wealthy member associations.
With this deal, it's letting Saudi Arabia in on the action directly.
With this deal, it's letting Saudi Arabia in on the action directly.
Having turned up at high school with a new car to impress everyone and then having tried standing outside football's window with a ghettoblaster, the Super League organisers are now in the sending mean letters saying they won't find anyone better to go out with phase of winning football over.
As revealed earlier, they’re back! For those still following the ESL franchise, I make this the 4th iteration of A22’s plan to replace the deeply unpopular Champions League that nobody wants to watch, televise or sponsor. Apparently.
🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/683...
🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/683...
November 25, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Having turned up at high school with a new car to impress everyone and then having tried standing outside football's window with a ghettoblaster, the Super League organisers are now in the sending mean letters saying they won't find anyone better to go out with phase of winning football over.
What was it, then? Motivational racism?
November 24, 2025 at 10:40 PM
What was it, then? Motivational racism?
Reposted by Martin Calladine
"Collecting that experience" is an incredible euphemism for "Asking a guy about the fact that more than a dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct"
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
"Collecting that experience" is an incredible euphemism for "Asking a guy about the fact that more than a dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct"
"Tucker faced accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior by 16 massage therapists in the Baltimore area in alleged incidents dating back to 2012."
He served a O.63-game-per-victim suspension.
He served a O.63-game-per-victim suspension.
NEWS: The New Orleans Saints have invited former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker in for a tryout, league sources have confirmed to The Athletic.
Tucker, who served a 10-game suspension stemming from violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, was officially available as of Nov. 11.
Tucker, who served a 10-game suspension stemming from violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, was officially available as of Nov. 11.
November 24, 2025 at 6:26 PM
"Tucker faced accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior by 16 massage therapists in the Baltimore area in alleged incidents dating back to 2012."
He served a O.63-game-per-victim suspension.
He served a O.63-game-per-victim suspension.
Magnificent demolition of Shabana Mahmood's use of her own race as a shield to give cover to the government's ever more aggressively racist policies.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Shabana Mahmood is an avatar of open Britain – that’s what makes her fable about immigration so seductive | Nesrine Malik
‘She is the daughter of immigrants,’ supporters of her cruel asylum policies say. ‘How can she be wrong?’ Let me put them straight, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Magnificent demolition of Shabana Mahmood's use of her own race as a shield to give cover to the government's ever more aggressively racist policies.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A reminder that:
1. The Browns deserve zero sympathy for their plight when they bring a $250m+ sexual predator back into the fold.
2. It's been far too long since Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles tear.
1. The Browns deserve zero sympathy for their plight when they bring a $250m+ sexual predator back into the fold.
2. It's been far too long since Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles tear.
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
A reminder that:
1. The Browns deserve zero sympathy for their plight when they bring a $250m+ sexual predator back into the fold.
2. It's been far too long since Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles tear.
1. The Browns deserve zero sympathy for their plight when they bring a $250m+ sexual predator back into the fold.
2. It's been far too long since Deshaun Watson suffered an Achilles tear.
It's infuriating to see so much of the media give Kruger the same kid gloves treatment that Rees-Mogg used to get because he is posh and polite and able to wrap his bigotry in enough intellectual tissue paper to make it seem like a political philosophy rather than an expression of white supremacy.
Reform are so dangerous and this headline doesn’t do it justice. I also think a piece like this should start with the politician‘s core views just to emphasise the urgency.
November 22, 2025 at 6:40 PM
It's infuriating to see so much of the media give Kruger the same kid gloves treatment that Rees-Mogg used to get because he is posh and polite and able to wrap his bigotry in enough intellectual tissue paper to make it seem like a political philosophy rather than an expression of white supremacy.
One thing I've been trying to do of recent - to combat the doom - is find things little things that help people and leave me feeling a bit more positive.
And I've yet to come across one better than giving blood. It's simple, quick and you can genuinely save lives. I wish I'd started years ago.
And I've yet to come across one better than giving blood. It's simple, quick and you can genuinely save lives. I wish I'd started years ago.
November 22, 2025 at 10:08 AM
One thing I've been trying to do of recent - to combat the doom - is find things little things that help people and leave me feeling a bit more positive.
And I've yet to come across one better than giving blood. It's simple, quick and you can genuinely save lives. I wish I'd started years ago.
And I've yet to come across one better than giving blood. It's simple, quick and you can genuinely save lives. I wish I'd started years ago.
It's great that Birmingham owners want to build a modern stadium to match the size of their ambitions for the club. City should be huge.
But it's a shame it looks like an upturned coffee table or a beetle that's stuck on its back.
But it's a shame it looks like an upturned coffee table or a beetle that's stuck on its back.
November 20, 2025 at 10:04 PM
It's great that Birmingham owners want to build a modern stadium to match the size of their ambitions for the club. City should be huge.
But it's a shame it looks like an upturned coffee table or a beetle that's stuck on its back.
But it's a shame it looks like an upturned coffee table or a beetle that's stuck on its back.