The Life and Times of Butler Blue II

The Indianapolis Monthly Interview - Uncut

2010-08-08T17:47:00.009-04:00

The July 2010 issue of Indianapolis Monthly will forever be special to me as it was their annual pet guide edition and yours truly graced the cover.

Included in the magazine was Q&A that I did with Indianapolis Monthly and while I received a lot of compliments regarding my answers, what was printed was just a snipet of the actual interview. So, for your reading pleasure, here is the Q&A in its entirety...

IM: As the Butler mascot, what are your "job responsibilities"? And, are you compensated?

BB2: At the core of my “job responsibilities” is to truly be an ambassador for Butler University. I’ve found that if I stick to that, then the rest seems to take care of itself. Of course, you can find me at university sporting events, performances, dinners, receptions, admissions events, etc. You name it, I’ve probably done it. I’m also a bit of a spokesdoggy too, having done numerous media appearances and a great deal of community relations work.

As for compensation, well, I guess I’m well cared for and I have some great sponsors that fulfill almost my every need. So I’m compensated well from that standpoint. I haven’t, however, ever seen any actual dollars. I’m considering a change in personal agents and a revised contract.

IM: What training is required for you to do your job?

BB2: I took six, count them, six total “puppy obedience classes.” That’s it. I had a good teacher and learned a lot, but let’s tell it like it is here…I set foot on Butler’s campus before my parents even took me home. This is all I know. My dad taught me right from wrong, my mom taught me some awesome tricks, and Brad Stevens taught me the Butler Way. I may not be sniffing out bombs in airports or keeping the blind from walking out in traffic, but I like to think I do pretty well for myself.

IM: In addition to being present at basketball games, what other sporting events do you attend?

BB2: I tend to work all of the home men’s basketball games and football games. After that I get to the majority of home volleyball and women’s basketball contests as well. From there I try to get to at least one of each of the other team’s events during the year. That’s easier said than done, however and doesn’t always happen. My goal for 2010-11 is to make it to every sports’ senior day contests and to appear in all of the Butler team photos.

IM: Do you make appearances, such as giving autographs (paw-tographs?), photo with fans, on TV commercials, etc.?

BB2: I make countless appearances these days. I’ve always done appearances, especially as it relates to the university, but I’ve done my share of community appearances in my six years as well. However, since the NCAA Final Four, I probably get an appearance request on a daily basis. Everything from being a part of a student presentation, to serving as the grand marshal of parades, to book fairs, to private parties; you name it and chances are I’m being requested for it.
I get autographs on a daily basis too. The whole paw in ink thing doesn’t really work and is incredibly messy, so don’t ask for a “paw-tograph.” Not happening unless you’re really, really important. I’m happy to sign headshots and pictures, however, and I’m getting regular request for that as well.

Posing for photos with fans is probably my most requested activity. Anytime I’m out in public, it’s inevitable. I’m usually happy to do it, but sometimes I’m on the move and I don’t have time. I think it’s pretty cool that people would want to kneel down and get their picture with me. At the Final Four it wasn’t just fans making the requests either, I had everyone from CBS executives, members of the media and security folks asking as well! And when I got back on campus after those big games, it was funny how the student interest in photos picked up too!

I think the only TV commercials I’ve been on are Butler basketball promos for season tickets and for our games on MyNDY. But, I will say that I am available and affordable, so for those companies that want to align themselves with the Butler brand and have a really handsome spokesdoggy, then now is the time to get in on the ground floor while I'm still cheap!

IM: Any funny stories from your experiences as a mascot? Have you ever failed to give a high-five or run to the end of the court and get the bone? Any accidents on the court?

BB2: I’ve had my share of funny moments during my career. Like the time that I chewed up a Michigan State Spartan hat almost on cue on live national television while shooting for the CBS Early Morning Show. But, the funniest moment probably had to be when I accidentally (on purpose) tripped my two-legged mascot counterpart, Hink, as we ran the football team out onto the field. It’s tradition that Hink and I run the guys out onto the pitch before each home game. Normally the cheerleaders go first with their flags, then me, then Hink, followed by the team. Well, Hink took off at virtually the same time I did and well, I thought I’d have a little fun with that. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to run right under Hink’s feet and watch him tumble. You see, Hink’s line of sight is all of a matter of inches so he never saw it coming. Down Hink went and sometimes I was able to scramble loose and keep going. Don’t worry, Hink didn’t get trampled by the football team or anything. His pride may have been hurt, but there were no hard feelings; just a collective gasp from the crowd followed by lots of laughs. Thankfully my mom caught it all on her iPhone. Priceless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL2Yn1x3RI0

IM: What are your favorite activities outside of your life at Butler?

BB2: I suppose I’m just a normal pet or dog outside of Butler. I love the outdoors and tend to think that I’m an farm dog. I love helping around the yard. I also enjoy going to visit both sets of my grandparents where I get to ride the four-wheeler and tractor, go boating, go to the hardware store, and of course, sleep.

IM: Favorite treat?

BB2: Ice cream. No question. Don’t get me wrong, I like all of the favorites such as peanut butter, cheese, filet mignon, etc., but ice cream is all the rage. Always has been, always will be.

IM: Favorite toy?

BB2: That depends on how you define “toy.” I have this thing called a Tail Wagon which is made by Burley. It looks like one of those nylon chariots you see kids being hauled around in, behind bikes on the Monon Trail. Anyway, I have one of those and it might be my most favorite toy/contraption that I’ve ever had. Ever. Outside of my tail wagon, I’m a huge fan of small latex chew toys, teddy bears and basketballs.

IM: And finally, please describe your experience at the NCAA Final Four. Were you at all nervous about being surrounded by 70,000 screaming fans?

BB2: My experience at the NCAA Final Four was incredible. That’s the best way that I can explain. There really are not words that exist that allow me to really describe the magnitude of that experience. It made me the most popular dog in America and it made Butler a household name. While Coach Stevens and the men’s basketball team were the focus of the Final Four, I like to think I played the role of best supporting actor. It was the best experience of my life so far and I certainly hope to do it again someday.

I wasn’t nervous to be in front of 70,000 fans. I think that was evident to anyone that was there or whom was watching at home. I live for this sort of thing after all. However, I will say that I did feed of the energy that was in Lucas Oil Stadium during those two games. There was so much positive directed toward Butler…the kind that makes your hair (or fur) stand up on end. I felt it as soon as we would enter the stadium each day…it swelled my broad chest with pride, perched my ears forward, heightened my tail-end, and gave me a strut that would make George Jefferson blush.

I will say that tend to carry and internalize the collective hopes and energy of the Butler nation. That may sound weird, but I’m a perceptive dog and I know what’s up. I knew what was at stake in Lucas Oil Stadium and I also knew what it meant when my pal Gordon Hayward’s shot didn’t go in at the buzzer. I, like the Butler faithful, was crushed. My dad tried to get a rise out of me moments after the championship game. Usually I’m the one doing the consoling, but this time I could sense the pain, anguish, sorrow and disappointment that saturated the heart. I was stone cold. I wanted that championship. I wanted to be top dawg. After sleeping that night I awoke that Tuesday morning still wishing that the outcome would have been different. I continued to contemplate on it. I even went to the pep rally at Hinkle Fieldhouse later that day. By the time I went to sleep that evening, I realized that I was top dawg after all. The score didn’t matter, Butler has already proved its worth. I’d still like to have that trophy, don’t get me wrong, but I think we may have taken home so much more. There’s never been a better time to be a Butler Bulldog, let alone THE Butler Bulldog.

The Mascots Behind the Mascot

2010-07-29T09:17:00.011-04:00

During my six years of service as official mascot for Butler University, there have always been a few mascots behind the mascot. And no, I’m not talking about Hink and all of those other human-in-suit varieties running around Hinkle Fieldhouse on “Mascot Day.”

I’m talking a couple of feline counterparts that claim campus shrubbery as home and taunt me with kitty kibble, lightning quick reflexes and strange scents.

Yep, it’s true; when I’m not on campus at night, there are a couple of cats that seem to watch over the place for me. So, I consider them pseudo-mascots, if you will. They are certainly less visible and sociable than yours truly, but they’re holding it down at 46^th and Sunset nonetheless.

If you exit Jordan Hall toward the north, turn right, and walk due east to a point that intersects with a point coming from the other way if you were to walk west out of Irwin Library, turn right and head directly north; then you've found the natural cat campus habitat. That probably doesn’t make any sense, but suffice to say at the northeast corner of the mall, there is a corner of shrubbery, pine trees and grasses that have made for nice landscaping and a feral kitty cat safe-haven.

Look a little closer into the deep line of bushes and you’ll see a bowl or two, often spilling over with cat food kibble and other remnants of kitting living. Rarely do I look in and see a cat, but I have spotted at least two of them; an all black cat and a black and white cat. There may be more, but reports are unconfirmed at this time.

Typically, when they see me, they scram and my pops says that I’m typically not awake enough on my way into work to even catch that. So a cat sighting for me is rare, but I know that they are there. I like to stop by that spot on my slow walk into work each morning to give it a good sniff and leg-raise. (Sorry kitties, this is still my turf!)

I’ve also been known to try and drag pops on into the bushes to score some cat food, but I’ve never quite made it in that far. I wonder what that stuff tastes like. Probably not as good as my Holistic Select brand food, but I’ve always wanted to try it.

So why am I bringing this up now? Well, as I happened to get to campus early this morning (just after 7 AM) I finally spotted the lady that keeps these cats fed. I saw her from afar, but she was nobody that I recognized and she had a tan mini-van with nothing “Butler” on it whatsoever.

Here all of this time I just assumed that the grounds crew or one of my cat-loving colleagues were doing the honors of filling those bowls with foods, but what I found out this morning was that it was a complete stranger. ..and that makes this story really strange.

I think it’s nice that the lady is keeping these cats alive and somewhat well and it gives me hope that someday if I ever found myself in a similar situation that I could live in the bushes around Butler and someone would come by every now and again to keep me fed. But really, who exactly comes to a college campus at seven in the morning to feed a couple of feral cats in the bushes?

I know it’s been going on for a while as I’ve seen the food in the bowls, that are in the bushes, but what also reaffirmed it was watching the cats (who had no idea I was up and on campus at that hour) come scurrying over to their “home bush” to meet the lady and their precious kibble. Like a couple of Pavlov’s dogs, those cats came running at the sight and sound of that lady and her van.

Oh well, it’s doing me no harm and like I said, those cats watch the place for me at night so I’m not going to complain. Plus the cats and their natural habitat are a nice distraction for me on my way in to work each morning. And, not to mention, I’m living the good life and I think all animals should be so lucky…let them have their delivery kitty food every now and again.

So, the story of the campus kitties will live on as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a little Butler lore that I wanted to share with all of you. Now, about those squirrels always taunting me from the trees and sidewalks…they’ve got another thing coming!

Go Dawgs…and maybe even cats too!

Blue II

Gordon Hayward: A Jazzy Bulldog

2010-07-21T21:10:00.009-04:00

So Butler Bulldog Gordon Hayward got himself a new gig last month when he was selected ninth in the NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. There were fist pumps and cheers of joy at the Kaltenmark house when NBA Commissioner David Stern made the announcement. And ever since, people have been asking me what I think about it all.

While I hate to see a kid cut short his one chance to be, well, a kid, I am quite happy for him. If only we could all be so fortunate to have such an incredible opportunity to follow our dream, do what we love, and get paid handsomely for it.

You see, I’m long over the sadness of Gordon’s decision to leave Butler early to pursue a career in the pros. Sure, I would’ve loved to have him give me a pat on the head when introduced at every home game for the next two years, but that’s not going to pay him $2 million a year either.

So to see Gordon represent Butler on a National stage like the NBA draft, get selected ninth overall and go to a fine organization like the Utah Jazz, well, that just makes my big bulldog chest swell a bit more. And I just couldn’t be happier for the kid given the circumstances, I mean, just think about it…

-The Utah Jazz are a successful organization. They win basketball games and a lot of them too. They regularly make the playoffs and win many of those games as well. From the front office to the end of the bench, they have winners.

-The Utah Jazz have room for a player like Gordon which means there’s a good chance he’ll get to play sooner rather than later. Not only that, but Gordon may have the opportunity to be a real impact player for the team.

-The Utah Jazz wanted Gordon...they recognize his game, the understand his abilities, they see his huge potential, and they believe they can help him overcome any weaknesses.

-The Utah Jazz have University of Evansville standout and graduate, Jerry Sloan as their coach. Not only does he have Indiana connections, but he’s also has the longest standing tenure as a head coach in major professional sports.

-The Utah Jazz play in EnergySolutions Arena. Gordon has played their twice. He defeated Syracuse and Kansas State in the NCAA West Regional Semi-Finals and Finals. He’s yet to lose a game there.

-And last, but not least, the Utah Jazz fans make humorous YouTube videos in his honor as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laBPh2gncgY

The list goes on and on, but I think all Butler Bulldogs can rejoice in the fact that Gordon Hayward will now be a Jazzy Bulldog. So go get your Utah Jazz/Hayward apparel and be prepared to actually follow the NBA this season.

Congrats to Gordon and may have a safe and blessed professional career. I know he’ll make Butler very proud.

Speaking of pride, how about that cover of the July 2010 Indianapolis Monthly? That’s one good-looking dog!

Well, that’s about the only insights I have for you these days. I’m still making plenty of appearances and booking requests. From pet parades, to summer camps, nursing homes, and media announcements, you name it, I’m doing it. I don’t mind…it’s good to get out and see the people and its good job security too.

Big projects of late…my children’s book, my 2011 calendar, and the 10th annual Bulldog Beauty Contest on Oct. 23rd.

Go Dawgs and Go Jazz!

Blue II

Cover Dog

2010-07-06T22:19:00.007-04:00

How about the cover of that July 2010 issue of Indianapolis Monthly? Pretty handsome fella on there if I do say so myself!

I’m honored to have both the cover of the Indianapolis Monthly and the new PETBOOK Magazine for July. I don’t know if it’s as much about me as it is a sign of Butler’s success and popularity these days. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s never been a better time to be a Bulldog!

You’ve probably already seen the latest Indianapolis Monthly in your mail box or in the checkout aisle at the supermarket, but I still wanted to post it on my blog for all of those non-Indy readers.

Here’s a link to the article and some photos from the photo shoot that I participated in: https://bumail.butler.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=fae6e65027384fa78b6069ee59236ad8&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.indianapolismonthly.com%2fblue-the-butler-bulldog-photogallery.aspx

The photos are fantastic!

Unfortunately, they didn’t have room to submit the entire Q&A and I had some pretty sweet answers to their questions. So, I’m thinking that I’ll post the entire Q&A on this blog in August after the July issue is off the store shelves. That is of course, if the fine folks at Indianapolis Monthly allow me to do so.

Also, if you find a PETBOOK magazine at a local vet office or pet store, take a look at the photos in that piece as well. Those were also great and shot by Red Hydrant Pet Photography. You can see some of those here: http://www.redhydrantphotography.com/

Okay, that’s it from me for now. Short and sweet. After all, I’ve got a kiddie pool calling my name…gotta beat the heat…doctor’s orders! Okay, not really, but it is effective and fun!

Next entry I’ll share my perspective on Gordon Hayward’s recent job offer from the NBA’s Utah Jazz. Until then, stay cool!

Blue II

Ain't No TIME for the Summertime Blues

2010-06-10T10:05:00.007-04:00

I’m about as good as updating my blog lately as my dad is at golf, which by the way is terrible. My apologies, but what can I say, I’m busier than a lot of humans I know!

Speaking of being busy, that’s exactly what I’ve been. I thought that once the Final Four ended things would settle down. They didn’t. If you’re following me on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2, and I have no idea why you wouldn’t be, then you know that life since the Final Four has been so much more than it was before the Final Four. And, I wouldn’t say I was just taking it easy before the Final Four either.

I think there’s another guy (no, not my dad) who’s feeling the same pain and that’s Butler’s men’s basketball coach, Brad Stevens. You may know him as John Wooden, Jr. Yeah, he’s in high demand these days too. So much so that he hired IMG Worldwide to handle his PR, marketing and appearances. Nice. Now, can I get in on that?

If you’ve missed all of this, then you’ve been living under a rock or watching too much of the NBA Finals. Don’t watch that stuff, it’s where fundamentals go to die. However, in the future you are allowed to watch games that Gordon Hayward plays in.

At any rate, I think ESPN’s Diamond Leung summed it up perfectly in his short “Brad Stevens is Very Marketable” entry on June 4th. Of course he got it right, he mentioned me in the piece! Anyway, here’s what he had to say:

Butler coach Brad Stevens at least on the surface doesn't give off the vibe of a guy who says things like, "Have your people call my people."

But indeed Stevens does have "people" now, as IMG Worldwide announced Friday that Stevens had hired the powerhouse agency to manage his business affairs, including licensing, literary, speaking, broadcasting and marketing representation.

Fresh off a national title game appearance, Stevens is everywhere now, most recently literally being placed on a pedestal to wave the green flag at Indianapolis 500 festivities.

On its website, IMG lists college coaching clients such as Cal's Mike Montgomery and Villanova's Jay Wright, but might it also consider extending its influence into mascots?

Butler Blue II, after all, wants the agency's representation as well.

Yes, it’s true, I wouldn’t mind some representation of my own, but I don’t see that happening. So I’ll just keep my bootleg Ari Gold, AKA my dad, and pick up Brad Stevens’ scraps.

Speaking of which, catch me on Sunday, June 20 as the grand marshal of the 2010 Zionsville Pet Parade! Big headlines in the Indy Star the other day; read all about it: http://www.indystar.com/article/20100608/LOCAL0202/6080391/1001/NEWS

I’m also going to be in the Wabash Animal Shelter’s “Pet on Parade” in Wabash, Ind. on Saturday, June 19th as well. I’m staying with my grandparents next week in Wabash while my parents take a well-deserved “babymoon.” So my grandpa, a Wabash Co. Commissioner, proudly booked his granddog (read: me) as a celebrity dog in the local pet parade. I’m happy to oblige.

Oh, and on June 20th at 11:30 a.m., look for my new Holsitic Select pet food commercial on Pet Pals TV which airs on WTHR NBC Ch. 13.

Otherwise, just try and keep up on Twitter. I’ve got plenty more appearances sprinkled in and around this stuff so it should be fun.

And when I’m not appearing in public rest assured that I’m working on a few special projects including my 2011 calendar and a new Blue II children’s book. It truly is the dog days of summer for yours truly!

Extending my 15 minutes,

Blue II

Working like a Dog; Loyal like a Dog

2010-05-03T12:42:00.011-04:00

Given my schedule during the Final Four, it's pretty safe to say that I was one of the most sought after Butler figures during the that week. It's like I've said before, if Brad Stevens and the players were recognized for their efforts as the leading role, then I should receive the honor of best supporting actor.

I had so much fun doing so many media and community appearances that week. It was certainly a first in a lifetime experience for me. And, if you've kept up with my life on Twitter, then you know that the fun has yet to end as I continue to get several requests from both the Butler community and the community at-large for additional appearances.

People have been asking me just how many media interviews and appearances I did during the Final Four and since. So, my pops and I sat down and took a tally. To give you an idea of just how much I was "in demand" during the Final Four run, here's a bit of info for you to chew on...

Between March 27 and April 5 (10 days), I participated in approx. 30 local radio, tv and print interviews. These included several interviews with the Indianapolis Star, an interview with Pet Pals TV, multiple interviews with the local TV affiliates, and a good dose of the local FM and AM radio stations.

Regionally, I granted at least two interviews with newspapers from Pittsburgh and Detroit and I think I did more than that, I just can't remember them all.

Nationally, I was interviewed by Yahoo Sports, the Bob and Tom Show (clip below), CBS Sports, the CBS Early Show, Sports Illustrated.com and the Associated Press. Thanks to the AP love, my mug appeared in national print including the USA Today, New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Indianapolis Business Journal and the NCAA Tournament Commemorative piece created by the USA Today.

Now since that March 27th date, I've been busy with more than just the aforementioned media tour. Since that day I've also completed, or have scheduled myself to appear at approximately 35 community events, including grand marshal of a pet parade in Zionsville, Ind., host of the American Cancer Society’s Bark for Life in Carmel, Ind., and two Indiana Pacers games. Not to mention, there are approximately 20 additional appearance requests sitting on my dad's desk that we've still yet to deal with!

Since the Final Four I've also done an interview for Indianapolis Monthly and their pet issue which will come out later in the year. And, I did another interview with Pet Pals TV where they came to my house, MTV Cribs style, and I did an interview with PETBOOK of Indianapolis as well.

If if that wasn't enough, the noteriety has allowed me to close another sponsorship deal (Good Dog Hotel & Spa) and have led to talks with a couple of other potential sponsors and partners. I've got another sponsor announcement coming soon!

Plus, you dog and bulldog owners will be happy to know that I'm working with another partner to not just make more Butler licensed dog accessories available to the general public, but I'm also investigating my own line of bulldog and large dog breed clothing as well.

But wait, there's more! Discussions for the Blue II 2011 Calendar have begun! The goal is to have it available and for sale in August 2010.

So the Final Four has made me a household name and business is certainly booming. I'm a very blessed bulldog. But that's not the moral of the story here. No, the moral is to stick to the guiding principles that got me, us, to this point; The Butler Way.

In other words, I'm trying not to let all of this go to my head and neither should any of us Butler Bulldogs. The success has been great and we should certainly celebrate and enjoy it. But along with all of this comes the perfect opportunity to show the world exactly what it is that got us here.

The Butler Way demands commitment, denies selfishness, accepts reality yet seeks improvement everyday while putting the team above self.

That basically means that there's no resting on accolades, so we might as well "ctrl+alt+del" our lives in the wake of our Final Four success and get focused on being the Butler Bulldogs we always were.

That's not to say we shouldn't acknowledge the extra feather in our cap and all that comes with it, but at the same time, we have a new task at hand...a new task that requires the old instructions.

So look for more of me working like a dog in the weeks and months to come. It's my hope that you'll see me being loyal like a dog to the Butler Way.

Yep, when you see me out working, I hope you see the same Blue II that you knew before I ever set paw on the court at Lucas Oil Stadium or wagged my tongue on national TV. True Blue.

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

A Clean Dog is a Happy Dog

2010-04-28T22:17:00.003-04:00

It's true, a clean dog certainly is a happy dog and thanks to my pals at Good Dog Hotel & Spa in Broad Ripple, I will be both clean and happy for a long time to come!

Of course, I've been those things for a long time, but now I've got the sponsorship support to make my cleanliness that much easier to come by as I'm pleased to announce that Good Dog Hotel & Spa is now the exclusive and official groomer for Butler Blue II (that's me!).

During all of that March Madness stuff I got a call from Jen Funk, a fellow Butler grad who worked at Good Dog Hotel & Spa and wanted to recognize Butler's advancement to the Final Four. To commerate the occasion, she was planning a "Bulldog Party" and was offering a discount to all bulldogs (four legs) in the neighborhood that wanted to get cleaned up for the big game.

Of course, she invited me to attend as an appearance fee, she granted a full-service grooming. You may remember the occasion being televised by many of the local TV stations and featured in print thanks to The Indianapolis Star. (http://photos.indystar.com/galleries/9232-blue-ii-spa-and-party)

I still have people telling me they loved watching my spa treatment and frankly, I loved it so much that I wanted to come back for more. So the kind folks at Good Dog Hotel & Spa were happy to oblige and now I get to come back whenever I want! To know me, is to know clean and happy from now on!

In case you missed out on the excitement of the aforementioned Bulldog Party, Good Dog Hotel has PHOTOS and VIDEO on their website (www.gooddoghotel.com) for viewing. Be sure to check it all out!

I'm looking forward to partnering with Good Dog Hotel & Spa on may projects and special events in the future. They are good bunch over there and I'm happy to add them to my sponsor lineup which includes...

Woodland Animal Hospital (Dr. Kurt Phillips)
WellPet & Holistic Select
City Dogs Grocery (Susan Smith)
VCA Animal Hospitals (Dr. Deb Rowley)
Good Dog Hotel & Spa

Many thanks to Good Dog Hotel & Spa, owner Matt Kurtz, my contact Jen Funk, and all of the great people there. Here's to a great partnership!

Now get your dog to Good Dog!

Blue II

P.S. Don't forget to follow Good Dog Hotel & Spa on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/gooddogindy and look for them on Facebook too!

P.S.S. I've got another partnership to announce very soon and there's potential for even more on the horizon! Stay tuned!

Party for Dogs (and Humans) in Celebration of Butler Basketball

2010-04-07T22:16:00.004-04:00

I hope to have a press release ready in the morning, but for now, here's what you need to know...

Butler Blue II & City Dogs Grocery to Host Season-Ending Celebration…All Bulldogs, Wannabe Bulldogs and their owners are invited!

WHAT: Butler Univ. live English Bulldog mascot, Blue II, and partners City Dogs Grocery and WellPet (Eagle Pack Pet Food/Holistic Select), in conjunction with Indianapolis’ College Ave. Merchants, are hosting a party in celebration of the Butler University men’s basketball team and their phenomenal 2009-10 season which concluded this past Monday in the NCAA championship game.

WHEN: Saturday, April 10, 2010 – Noon and through the afternoon.

WHERE: City Dogs Grocery, located at 52nd Street and College Ave.

WHAT ELSE: All dogs will go home with a gift bag while dog owners will have the opportunity to take advantage of great savings, receive coupons, win prizes, and gift certificates to City Dogs Grocery and other College Ave. Merchants such as…

Aristocrat Restaurant (running a lunch special on “Bleu Burgers!)
Circle City Pizza
Fresh Market Grocery
Habig
Indie Bike
Recess Restaurant
Red Key Tavern
Sparkle Cleaners
Taste
Yats
…and more!

THERE’S MORE: Proceeds from a percentage of sales will benefit the Bulldog Rescue of Indiana. In addition, the Bulldog Rescue of Indiana will have a female bulldog onsite and available for adoption. A local bulldog breeder will also have two five-week-old pups on site which will be available for adoption and able to join a new family in just three weeks.

WHY: We’re excited about the Butler basketball success and even more excited to bring the community together in celebration, support the Bulldog Rescue of Indiana, and pass along some great savings and prizes. So bring your dog and join us this Saturday!

When a Moral Victory Becomes the Greatest Victory

2010-04-07T13:36:00.007-04:00

I don’t know about you, but I’m still hung-over from the week that I just had and that NCAA National Championship game. It was the best week I’ve ever had and the worst week that I ever had.

You can’t have joy without sorrow/pain (a wise soul told me that). So be it, but it’s how you handle it that determines your character, your legacy. Butler University head coach Brad Stevens and our magnificent men’s basketball team taught us that, if nothing else, over the past few days.

But before I get ahead of myself with all of that deep reflection let me just speak briefly about the week itself and the schedule I kept. I cannot even begin to exhaustively list all of my experiences and media appearances. Just know that they were extensive and plentiful, highlighted by…

-Sitting on the court following the Butler/MSU semi-final, just owning it, while CBS concluded its coverage of that game. (see: www.flickr.com/butlerblue2)

-Sitting on the lap of CBS Sports analyst, Seth Davis, during their semi-final pre-game coverage alongside Greg Gumbel and Greg Anthony. (see: www.flickr.com/butlerblue2)

-Appearing on the Bob & Tom Show and licking the Miller High Life guy’s face.

-Meeting Peyton Manning at the National Championship game. (see: www.flickr.com/butlerblue2)

-Having my mug in The Indianapolis Star, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal, among countless other newspapers, all in one day.

-Tearing up a Michigan State Spartans hat on the CBS Early Show.

-Appearing in CBS’ “One Shining Moment” following the National Championship game.

-Being on the court during player introductions for both the semi-final and championship games; just like back at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

-My spa treatment at Good Dog Hotel & Spa in Broad Ripple.

-Staying at a hotel.

-A police escort.

-Watching members of the media act like normal fans while waiting in line to get their picture taken with me. (see: www.flickr.com/butlerblue2)

-Representing Butler on the biggest stage ever in the school’s 155-year history. I will always be THE Bulldog to have represented Butler in its first-ever Final Four and National Championship game.

There was just so much more than the baker’s dozen listed above which reminds me, if you aren’t following me on Twitter or at least checking in on my Twitter feed on a daily basis, you’re missing out! You can find that here: www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2.

What is amazing is that before the NCAA Tournament started I probably had a little over 1,000 Twitter followers. Today I have north of 1,700!

You might also want to check out my Flickr photostream at www.Flickr.com/ButlerBlue2 which chronicles my adventures from the week or so. The interesting fact there is that my Flickr photostream has garnered more than 9,000 views on each of the last two days. Staggering.

But it’s not all about me, no, credit goes to the men’s basketball team and their coaching staff for making it all possible. Without them, I’m just another English Bulldog who happens to be a mascot. Today, I’m Butler Blue II, the cute bulldog mascot of Butler University.

My face and my name aren’t just recognized these days, but they are now synonymous with “Butler University.” That was always the goal, but America finally got the message loud and clear over the last few days. Coach Stevens, his staff, and his team delivered that message. Thank you, gentlemen!

You know, I’m just a dog, but again, I was heart-broken over that loss. With around 13 seconds to go, I thought victory was ours. My Bulldogs had found a way to win all season. I had no reason to believe that they wouldn’t this time either.

When Gordon Hayward’s last shot didn’t go in, I was whisked off of the court and taken behind the scenes and out of harms way. My dad tried to get a rise out of me. I wasn’t talking. I was tired, I was hurt, and I was mad. As a dog, I felt the collective hopes, dreams, and positive energy being sucked out of Lucas Oil Stadium faster than a Shelvin Mack scoring run.

As my dad described it to Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated, I was “stone cold.”

I’m a dog and most things just roll right off my back. There’s not much a treat and a new toy won’t fix, but this one stung.

My biggest question at that moment, “What am I supposed to learn from this?” I mean, I already knew that life wasn’t fair, but this just seemed offensive.

So in the last 24-48 hours I’ve been looking for answers. I realize they all won’t come immediately, but there is something that is becoming very clear as I remove the layers of Butler insulation and begin seeing the world through fresh canine eyes.

In my doggy wisdom, it's becoming evident to me that in the championship game, Duke won the contest to score as many points as possible in 40 minutes. They got a nice trophy for that. But it was Butler that actually won the overall affair.

I mean, the President of the United States of America never calls the losing team and nor does the losing coach get interviews on the Late Show with David Letterman. Those things just don’t happen.

Outside of a small pocket of folks in North Carolina and the Duke alumni across the world, I don’t think anyone else even cares that Duke won that game. The media coverage since the final buzzer sounded confirms that notion.

I almost feel kind of bad for Duke, but not really. Congrats to those guys. That’s a great program, with great talent and they certainly earned the title, but I guess I’m not sorry that they never got the spotlight that is typically reserved for champions. No, that light is shining bright on Butler’s campus these days.

Watch out, I’m going to get real metaphoric on you now, but, I think that beam shining on campus is merely a reflection of the light our team used to illuminate the sort of ideals and actions we’ve come to know as “The Butler Way.”

Gordon Hayward’s last-second half-court shot didn’t need to go in for our team and our university to be considered champions. By that point, that goal had already been accomplished and it almost had nothing to do with basketball at that time.

When there were just about 13 seconds to go in the game, I really did think victory was ours. Little did I know, it already was.

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

One More Lesson for the Final Four

2010-03-28T20:47:00.013-04:00

So since my last post, I turned six years old, had the best birthday ever, earned a berth to the Final Four, made some television appearances, got my mug featured in The Indianapolis Star, etc., etc., etc.

It's all been overwhelming, surreal, hectic and most of all, FUN!

As you know by now the Butler University Bulldogs men's basketball team has won the West Regional Bracket of the NCAA Tournament and has boldly gone where no Butler Bulldogs have every gone before...The Final Four!

And if that wasn't enough, this year's Final Four is being held in our back yard; Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium!

Look, it's almost a fairy tale story...the only thing left is two more victories for it to include a fairy tale ending. And while I stated in The Indianapolis Star that my only birthday wish was to earn a berth to the Final Four, what I failed to mention that for each of my years on this earth, I wanted an NCAA tournament victory. Four down; two to go.

You don't need me to recite the story lines. Just a basic Google news search will yield a plethora of articles on journey back home to Indianapolis and what may lie ahead.

But when it comes to all of this stuff and me, well, I'm probably in a similar place as you...I'm looking for my way into Lucas Oil Stadium for Butler's matchup between the Michigan State Spartans at 6 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 3, 2010.

You see, it's been my understanding that the NCAA does not allow live mascots in tournament sites. Thus the reason I did not make the trek to San Jose, Calif, or Salt Lake City, Utah the past two weeks.

However, now that the Bulldogs have made it to the Final Four and it's in our own backyard, we've got a whole new ballgame! I'm looking for access!

The irony here is, when the NCAA announced that Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium would be the 2010 host of the men's basketball Final Four, they asked host school, Butler University, to attend the press conference inside Lucas Oil Stadium and bring the cheerleaders and yours truly along for photo-opportunities.

So as far as being allowed inside Lucas Oil Stadium is concerned; been there done that. So in my opinion, it's now up to the NCAA to find it in their hearts to literally open doors for me.

Moreover, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing Georgetown's bulldog, Jack, at the Final Four a few years ago.

Thankfully, I've got the Butler Nation on my side so I think the message will be delivered loud and clear. I've got university staff working on my behalf, but without solicitation, my good friend and Butler beat writer for The Indianapolis Star, David Woods, included it in his blog submission on Sunday.

You can read David's thoughts on the matter here: http://blogs.indystar.com/butler/2010/03/ncaa_blog_17_let_blue_ii_appea.html.

I think David sums up well when he wrote, "What would it hurt if players pet Blue during introductions, and then Blue went charging across the floor to get his giant bone? That's good TV, folks." Thanks David!

So here's to hoping I find my way into the stadium for the game on Saturday.

As for ticket info, events, merchandise, make sure you follow me, my pal Hink, and Butler University on Twitter this week at the following locations:

www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2

www.Twitter.com/HinkTheBUDog

www.Twitter.com/ButlerU

It would also be in your best interest to checkout www.butlersports.com and www.butler.edu/alumni.

I've got tons of birthday stuff to share, but I'll save that for later...forgive me if I don't even get to it until next week, although I'll try put up a birthday re-cap this week.

What is more important right now is living in the moment. I hope all of our Bulldog alumni, students, faculty, staff, fans and even our newest members to the "Bulldog Nation" will show their patience, passion, and presence this week.

After reading back through my recent post which shared "What I've Learned" over the past six year's, I realized that left out an important lesson I learned recently from the likes of The Avett Brothers; a folk-rock type band that my pops listens to all the time.

The Avett Brother's song, "Murder in the City" ends with the lyric, "Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name."

In this case, that shared name is "Butler" and that love is "Butler love." It's running rampant these days and it's something that all of us Bulldogs should revel in.

A Final Four berth is precious, even for the most dominant of basketball programs, so enjoy every bit of the experience.

There truly has never been a better time to be a Butler Bulldog and fortunately for me, there's never been a better time to be THE Butler Bulldog. And as we get into the thick of the hoopla that comes along with appearing in the Final Four in your own hometown, just "remember there is nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name;" the Butler name.

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

Butler Blue II: What I've Learned

2010-03-24T09:22:00.008-04:00

You ever pick up an Esquire Magazine and read the “What I’ve Learned” piece each month? The section typically focuses on a famous person and basically captures their life lessons, in their own words, on one page, and often with some sort of poignant/introspective photograph.

One of the best “What I’ve Learned” editions of all time belongs to legendary basketball coach and fellow Hoosier, John Wooden. You can read that here: http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/learned-john-wood-0200?src=nl&mag=esq&list=nl_enl_spt_cel_032310_john-wood&kw=ist

“What I’ve Learned” is so popular that Esquire devotes one whole issue a year to feature, in addition to what appears every month. It’s the first thing my dad turns to when his monthly subscription to Esquire Magazine arrives in the mail. He likes people, he likes the spoken work, he likes the printed word; “What I’ve Learned” is right up his alley.

So, for my sixth birthday I thought it was as good of time as any to debut a “What I’ve Learned” of my own. After all, I’m like 42 in dog-years and given that the average lifespan for an English Bulldog is 8-10 years, well, I’m getting up there! It’s time to share, “What I’ve Learned.”

(Birthday information follows below.)

Butler Blue II: What I’ve Learned

Mascot, 6, Indianapolis

The infamous Butler University mascot, now six years-old, on being a dog, The Butler Way, and Blue III.

Cliché, or cheesy, that’s how some people describe “The Butler Way.” That’s fine, but the core of its message you just can’t get sneeze at…especially in today’s society.

The Butler Way...demands commitment, denies selfishness,accepts reality, yet seeks improvement everydaywhile putting the team above self.

You ever hear the saying, “God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason?” Yeah, same here, only I can’t articulate with that mouth. My intuition is second-to-none and ohhhhh, if this dog could talk!

My mind is like a steal trap. I never forget.

When people make over me and really get down on my level for a good scratching, it’s really therapy for them. They’ll say that it’s all about me and giving me the attention I deserve, and there’s some truth to that, but those are the people that truly find my presence therapeutic as well.

I’m not for everyone. I get that. Some people just aren’t “dog people.” And frankly, some people aren’t for me.

“Dog people” are some of the most compassionate people that walk the earth.

Butler has not always had an official live mascot. They’re getting better at it all the time. I’m constantly training them. The question remains, how will they honor me when I’m gone?

The power of sleep can never be underestimated.

George Clinton once said, “…nuthin’ but the dog in me.” He must have been a dog in a previous life. He knows.

The entire Butler family will forever be indebted to the university’s current president, Dr. Bobby Fong. Love him or hate him, the man has vision, and has been a true leader behind the university’s growth and success.

Bobby Fong will leave Butler better than the way he found it. I hope I’m so fortunate.

I was born for this job. Refer to the saying that “not all bulldogs are created equal” for proof.
I’ve embraced the role of mascot and it has embraced me.

A lot of people and businesses have generously offered their care, goods and services for my well-being. If only I could tell them how much it means to me.

From my behavior and conduct, to my blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I’ve done my best to self-promote, pull my weight, and shine in my own limelight. However, it’s the acceptance of the Butler community and the success of the university that has truly made me the mascot that I am today.

My breeder mentioned something to my dad about Butler Blue III coming on the scene in a few years and suggested I’d make a good trainer/mentor. I suppose I’ll be up for that when the time comes. It’s my duty.

I will embrace death knowing that I lived as full of life as a dog could live and hoping that my legacy takes on the likes of Paul Bunyon or Chuck Norris.

My parents will be a wreck when it’s time for me to meet my maker.

The English Bulldog might be the most misunderstood breed of all time.

The success of the Butler men's basketball team won't last forever. People need to realize just how rare and exceptional all of this is. I'd like to tell our administration, our alumni, our fans , our faculty, our staff, and even our players to take every advantage of it, but that's putting it too lightly. Just look at the likes of UCLA, Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina these days. We're not even half their size either, thus making our situation all that much more precious. Carpe diem, Butler University. Carpe diem.

All ships rise because of our basketball success, even academic programs. Those that can't get behind it are missing opportunities of their own and shared greatness for the university.

Living is running the football team onto the field. Living is running across the basketball court to grab my bone from the Dawg Pound. Living is destroying a basketball in a matter of seconds. Living is riding in my tail wagon. Living is devouring ice cream. Living is being loved and loving right back.

Just when I think I’m calling the shots, my dad reminds me who is the “alpha dog.”

“Bulldogs ever do or die.” Butler Bulldogs of all ages, races and creeds; take heed!

Well, I hope you liked my take at Esquire’s ever-popular “What I’ve Learned.” Hey, Esquire, if you’re reading, feel free to pick this up and run it in your next issue. Might be timely if the Butler Bulldogs make it to the Final Four!

As for my birthday, well, I turn the big six on Saturday, March 27th, but we’re celebrating on campus this Friday, March 26th! http://www.butler.edu/buconnection/staff/?p=19824

The Butler University Student Foundation (BUSF) is inviting the campus community to Starbucks from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. for “Blue II's Birthday Bash!” There will be free cupcakes and treats, photos with yours truly, fun games and prizes. Be sure to stop by and sign my birthday card or you can color your own special message for me!

All students, faculty and staff are invited to come out and show their Butler spirit in celebration of my sixth birthday!

Other than that, get your game-faces on because tomorrow our beloved Butler Bulldogs fifth-seeded men’s basketball team will take on the number one-seeded Syracuse Orange in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, tomorrow (Thursday, March 25th) at 7:07 p.m.

For more information on the game and viewing parties, visit: http://www.butler.edu/alumni/events/athletics/men

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

'My Perfect 10' Special NCAA Edition Playlist for MY107.9FM

2010-03-16T21:19:00.013-04:00

So I was contacted by Scott Roddy and the fine folks at Indianapolis' 107.9 FM (my "one 'O' seven nine") to create a special edition "My Perfect 10, " which is a little something they do for their listners.

You see, they have their listeners create their perfect top-10 playlist, then invite them to the studio to record it and tell the other listners just why it's perfect for them.

Given my role with Butler, the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and the fact that Butler is in said tournament, the station thought it would be a good idea for me to create a special NCAA Tournament edition of "My Perfect 10."

So my dad and I made our way to Indy's Entercom offices and recorded the intros for "My Perfect 10."

You can hear this live, on the air, on Wednesday, March 17th at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday, March 21st at 7 p.m.

But, in case you miss it, I've included "My Perfect 10" and the reasoning behind selecting each song, below...

Blue II’s Special NCAA Tournament Edition “My Perfect 10” Playlist – March 2010

10. “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2

The Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball team has achieved a lot in my tenure and even before my time, including a couple of Sweet 16 appearances, several NCAA tournament bids, some conference championships, and most recently, an undefeated run through the entire conference season! And after all of that, we’re still not satisfied. No, until we take six consecutive wins in the NCAA tournament and bring home a national championship, well, we “still haven’t found what we’re looking for!”

9. “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges

It’s time to select the teams for your NCAA Tournament bracket, and well, “I Wanna Be Your Dog!” Plus, we’ll need all of the positive energy I can get when the Butler Bulldogs are on the court. So whether you’re a Butler grad or not, we’ll gladly adopt you to the litter, and we hope you’ll have us as well.

UPDATE: No. 9 has since changed to "Hound Dog" by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller and most likely performed by Elvis Pressley. The song may revert back to "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges if the station can track down a better quality recording by that time. If not, "Hound Dog" will have to do. And, I suppose it's appropriate given that I am quite the "media hound" this time of year!

8. “Atomic Dog” by George Clinton

“Why must I feel like that? Why must I chase the cat? Nothin’ but the dog in me!” No truer words have ever been spoken, at least in my world. George Clinton knew what he was doing when he wrote this diddy. Heck, Snoop Dogg made a whole career by sampling beats and lyrics from this track. After all these years, it’s still funky and it’s still fresh. So anyway, when someone questions why you picked the Butler Bulldogs to go all the way to the Final Four this year, just tell them, “hey, it’s nothin’ but the dog in me!”

7. “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman Turner Overdrive

“Takin Care of Business,” that’s what us Butler Bulldogs do and have been doing for some time now. In the last 14 years alone in men’s basketball we’ve had twelve 20 win seasons (five consecutive), eight NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet 16 appearances, three NIT appearances, nine regular season Horizon League championships, six conference tournament championships and now, a 20-0 undefeated record in Horizon League play. We start our practices before the sun comes up and win games by night...”we be takin’ care of business every day!”

6. “Hey Bulldog” by The Beatles

Look no further than the title of this song to understand why it made the list. But, I must say, John Lennon’s barking at the end of the song gets a head tilt and hair raise out of me every time.

5. “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baha Men

This is definitely the sorriest excuse for a song on this entire list, but I have to include this song in order to appease those cliché types who come to expect such things. If nothing else, it adds some comedic value to the list. I know I can’t listen to it without laughing…no Baha Men, I’m not laughing with you, I’m laughing AT YOU. Did they ever figure out who let the dogs out, anyway? Maybe they let themselves out, ever think of that?

4. “NCAA Basketball Theme” by CBS

Hear this track and you automatically think of March Madness. If this doesn’t get you in the mood to fill out some brackets, skip work to watch some hoops, and root for the underdog (and/or Bulldogs), then nothing will.

3a. “I Gotta Feelin’” by The Black Eyed Peas

We opened the 2009-10 season with the song and we’re going to bring it to a close with this song as well. We had a lot of “good nights” so far this season and we hope that there are just about six more left in us come NCAA tournament time. If you’re a Bulldog, then you’ve just gotta believe that any night we’re on the court, well, then “tonight’s gonna be a good night!”

*3b. “How You Like Me Now” by The Heavy*

The old man and I like to cruise around town together with this song blaring... windows down, sunroof open, seats tilted back, his Ray Bans on, my tongue hanging out...acting like we’ve got all the answers. But come March, when I hear this song I envision winning a National Title and then looking at all the big schools, the so-called analysts, the know-it-all critics and just saying, “how you like me now?”

2. “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses

Lots of reasons to add this to this, perhaps the biggest reason being you can’t listen to it without getting pumped up. Take the reasoning a little deeper and you’ll find that the Butler Bulldogs aren’t unlike the jungle Axel Rose describes. We may look like cute cuddly Bulldogs, a la a pretty serene jungle, but cage us in the confines of a basketball court (especially Hinkle Fieldhouse) and you’ve got another thing coming. “We’re gonna bring ya to your na-na na-na na-na knees!”

1. “The Butler War Song” performed by The Butler University Marching Band

If you’re a Butler grad, student or fan and you know this one, then start clapping and singing along. Remember, “Bulldogs ever do or die!” So be loud, be proud, and GO DAWGS!

*We changed up No. 3 from “How You Like Me Now” to “I Gotta Feelin;” so that we could go with something a little more mainstream. However, you may recognize “How You Like Me Now” from those clever KIA commercials with the sock monkey, robot, etc. Look it up on YouTube.

Again, “My Perfect 10” will air on Indianapolis’ 107.9 FM at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 and again at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

Also, for more pics and info from my studio visit http://www.my1079online.com/ and click the "GAB" link.

Of course, I had a lot of help with this list which means that a lot of great songs were left off. So, it is my pleasure list all of the other song suggestions that I did not use.

There were some great tracks here, but not ones I decided to select. (In no particular order.)

"True Blue" by Madonna

"Bulldog Skin" by Guided by Voices

“The Best” by Tina Turner

“We are the Champions” by Queen

"Roundball Rock” by John Tesh

"Kick” by INXS

“Me and You and A Dog Named Boo”by Lobo

“Basketball Jones” by Cheech and Chong

“Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog” by Elvis

"One Moment In Time” by Whitney Houston

“Old Blue”by The Byrds

"Let's Dance"by David Bowie

"Lean On Me" by The Club Nouveau Version

"We're Not Gonna take it" by Twisted Sister

"Gonna Have a Party" by Alabama

"Don’t Stop Believin’" by Journey

Lose Yourself" by Eminem

"Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba

“Winning” by Santana

“One of the Survivors” by The Kooks

"Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne" by Jim Stafford

"Let’s Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas

"Jump Around" by House of Pain

"We Will Rock You" by Queen

"Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor

"One Shining Moment" by Luther Vandross

"Take It To The House" by Trick Daddy

"Lose Yourself" by Eminem

"Till I Collapse" by Eminem

"Run This Town" by Jay-Z

"Stronger" by Kanye West

"Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes

"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley

"Big Poppa" by Notorious B.I.G.

"Get Low" by Lil Jon

"Whipping" by Pearl Jam

"1901" by Phoenix

"American Girl" by Tom Petty

"In the Meantime" by Spacehog

"Can't Always Get What You Want" by Rolling Stones

"Can You Hear Me Knocking" by Rolling Stones

"This Time of Year" by Better Than Ezra

"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins

"Remedy" by Black Crowes

"Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band

"Big Pippin'" by Jay Z

“All Night Long”by Lionel Richie

"Theme from Hoosiers" - Artist Unknown

"We Will Rock You" by Queen

"You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive

"R.E.S.P.E.C.T." by Aretha Franklin

"Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited

"The Final Countdown" by Europe

"My Hero" by Foo Fighters

"Learning To Fly" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

"Reach For The Sky" by Social Distortion

"No Excuses" by Alice in Chains

"Like a Stone" by Audioslave

"Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check" by Busta Rhymes

"Sure Shot" by Beastie Boys

"The Distance" by Cake

"Song 2" by Blur

"Go With the Flow" by Queens of the Stone Age

"Amber" by 311

"Oceans" by Pearl Jam

"Angels Of The Silences" by Counting Crows

"So What’cha Want" by Beastie Boys

"Pay For What You Get" by Dave Matthews Band

"What’s Left Of The Flag" by Flogging Molly

"It Was A Good Day" by Ice Cube

"Some Might Say" by Oasis

"Everybody Hurts" by REM

"Road Trippin’" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Don’t Take Me For Granted" by Social Distortion

"Misery" by Soul Asylum

"Somewhere" by Soundgarden

"Big Empty" by Stone Temple Pilots

"6th Avenue Heartache" by The Wallflowers

"Say It Ain’t So" by Weezer

"Pay for What You Get" by Dave Matthews Band

"The Best of What’s Around" by Dave Matthews Band

"Breakout" by Foo Fighters

"The Distance" by CAKE

"Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" Daft Punk

"Heroes" David Bowie

"I Won’t Back Down" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

"Jump Around" by House of Pain

"Miracle" by Foo Fighters

"Times Like These" by Foo Fighters

"You’re the Best" – Joe “Bean” Esposito (Karate Kid theme song)

"TNT" by ACDC

“Young Forever” by Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson

“Human” by The Killers

"Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol

"Had a Bad Day" by Daniel Powter

"Sweet Smell Of Success" by Stranglers

"Never Say Yes" by Elvis Pressley

"Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis

"Winning it All" by The Outfield

"Win in the End" by Mark Safan (Teen Wolf theme song)

"Doggy Dogg World" by Snoop Dogg

"Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen

"Blue" by Eiffel 65

“Diggin’ Up Bones” by Randy Travis

“The Winner Takes All” by Abba

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered”by Stevie Wonder

“Everyone’s a Winner” by Hot Chocolate

“Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen

“Stayin’ Alive” by The Bee Gees

“Dream On” by Aerosmith

"Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf

"Lose Yourself" by Eminem

"We Don’t Run" by Willie Nelson

"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

"Hey Tonight" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

“Good Vibrations” by Beach Boys

Well, I think that's just about all of them...it's enough anyway. I'm not sure where some people's heads were at on some of those suggestions, but to each their own, I guesss.

I hope you liked "My Perfect 10" and enjoyed the intros for the songs as well. Don't forget, our Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team will be in action on Thursday, March 18th around 5 p.m. (ET) in San Jose as a five-seed playing the 12th seeded UTEP Miners.

Our women's basketball team will be playing in the NIT at Illinois State at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17th.

For more information on the games, viewing parties, etc., visit http://www.butler.edu/alumni/events/athletics.

Happy St. Patrick's Day & Go Dawgs!

Blue II

The Great Blue II Twitter Calendar Give-Away

2010-03-08T09:17:00.007-05:00

As many of you know, I’m pretty big on the Twitter. In fact, I’m so hip on the relatively new social medium it almost killed this blog!

Twitter has been a great way for me to report on what I’m doing, in real-time, in addition to maintaining a dialogue with fans, followers, and fellow Butler Bulldogs.

I’d like to think I’m the best canine in 140-characters or less. The twitter-sphere is my new domain! Plus, keep in mind that my Twitter efforts won me a gold medal!

So if I’m going to continue to tweet-it-up I’d like to have more followers with which to share my experience. That said, I’d like to thank the 1,116 Twitter followers that I have as of 9 a.m., Monday, March 08, 2010. You are great fans and I certainly appreciate your support!

BUT, I want more! So I’m taking a page out of the “How to do PR” manual written by my friends at Vision Racing (@VisionRacing) and I’m starting my own Twitter contest in order to acquire more followers. Winners drawn from the eligible ballots will receive a free 2010 Butler Blue II Calendar (nine solid months still worth using!).

I’m going to select a winner for every 50 new followers that I receive. So I’ll do a drawing at 1,150, another at 1,200, again at 1,250; so forth and so on.

Whether you’re a current follower or a new follower, you ALL can be a winner. To be entered in the contest, you must be following me at @ButlerBlue2 (so I can DM you) AND mention @ButlerBlue2.

Do this and a ballot will be entered in your name to win a 2010 calendar featuring yours truly!

Want to increase your chances by earning a second ballot? Simply add a link in your tweet directed to either my blog (http://www.butlerblue2.blogspot.com/) , one of my YouTube videos (www.youtube.com/butlerblue2) , one of my Flickr photos (www.flickr.com/photos/butlerblue2), something on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/butlerblue2) or mention Butler University (@ButlerU).

And tell the “tweeple” about me if you think that I’m worth the follow.

Best of luck to all and remember, ALL entries are eligible for each and every drawing. So you should have quite a few chances at winning.

Again, thank you for your support and Go Dawgs!

Blue II

More Honors, More Appearances...It’s what I do!

2010-03-04T13:56:00.008-05:00

So last week you read about me capturing a gold medal in CollegeSurfing.com’s “Web 2.0 College Olympics” thanks to my pretty fantastic Twitter skills. Well, the hits just keep on coming because I’ve got more accolades to tell you about this week as well.

Only this time, it’s the students of the Butler University Student Foundation (BUSF) that really deserve the credit (I only had a small paw in the matter) as they were recently awarded the Outstanding External Program Award at the CASE ASAP District V Conference for their efforts to include the campus and community in throwing a birthday party for me every year...also known as “Blue II’s Birthday Bash.”

They received the award on Feb. 27, 2010 in Bloomington, Ind. and were deservedly recognized in front of their peers.

Background info…CASE ASAP is comprised of student alumni associations, student foundations and similar organizations at more than 300 CASE member institutions. Its goal is to foster and enhance student involvement in all areas of advancement—from alumni relations and communications to fundraising, marketing and related areas.

The Outstanding External Program Award is given in recognition of “a program that is designed to involve more than just your organization such as your campus, alumni, and prospective students.”

District 5 includes schools from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. By winning at the district level, “Blue II’s Birthday Bash” will be considered for the national award for Outstanding External Program, which will be presented at the CASE ASAP Network Convention in Kansas City this August!

Congrats to our BUSFers and Go Dawgs!

If I do say so myself, the “Blue II Birthday Bash” (Fri., March 26, 2010; 11:30 a.m.) is a wonderful campus event and certainly one that I’m quite fond of given that I’m the center of attention! There’s usually a large card that students sign for me, tons of cupcakes and cookies and of course photo opportunities with yours truly! Besides the part where they make me wear the birthday hat, it’s great time!

And again this year, we are letting the kiddos (big and small) join in on the celebration thanks to a special coloring page. Feel free to download the coloring page, print it out, color it in, and send me your best birthday wishes too!

You can access the coloring page here: http://www.butler.edu/alumni/BlueBdayCard.pdf.

So outside of collecting more trophies and planning for parties, I’ve just been busy either making appearances, or making plans to make appearances. My social calendar is filling up so if you want to see me, try and hit up one or all of the following events: (all times ET)

-BU Green Screen Video Shoot- Thursday, March 4th, 3:30 p.m.; Jordan Hall.

-Horizon League Tournament Pep Rally - Friday, March 5th, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Circle Centre Mall food court.

-Horizon League Tournament – Saturday, March 6th, 6 p.m.; Hinkle Fieldhouse (ESPNU at 8 p.m.).

-Horizon League Championship – Tuesday, March 9th, 6 p.m.; Hinkle Fieldhouse.

-Bulldog Club of Indiana Show – Saturday, March 13th, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Tipton Co. Fairgrounds.

-Eco Dawgs Video Shoot – Tuesday, March 17th, 2 p.m.; TBD.

-BU IM Basketball Championships – Tuesday, March 23rd 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.; Hinkle Fieldhouse.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Friday, March 26th, 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

-Blue II’s Sixth Campus Birthday Party – Friday, March 26th, 11:30 a.m.; Starbuck’s – Atherton Union.

-Butler Blue II’s Sixth Birthday – Saturday, March 27th, all day.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Saturday, March 27th 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Thursday, April 1st 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Friday, April 2nd, 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

-The Price is Right (game show) – Friday, April 2nd, 11 a.m.; CBS-TV.

-BU Biology Club Dog Show – Friday, April 16th, 5:30 p.m.; HRC Lawn.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Friday, April 23rd, 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Friday, June 4th, 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

-BU Admissions/Early Registration – Friday, June 11th, 9:30 a.m.; Reilly Room – Atherton Union.

And those are just the events on the schedule right now! I’m sure there will be more as the spring is always a busy time for me on campus.

Of course, you can typically spy on me any other business day on my live web cam (“Blue2TV”) as I hang out (read: sleep) in my Jordan Hall office. Feel free to tune in between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on most days. Simply click here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-life-and-times-of-butler-blue-ii

Okay, I think that’s about it. Take aways from this installment include, my birthday, the coloring page, my calendar of appearances and my web cam. As always, my Twitter account will keep you posted on the rest of my escapades until the next blog posting.

May the month of March be exceptionally kind to the Bulldogs!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

Blue = Gold!

2010-02-22T14:53:00.004-05:00

Welcome back to the The Life and Times of Butler Blue II! Chances are you’ve probably stopped by in recent months only to be disappointed that my little paws had not submitted any new content. My apologies about that.

I needed a break and during my vacation from prose, I was letting my “tweets” do all of the talking. Of course, I had big New Year’s resolutions that involved updating my blog at least once a week, etc., etc. Now that it’s almost March, I suppose I should act on those good intentions.

Really, it was just a social experiment to see if anyone besides my grandparents and Butler alumnus, Chuck Gose, were paying attention. Evidently there are more than three of you out there that are, so I figured its high-time I started blogging again.

It is with great pleasure that I resume blogging in 2010 to announce that I’ve won a gold medal!

No, don’t check the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics medal count, and don’t bother looking back through NBC’s Olympic coverage saved on your DVR. You won’t find me on any podium there, but you will find me earning gold at CollegeSurfing.com.

Evidently the editors at CollegeSurfing.com set out to recognize the “top social media innovators among the nation’s colleges and universities” and liked what I had to say via my Twitter account because they gave me a gold medal and ranked me fourth out of their top 50 schools in their first-ever “Web 2.0 College Olympics!”

You can check out the list and my write-up at http://www.collegesurfing.com/content/web-20-colleges/.

I’m quite, proud, happy for Butler University, and would like to thank everyone who made this possible.

Special thanks goes to my dad for constantly working his iPhone in order to keep me tweeting and to my mom who allows him to be on his iPhone all the time and who also supplies a good deal of the pictures you see come across my Twitter feed (www.flickr.com/photos/butlerblue2).

And, last but not least, thanks to the fine folks over at CollegeSurfing.com for the recognition!

That’s all I’ve got for the blog right now...time to go celebrate our winnings! I promise that I’ll be back a bit more frequently though. There’s lots of great stuff, as usual, on the horizon for me, including an appearance on CBS’ The Price is Right game show and on a local radio station.

Until next time, I’ll see you on Twitter.

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

Bring Me Home for 2010, But Without All of the Mess!

2009-12-01T10:46:00.007-05:00

The Butler Blue II Calendar is back by popular demand and you can pick up your copy of the 2010 version today, in the Butler University bookstore and for the bargain basement price of just $5!

This fine piece also makes for a great stocking stuffer or gift for friends and family of all ages this holiday season.

It's been since my first year on the job that we've done a Blue II calendar, which we shot in 2004 and released for 2005. We finally created yet another because of the relentless requests from my admireres to do another. So the 2010 Blue II Calendar is for all of you who insisted that I do another 12-month spread. Now do me a favor and put your money where your mouth is...it's for a good cause after all!

Of course, I've got to thank my sponsors and friends for making this calendar possible, but a special thanks goes to Butler University photographer Brent Smith for taking all of those great pictures. I need to thank Claire Corbin of Claire Corbin Photography for letting us use my picture with jolly ol' St. Nick and a picture of me in a a festive hat as displayed in the December spread.

My sincere appreciation goes to Butler University designer Jackie Bilskie who designed this calendar and put together each spread. She did a great job in a short amount of time and I think you'll enjoy her work.

There was a great team effort, charicteristic of us Butler folk, to make this calendar and make it available for sale in the university bookstore. My thanks to all involved and I certainly hope you enjoy it all year long.

Outside of the making and release of this calendar, I've been enjoying some much deserved time off, if I do say so myself. My parents took off for California last week to support the men's basketball team in action at Anaheim, California's 76 Classic. So while they've been soaking up the sun and warmth of southern California, I've been residing in Wabash, Ind. with my grandparents and enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday, extra sleep and some good old fashioned rest and relaxation.

It's probably a good thing that I've taken some time away because this first weekend in December provides another triple-header on campus. On Dec. 5th, our Pioneer Football League champion Bulldogs will host the Gridiron Classic in the Butler Bowl at noon. Then at 2 p.m. our women's basketball team hosts Miami of Ohio in Hinkle Fieldhouse at 2 p.m., followed by the men's team's game at 7 p.m. versus Valparaiso.

I'm certainly going to need all of this rest in order to be able to get through that long day! I hope you'll join me on campus for those three great games...it will be the perfect opportunity for you to pick up a copy or two of my 2010 calendar as well!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

Thanks Vets!

2009-11-11T13:19:00.005-05:00

First of all, I already know, I've become terrible at this blog thing. You don't have to tell me. My only excuse is, Butler is becoming so successful at everything which makes me in higher demand and thus, I just don't have as much time to sit down and write. (That's sort of true.)

But lets be honest, if you're not following me on Twitter, then you're lost anyway, so do yourself a favor and make sure you're checking my "tweets" on a daily basis: www.twitter/com/butlerblue2.

So today, Nov. 11, 2009 is Veteran's Day. After reading the title of this blog you probably thought I was thanking my veterinarians and while they are great people (Thanks Drs. Phillips, Galore and Rowley), today I'm aiming my sincere appreciation to those military veterans who serve and have served our great nation.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blog called Mental Floss which hosted several videos of soldiers coming home to their "best friends" after their tour of duty. It was moving and something I couldn't help but share with my readership.

Here it is: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324

So on behalf of the entire dog population, let me just say that we too appreciate our veterans' efforts to keep us safe and to serve the land in which we live.

Coincidentally enough, earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet some of Butler University's cadets from the ROTC program. We met up for a photoshoot in preparation for my 2010 Calendar (on sale in the bookstore soon) as I wanted to feature them for the ever-patriotic month of July spread.

We had a good time and I applaud them for their work to not just earn a great education, but to support their country at the same time. It's my honor to feature them in my calendar.

Well, that's about all I have time for at the moment. I've got to get back to my busy schedule of athletic events, guest appearances, and whatever other requests come my way. Make sure you follow along via my Twitter updates!

Otherwise, I hope to see many of you on Saturday as our men's basketball team starts their regular season by hosting Davidson at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 2 p.m.

Go Dawgs, Go USA!

Blue II

Bulldog Beauty Contest Recap & Fall Update - 2009

2009-10-16T09:29:00.013-04:00

So I figure I owe my readership a recap of the Bulldog Beauty Contest, especially now that it’s been almost two weeks since the event has come and gone. I would have done an immediate follow-up, but my old man, also my designated keyboard specialist, decided to be gone all last week and didn’t have time to get to my blog, or so was his excuse. (He took a little trip via semi to Miami, Fla. You can read all about it here: http://www.visionracing.com/news/index.cfm?cid=24003)

So I’m behind on the blog, but that’s nothing new. I am getting to be quite the busy bulldog these days so a late blog is unfortunately becoming the norm.

How about that Bulldog Beauty Contest?! 2009 was undoubtedly our best contest to date as we had a record 87 dogs pre-register and 93 dogs participate (believe it or not, we finished in one hour!).

A hearty congratulations goes out to this year’s category winners, including our overall winner and “Best in Show” for the second consecutive year, Mr. Hugo Casey, owned by Butler alumna, Kearsten Casey of South Bend, Ind.

Hugo earned the honor of “Best Butler Spirit” by wearing a No. 54 Matt Howard basketball jersey, wristbands, Dawg Pound cap, basketball necklace/medallion, etc. in order to advance to the final round and win his second “Best in Show” title. He was handsomely rewarded for his efforts with a year’s supply of Holistic Select dog food courtesy of Eagle Pack Pet Food, WellPet and our good friends at City Dogs Grocery. That’s more than a $600 value for Hugo!

Not only that, but later on in the day, Hugo caught up with his likeness, Mr. Matt Howard himself and the pair got their picture together. All I can say is the resemblance is uncanny…brothers from different mothers.

In addition to Hugo, here are a few more of my favorite contestants from this year's competition:

For more contest pictures, please visit this nice photo album put together by our good friend Rick Miller of New Palestine, Ind.: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471995@N08/sets/72157622517775354/

I’ve got to offer up my sincere appreciation to our expert panel of judges which grew to seven members strong this year to accommodate for our two celebrities, Paul Poteet and Tom Davis of WRTV-6, Indianapolis’ local ABC-TV affiliate. Paul and Tom had a good time at the event, shot some footage and even had a couple of contestants in the studio on Monday morning, Oct. 5th, to recap the event.

Joining Paul and Tom at the judges table was Kim Netherland of City Dogs Grocery, Dr. AJ Stump and Kathy Dearing of the Ovid Butler Society Executive Committee, Thom Burleson of the Alumni Board, and Jonathan Spear of the Butler University Student Foundation.

Backing them up was a great group of volunteers made up of my colleagues and Butler staff, and of course, a record crowd that filled all five sets of bleachers and more.

Finally, a BIG thanks goes to our sponsors that made this event possible…City Dogs Grocery, WellPet, Eagle Pack Pet Food, the Ovid Butler Society Executive Committee, Woodland Animal Hospital, VCA Animal Hospitals, Susan Smith, Dr. Kurt and Julia Phillips, and Dr. Deborah Rowley. They deserve all of the credit! Thank you!

Also, Butler student Alyson Ahrns put togther a nice video recap of the event for the Butler Beat that you can watch right here:

While Homecoming weekend is always a great time to reunite with friends, family and your alma mater, it has also served as a quasi kick-off to a wonderful fall season on campus. In case you didn’t know, it’s a great time to be a Butler Bulldog…and I’m not just talking about the cooler weather.

The men’s football team is the only undefeated NCAA Division I football team left in the state of Indiana with a 5-0 record; most recently winning in dramatic fashion at Homecoming with a last second field goal over San Diego. Combine that with the fact that men’s soccer is 8-1-1 and ranked no. 18 in the latest Soccer America poll, our men’s cross country program is ranked No. 20 in the nation and basketball practice starts TODAY and I’m more than excited about being THE Butler Bulldog.

Of course, with all of that means that my social calendar is filling up for the fall…between athletic contests, student events, alumni events, school visits, photo shoots and whatever else people can think up, I’m booked solid. It’s a tough life, but somebody’s gotta do it.

I’ll just try and be better about updating you with my engagements and events as they happen, as opposed to waiting weeks in between blog posts. Of course, you can always keep closer tabs on me through my Twitter feed (www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2), which is updated much more frequently and features exclusive photos.

On the docket is a full-plate Saturday for this ol’ pooch. We’ll get started bright, early and bushy-tailed at Hinkle Fieldhouse to welcome a very select few guests who signed up early to witness one of the first practices for the top-15 ranked men’s basketball team. Then after practice head coach Brad Stevens will address the group and share his outlook on the season and our incredibly tough schedule. This event is being put on by the Central Indiana Alumni Chapter is our own version of “Midnight Madness,” only much more subdued and with less fanfare…The Butler Way.

After that I’ll head outside to hit up the tailgating festivities in preparation for the men’s football game at 1 p.m. versus Valparaiso. I planning on cruising by the Butler Football Class of 1959 tailgate and the Butler faculty and staff tailgate, but I’m open to hanging out with anyone who is out there filling the crisp fall air with warm Butler spirit. And maybe while my dad isn’t looking you could slip me a little something from the food table! Shhh, it will be our secret.

And hey, in case you missed it, you'll probably get to see me on TV a bit more often this winter as our athletic department has struck a new TV deal with Indy's local MyINDY-TV, Channel 23, which will broadcast 13 LIVE game telecasts from historic Hinkle Fieldhouse as well as on the road! Combine that with the eight games scheduled for ESPN, the one on BTN, the other on FSN and we have a chance to have 26 of our 28 regular season games played on TV! You could be seeing a lot of me in your living room this winter!

Alright, that should be plenty of Butler Blue II scoop for now, but before I sign off, I did want to let you know that progress continues to be made on my 2010 calendar. So hopefully we can get it sent to print and on the Butler bookstore shelves in time for the holiday season!

Woof!

Blue II

Butler University Homecoming 2009: A Dog's Eye View

2009-10-01T09:28:00.010-04:00

It’s finally here, it’s homecoming 2009! Much like Christmas day, a birthday, first day of summer vacation, or any other highly anticipated day or event, homecoming week is one of the highlights of my job as mascot. I just love how the campus always comes alive with energy amongst a beautiful fall backdrop. And just as there are great events, activities and offerings, there’s even better reunions, renewed relationships and just people connecting with each other, their alma mater and/or this great university. Homecoming certainly is a special time.

As you could imagine, as mascot, I’m quite busy come homecoming week, although, I’ve spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday doing a lot of resting up by emphasizing a routine of lounging around the office and sleeping in anticipation for the hustle and bustle that is Thursday, Friday and Saturday of homecoming. Butler President, Dr. Bobby Fong only thinks he’s busy this weekend…he should see my social calendar!

On Thursday I have just a couple of appearances including my annual photograph with the Butler University Board of Trustees…nothing like getting a little face time with the “Top Dawgs!” And while they may have the reins to this place, I think they know who really calls the shots…why else would they put me front and center in their picture?

Thursday is a fairly light day, all things considered, but in addition to the trustee photograph, I’ve got an interview about the annual Bulldog Beauty Contest and an appearance at the dedication ceremony and grand opening of the new College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences building on campus.

Before I get started on my homecoming responsibilities on Friday, I’ve got a little personal business to tend to with the annual “Blessing of the Animals” service put on by our neighbor, the Christian Theological Seminary. The ceremony is held in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures and its officially celebrated on Oct. 4th, but CTS holds their service a couple of days early so that it’s during the week. That’s Friday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. in the CTS courtyard if you are interested in attending. I rather enjoy the event and frankly, I’ll take a good blessing anytime I can get it!

After that, it’s back to campus and back to work. There’s a women’s soccer match at 4:30 p.m. versus defending Horizon League champions Milwaukee in the Butler Bowl that’s also an opportunity to support a very special cause…Breast Cancer Awareness Day. Come out and support the Butler women's soccer team as it hosts its Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

All fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness and the first 150 students in attendance will be able to attend a halftime tailgate, with each student getting a free hot dog, chips and a drink.

Friday's women’s soccer festivities will begin with a ceremonial pregame coin flip featuring Butler women's basketball coach Beth Couture, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring. Couture, who has won 363 games in her career - including 105 at Butler - is set to have her cancer treatments completed in time to lead the Bulldog basketball team this season. The women's soccer team will also be wearing pink warm-ups. Also at halftime, the Bulldogs will honor Joy (Aschenbrener) Sweeney (1995-98), who was inducted into the Butler University Athletic Hall of Fame last spring.

I might just have to trade in my blue jersey for a pink shirt on Friday afternoon. I’m not one for pink, my name is “Blue” after all, but I am one for a good cause so I’ll see what I can do.

Back across campus at 5 p.m. I have an open house to attend in the Fairbanks Building for the School of Journalism and then it’s off campus I go to the home of our resident IndyCar driver and 2003 Butler grad, Ed Carpenter, as I’ve been contracted to do an appearance for his daughter’s birthday party. I don’t normally do that sort of thing, but it’s a special friend and a special request, so I make exceptions.

After the birthday party, I’m headed home to host my grandparents who are coming into town and staying at my place. I’ll also use that time at home to rest up and get ready for a big Saturday on campus. Meanwhile, I’ll send my dad back to Butler in my stead to attend the President’s Dinner…formal dinners aren’t really my thing…that whole begging for food at the side of the table is considered faux pas, I guess.

On Saturday I can be found all over campus, whether riding in a Corvette for the parade, running the undefeated football team on to the field for their match against San Diego, showing my face at the young alumni Barktoberfest event, cruising the Butler Bowl parking lot for some handouts/table scraps at the tailgates or attending the volleyball game in the evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse. It’s sure to be a busy, but fun day.

And while all of that is well and good, perhaps there’s one event that I’m most looking forward to…an event that makes Butler’s homecoming different than any other homecoming. That event of course would be the annual Bulldog Beauty Contest!

You saw my post last month about the contest and it appears that my predictions were true as once again this year we are set to have our best competition to date! We have 74 dogs pre-registered for the event as of 9 a.m. on Oct. 1st and that’s a new record. Last year we had a total of 75 dogs show up, including walk-ups, so we are certain to exceed that come this Saturday, Oct. 3rd at 10 a.m. !

Keep in mind this event is free and open to the public, so whether you have a bulldog to compete with or not, you definitely want to attend…and bring a camera! Who knew a bulldog beauty contest would be such the spectator sport?! We’ll have increased seating this year (five sets of bleachers) for your viewing pleasure as well.

Held on the main mall, just south of Norris Plaza, these 74+ dogs (mostly bulldogs) will parade on a stage and catwalk and compete for the honor of being named the top dog in one of the following categories.

-Cutest Bulldog
-Meanest-Looking Bulldog
-Best Dressed Bulldog
-Best Dog Trick*
-Most Butler Spirit*
-Best Wannabe Bulldog*
-Oldest Bulldog
-Youngest Bulldog

-Best in Show*

Categories ending with an asterisk are the only categories open for non-bulldogs.

Keep in mind the “Best in Show” this year walks away with the grand prize of one year’s supply of dog food provided by Eagle Pack Holistic Select Pet Food, WellPet, and City Dogs Grocery! That’s a more than $600 value! Other category winners will take home prizes from City Dogs Grocery and all participants will receive a pack of Holistic Select Treats from Eagle Pack, WellPet and City Dogs Grocery. (a full list of sponsors is listed on the image below)

Oh, and we’ve increased our panel of judges this year from five to seven to include a couple of celebrities and our good friends at Indianapolis’ ABC affiliate WRTV-6…morning weatherman and traffic reporter, Paul Poteet and Tom Davis.

Why Paul and Tom? Well, we thought they might be able to help us on the weather and traffic Saturday morning, but even more than that, we know these guys like to have a good time. Just visit http://www.paulpoteet.com/ and their “Off the Cuff” videos for proof.

I hope to see you on Saturday morning for our Bulldog Beauty Contest…trust me, you don’t want to miss this event! If you can’t make it, then hop online as I’m going to try and do a live twitter-cast of the event either at www.twitter.com/butlerblue2 and/or www.twitter.com/butleru.

So that’s what my Homecoming weekend looks like, but of course, that’s just a highlight of events during Butler’s homecoming weekend…at least the ones that I’m involved with anyway. So for a complete listing, visit www.butler.edu/homecoming and take a look at the complete schedule of activities this weekend.

And if you can’t make it back, I’ll be tweeting my homecoming adventures at www.twitter.com/ButlerBlue2, so feel free to log on often for status reports and pictures!

Here’s to a great homecoming weekend, filled with victories, reunions, good times and great weather!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

More Laughing at My Expense

2009-09-21T11:38:00.013-04:00

It appears that my little blooper with fellow Butler University mascot, Hink, is getting quite the laughs and the number of views on YouTube (BlueTube) is growing, so that's good, I guess. If you missed it, just scroll down to my previous blog entry and enjoy. And for those of you that have seen it and had a good laugh, well then, you are welcome.

Let me see if I can offer up another chuckle thanks to some pictures of the incident provided by university photographer, Brent Smith. Before turning his lens to the actual football players running onto the pitch, Brent was able to capture a couple of frames of Hink and I just before we went down.

As you analyze the photos, you'll see that my dad can see this mishap coming a mile away, that I might actually be enjoying run-in with Hink, and that Hink is maintaining the same stoic look that he's always sporting...

I can only imagine what the photos would have looked like had Brent got us making our decent to the turf. Oh well, at least we have the video to sustain us and our comedic ventures.

Also, as promised, below are photos produced by Brent and his handy camera, from my fall photoshoot last week. You'll see my dad and his very white feet getting me all set up and positioned next to that fine array of fall-like objects...it's at those moments that I wonder if I have it better or worse than most dogs. Oh well, it goes with the territory.

Speaking of territory, those photos were actually shot on another dog's domain, and that dog would be the young Geeves Rodgers. The "Rodgers" is of course, that of Nick Rodgers fame....a fine Butler student athlete as a member of our men's basketball team. His mom Sheryl is on staff at the university and invited us to her home to use her props for the shot. That meant I got to meet Geeves, who is, shall we say, timid. That's okay, he's still finding his way.

Alright, that's enough for today. It's another wet day in Central Indiana and that's perfect sleeping weather for bulldogs, so I must not be interrupted any longer. It's back to napping!

Blue II

A Laugh at My Expense

2009-09-20T21:22:00.004-04:00

Once again I must begin by apologizing for the duration between blog entries. And once again you can blame my dad, who has been traveling on behalf of the university, been sick, and whom also has been citing a lack of material to blog about.

Frankly, I find all of that to be nothing more than a list of weak excuses, but what could I do? Well, I did about the only thing I could do and provide him with a little “material” to blog about. Of course, it wasn’t really my intention, as you’ll be able to see, but it worked, so it was worth.

So over the past two or three weeks I’ve been busy with work as usual, Butler sporting events, student events, Staff Assembly meetings, a sorority function as well as a fall photo shoot (pictures coming soon). Of course, all of this you can see and follow along with on Twitter, including photos at www.twitpic.com/photos/butlerblue2.

Otherwise, maybe you’ve seen me featured in a handful of pieces over the last week or so, including the new Homecoming poster, the Butler Basketball season ticket promo wrap for The Indianapolis Star (pictured) and the season ticket TV advertisement (below).

And if that weren’t enough, I’ve got it on good authority that a Butler Blue II 2010 Calendar will be on sale in the Butler Bookstore later this fall! I’ll keep you posted on that project, but it goes without saying that a calendar of yours truly makes a great stocking stuffer!

Now, that’s all well and good, but I’ve left you in suspense long enough. It’s time to bring on the laughs. Let me just preface this next video clip by saying that it is hilarious. Sure, it came at my expense, but if we can’t laugh at ourselves every now and again then life just isn’t worth living.

So here’s a clip that was shot by my mom with her iPhone and it is of my dad and I running the Butler Bulldogs football team onto the field for their third game of the season and rout of Hanover. This is the standard routine for us and we do it at all of the football games. In fact, it’s one of my favorite jobs as mascot, only this time things didn’t go quite as planned.

This time, just as I was making my move to take the team onto the gridiron, my Butler Bulldog mascot counterpart, Hink, also made his attack and well, the rest is history. Add in a dramatic feature like a collective gasp from the crowd and somehow capture it all on video and voila, you’ve got yourself a nice entry for America’s Funniest Home Videos!

Anyway, here, it’s time you just watched this thing for yourself and had a hearty laugh…

Needless to say, we’ll be working out that little scenario before Homecoming. So I hope this video provides a good lesson, and that lesson, besides properly timing up pregame activities, is to not take ourselves so seriously and to be willing to have a good laugh at our own expense.

I can’t be mad at anyone…in the heat of the moment I’m not one to notice much of my surroundings and Hink is not one known for his great vision so something like this was bound to happen. What can you do but dust yourself off and have a good laugh?

Pretty good way to start off the week, huh? Feel free to send that to a friend that needs a little lift. It should do the trick!

Blue II

With a Little Help from My Friends

2009-09-04T13:30:00.001-04:00

In my five short years on this fine earth, I’ve been blessed from the start and quite fortunate to have received some help all along the way. Think about it, as a puppy I was selected to be THE Butler Bulldog by my breeders and Godparents, Frank and Jeane King of Kong King Kennels in Lizton, Ind. It was the Kings who then donated me to Butler University as a gift in-kind, if you will.

So here I am, a dog of fine stock; championship lineage to be honest, and while the Kings could get a nice chunk of change at fair market dollar for me, they instead decide I’d make a fine mascot and a great gift for Butler. Hindsight may be 20/20, but they just couldn’t have been more correct, if I do say so myself.

Then you’ve got my parents, who were gracious enough to welcome me into their home and completely change up their lifestyle to accommodate my needs and crazy schedule. And then on to the people I work with everyday who allow me to hang out in their workspace and do my thing. I’ve also got those great people who have been willing to watch and care for me when my parents head out of town, including grandparents, other family, friends, colleagues, etc.

And speaking of care, I’ve been lucky to receive some great care since 2004. Thanks to Dr. Kurt Phillips and his wife Julia, both 1992 Butler graduates, they and the folks at Woodland Animal Hospital have kept me healthy and fit.

Did you know, Dr. Phillips is kind enough to send Bulldog Beauty Contest invitation postcards to all of his bulldog patients? To quantify that for you, Dr. Phillips bulldog patients include 180 households representing a total of 296 bulldogs!!!! It’s no wonder that Dr. Phillips is one of the best when it comes to bulldog care.

And when it comes to my eyes and the procedure that I’ve had as a result of to my entropion and dystechia conditions, Dr. Deborah Rowley of VCA Animal Hospitals has not just hooked me up, but has really kept me seeing clearly…which is kind of important, I think.

So where am I going with all of this other than to give some much-deserved attention to those who’ve had my back over the last five years? Well, a pair of my partners have taken it upon themselves to send even more love my way, and it appears to me that they know full well that the way to my heart is through my tummy!

A couple of years ago, I was introduced to Susan Smith of City Dogs Grocery (currently located at 49th & College) and Susan being the kind lady that she is, got me fixed up with the Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. group and together they’ve been able to provide a partial food sponsorship with their great tasting and nutrient-packed Holistic Select brand.

Recently Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. changed hands and is now owned by Well Pet, who suggests that not only are they not changing the recipe that Eagle Pack has honed over the years, but they are increasing their support behind the product.

And they’ve done right by me from the get-go! Thanks to Susan’s advocacy on my behalf, Well Pet has come forward to now provide me with a full food sponsorship! That’s right, free Eagle Pack Holistic Select dog food each and every month!

But that’s not all! City Dogs Grocery and Well Pet are teaming up to once again provide each and every one of our participants in the 2009 Bulldog Beauty Contest (Oct. 3, 2009) a complimentary sample bag of Holistic Select dog treats, AND (drum roll please) they have also stepped up to provide this year’s contest winner, the “Best in Show” with a complimentary year’s supply (a 30 lb. bag/month for 12 months) of Eagle Pack Holistic Select premium dog food! That’s more than a $600 value! Boom!

I think that means the legitimacy of our little contest just went up a couple notches…nice!

So, there you have it. Behind every good mascot is a host of great sponsors and partners who’ve got their back, and I’m no exception. Big ups to all of my dear friends, family and partners and a special thanks to Susan Smith, City Dogs Grocery, Well Pet, Eagle Pack and Holistic Select for all of your much needed and appreciated support!

One lucky dog,

Blue II

P.S. Plans and arrangements for the 2009 Bulldog Beauty Contest are progressing nicely. 2009 already boasts better prizes and more spectator seating. Now we'll just see if we can beat our record of 75 participating dogs which was set last year! The category winner sashes were received in the mail today and the specially designed contestant bib numbers should be arriving soon. It's all coming together! Don't forget to sign up your bully or wannabe bulldog by e-mailing me at blue2@butler.edu.

Wanted: A Nice Home for Two Young Bullies

2009-09-04T12:37:00.005-04:00

Hey friends, chances are if you read my blog then you must have some interest in bulldogs and maybe just enough to welcome one or even two of them into your home. Or, perhaps you know someone that would like to have a bully of their own.

Well, if so, I've got a pair of great bullies that are looking for a nice home and loving owners. Their names are Frank and Chopper, they are 15 week old English Bulldogs in the care of Doug and Mindy Welks of Mugsy's Bulldogs.

Doug and Mindy are good friends of mine...their bulldog, Mojo, won the "Meanest Looking Bulldog" category in last year's Bulldog Beauty Contest.

Well one of their other bulldogs, Rocky, delivered her third and last litter on May 19, 2009. She had eight beautiful pups and now Frank and Chopper remain.

According to Doug, they are both sweet little boys. Frank has a more laid back personality and likes to sit on the couch with Doug and Mindy, and watch TV. Whereas, Chopper is more adventurous and a little more rambunctious, but they are both well-behaved and playful.

Their mother, Rocky, loves to play with them, and because they've been with her longer, she's corrected their bad "puppy behaviors."

Doug and Mindy have been fortunate to find good, loving homes for their other siblings, and now they just want to find loving homes for these guys too.

Rest assured Doug, Mindy and Rocky have given them good care, along with my vet and Butler grad, Dr. Kurt Phillips of Woodland Animal Hospital. That's crucial in selecting a bulldog puppy and these guys are well on their way to a happy and healthy life.

So to check out their photos and to contact Doug and Mindy, please visit http://www.mugsybulldogs.com/

Thanks!

Blue II

Tweets & Cleats

2009-09-02T13:10:00.006-04:00

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: My friend and fellow mascot, Hink, and I are hosting a "tweet-up" on Thursday, Sept. 3rd at noon for the Butler community. We'll be posted up on the patio outside of Starbucks along with the men's soccer team. So stop by to see us...hope you can make it! (Check out my Bubble Tweet for more info: http://bbltwt.com/fk36k )

So with the school back in session for the year at Butler University, that also means our student athletes are back to work and our fall sports are back in action, AND this all means that your's truly has been hard at work as well.

On Monday evening I made my way over to Hinkle Fieldhouse to welcome all of our student athletes back to campus as they attended a dinner and convocation that was put on by the athletic department staff. Our own Butler Bulldog alumnus and now Lilly executive, Chris Miskel, gave the keynote address.

Tuesday evening found me back on the northside of campus, only this time in the Butler Bowl as I watched the lady Bulldogs take on the Jaguar's of IUPUI in a soccer match. (A picture of my poor balding father and I at the match below.)

It was a wonderful day to be at the Bowl and while the women dropped the match 1-0, it was still great to support my fellow Bulldogs and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Speaking of which, there are many fall sports contests on the schedule now and through the autumn and I hope that you'll make a point to come out and support the Dawgs. Start with the first home football game this Saturday at the Butler Bowl.

Our Dawgs will take to the gridiron at 1 p.m. for a bout with Albion and you know that I'll be there to lead my boys out of the tunnel for the big game!

And in sticking with the theme of great weather and Butler sports, how about a "tweet-up?" As you may have read at the top of this blog (click the bubble tweet link), I'm hosting a "tweet-up" along with my good friend Hink (www.twitter.com/HinktheBUDog) and we'll be outside of Starbucks on campus at noon on Thursday, Sept. 3rd, to greet the students and join the men's soccer team in a little give-away.

So what’s a “tweetup?,” you're probably asking. It’s actually a gathering of those with accounts on Twitter.com (“tweeple,” if you will) but this time I’m opening the gathering up to anyone who just wants to come and see their mascots and meet the men's soccer team.

So it doesn’t matter if you have a Twitter account or not…I just want everyone to feel free to stop by the patio at noon, Thursday, Sept. 3 to give me a pat on the head, say “hey” to my friend Hink, the other bulldog mascot, get some free stuff, etc.

Besides, at this point a "tweet-up" is just another excuse for me to get outside and do something besides relieve myself. With weather this good lately, you can't let it get by you!

Oh, and if you don't do the Twitter thing yet, you should! Even if you "don't get it" or do not feel like you would have anything to contribute, I still think it's worth creating your own account and building a list of people and entities to follow like myself, Hink, Butler University (@butleru) and other celebrities and friends. It's a great tool to communicate with and/or just to use to be "in the know!" And if you are on Twitter now, or decide to join, please follow me at www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2. Just click my profile to check it out. I dare you!

Okay, so what did we learn today? The weather is great, Butler sports are even better, "tweet-ups" are meet-ups for people on Twitter, and that Twitter is so easy even a dog can do it!

Hope to see you at my "tweet-up" and/or a Butler sporting event soon!

Blue II

P.S. For the scoop on Butler Athletics, including schedules, scores, rosters, ticket info, etc., visit http://www.butlersports.com/!

Announcing the 9th Annual Butler University Bulldog Beauty Contest

2009-09-01T14:46:00.010-04:00

As the host bulldog, it is my pleasure to announce the 9th Annual Butler University Bulldog Beauty Contest presented by the Ovid Butler Society, which will occur during Butler's Homecoming activities on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/butlerblue2/3878221405/

All bulldogs, wannabe bulldogs and their owners are welcome to attend the 9th annual Bulldog Beauty Contest presented by the Ovid Butler Society, but signining up is necessary...all of that information is below.

So last year was our best Bulldog Beauty Contest to date. Not only did we have a record turnout of dogs (OVER 75 DOGS!), but we also had a record crowd on hand an just an all-around great event. Well, we're bound and determined to make 2009 our best contest year to date!

In addition to the great prizes, goodies and other fun stuff we had last year, we are going to have even more of all of that as well as more spectator seating, a pair of celebrity judges in WRTV-6's Paul Poteet and Tom Davis and much more! You won't want to miss this!

I also suggest you visit a little photo album of last year's contest created by my friend, Mr. Rick Miller. It will give you a good taste of how this event goes...to the dogs!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471995@N08/sets/72157608395935893/

Here are all of the pertinent details:
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/butlerblue2/3878221231/in/photostream/)

Date: Saturday, October 3, 2009
Time: 10:00am - 11:00am
Location: Butler University Campus Mall

Contestants R.S.V.P. to Michael Kaltenmark`02 at mkaltenm@butler.edu, blue2@butler.edu or 317-940-9672; or Sue Curtis `81 at scurtis@butler.edu, (317) 940-9469.

Notes: Dogs will be judged on various categories such as cutest bulldog, meanest bulldog, best dressed bulldog, best dog trick, best wannabe bulldog, most Butler spirit, oldest bulldog, youngest bulldog and best in show. We’ll also have a fine array of prizes thanks to our sponsors listed below.

Presenting Sponsors: Ovid Butler Society, Woodland Animal Hospital and Pet Lodge, VCA Animal Hospitals, City Dogs Grocery, Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. and Dr. Kurt `92 and Julia Phillips `92, Dr. Deborah Rowley, and Susan Smith.

Also, it is my pleasure to dedicate this year's contest to my dear friend and former judge, the late Bob Dearing '57. For more on "Bulldog Bob," just read my blog post dedicated to him: http://butlerblue2.blogspot.com/2008/11/in-memory-of-true-bulldog.html

So here's to some great weather and great attendance on the morning of October, 3, 2009! I hope to see you there!

Before I sign off today, I want to share with you a little poster that the university made up to send to area elementary schools when they request something for their classroom or when I personally go on a school visit. Pretty cool, huh?!

Alright, I'm signing off for the afternoon. I've got to rest up before I head over to the Butler Bowl for a women's soccer game at 5 p.m. Great day to be outside...Go Dawgs!

Blue II

What I Did Last Summer - The Summer Essay

2009-08-31T13:21:00.003-04:00

(This blog post contains no images…for photos and video, please visit the following websites: http://www.twitpic.com/photos/butlerblue2 and www.youtube.com/butlerblue2.)

It’s late August (the last day in fact) and while, in my opinion, we should all still all be out hitting up bodies of water, golf course, outdoor amphitheatres, race tracks, or rolling on two wheels, enjoying a round of catch in the front yard, enjoying an afternoon nap in front of a fan and/or all of the other fruits of summer, instead we’re all hustling back to the halls and walls that hold us over the cold, dry winter months. We’re back to the rooms that hold as much knowledge and learning as they do daydreams and germs, but it’s the obligatory rite of passage in our lives as we know it, yes, it’s back to school time.

For my elementary, middle and high school counterparts, you’ve most likely done your settling in and by now there’s a good chance that your desk is already a mess, your locker stinks and you and classmates have worn the fresh wax of those hard terrazzo floors. We collegiate types like to put the return to campus off a bit more, like it should be (and much like I did my blog to this summer); and so the Butler Bulldogs returned to campus for the first day of class, last Wednesday, Aug. 26th.

At Butler, like most college campuses I would assume, the return to school is less dreaded than say at the secondary level. I wouldn’t know, I didn’t go to high school as I was a bit of a prodigy…going straight to college and all. But my parents went and they usually just groan when it’s referenced. But college on the other hand, now that’s some of the best days of your life and so why wouldn’t 18-23 year-olds want to leave their parents behind each summer to start a new season of fraternization and studies?

Combine that anticipated return to campus with a faculty and staff at Butler that’s a-buzz with the news that we’ve moved up in the U.S. News & World Report rankings AND our freshman class looks to be one of the best to ever step foot on campus!

Butler received its highest ranking ever of second in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report America’s Best Colleges. It is also Butler’s 21st consecutive year being among the top 10 in this category. For all of the scoop, head here: http://www.butler.edu/absolutenm/templates/?a=1256&z=22

And as for the freshman, well, we welcomed 958 freshmen when school began last Wednesday with a class slightly larger than the enrollment target of 915. The students making up Butler’s class of 2013 boast strong high school academic achievements and an average GPA of 3.74 (on a 4.0 scale). Eight are National Merit Scholars (up from 4 last year); one student is a National Achievement Scholar. Fifty-six of them were valedictorians; 19 were salutatorians. Twenty-nine are Lilly Scholars. More stats here: http://www.butler.edu/absolutenm/templates/?a=1252&z=22

So anyway, about my blog…um, yeah, well, you see, once I found out this past spring that Butler’s president, Dr. Bobby Fong was taking something called a “sabbatical” for the next three months, which involved him not coming to campus, leaving the country and putting someone else in charge, I said to heck with it. I figured that while Dr. Fong may run the campus, I own this place so if he can take some time off, then I can too.

Unfortunately, the guy I come to work with everyday, my dad, yeah well he doesn’t get these so-called “sabbaticals,” (I called him a fool for not working that one out in his contract.) so we still had to report to campus every day. That being the case I had to find at least something I could take a sabbatical from and so I chose the blog (and the web cam and Facebook).

I still came to work every day, I still tweeted on my Twitter.com account regularly (@ButlerBlue2) and posted a couple videos to my BlueTube (YouTube.com) channel, but that was about it. Otherwise, I laid low when it came to the new media and self promotion. However, while I may have not been on the computer much (and neither should you have been…it’s summer after all!) it wasn’t like I was leading a completely sedentary lifestyle. In fact, I did some pretty cool things and so to tell you all about it, I’m going to write a little back to school summer essay. I’m sure you know what I’m referencing and maybe have even had to write one or two of them in your lifetime.

Yep, it’s the “Here’s What I Did Last Summer” essay, by Butler Blue II. Have fun grading, errr, reading it.

June

The month of June was rather uneventful, and perhaps the most noteworthy item of the month was settling in to an empty campus. Late May and June always bring the promise of a fun summer and the harsh reality that it’s going to be a lonely campus. I like the summertime and I also enjoy the peaceful collegiate atmosphere that only summer can bring to a college campus, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I preferred the hustle and bustle of the students shuffling to class.

Otherwise, my month of June was filled with appearances for the Office of Admission, photo opportunities with young campers on campus for everything from sports camps, music camps and even writing workshops. I also had a couple of extended stays at my grandparents’ houses which were pretty fun too.

July

The seventh month of the year might have been one of the best for me so far this year and most certainly marked the highlights of my summer.

I’ll start with the pinnacle of my summer which was a fine purchase by my parents known as the Tail Wagon by Burley. The best way to explain this thing is like having my own chariot to ride in which my parents can either hook up to their bicycles and tow or push like a stroller. And trust me, when you’re a heavy bulldog with little short legs and a general difficulty breathing, this is the best way to go for a “walk.”

In fact, there’s only two things wrong with the Burley Tail Wagon…1.) I don’t get to ride it near enough and; 2.) my parents didn’t buy it for me sooner. Now, I’m not sponsored by Burley or anything, but that’s a gig I wouldn’t mind either. Hint, hint. Hey Burley people, if you need a spokesdog or even just some happy pooch to grace your product packaging, then hit me up!

The month of July was cool too. And by cool, I mean as in temperature. In fact, it was something like the second coolest July on record in Indianapolis and while that didn’t sit well with some, it was certainly quite welcome by me. Think about it, I’m stuck wearing this fur coat no matter the weather conditions!

So with the cool weather and a new toy in the Burley Tail Wagon, you would have thought that would have been beating the pavement at every opportunity. Well, I did get out quite bit, but only when I could pull my dad away from watching Lance Armstrong peddle the Tour de France on VERSUS-TV or put down a book he picked up called “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” by Garth Stein. It’s a book about dogs, and auto racing, two of my dad’s favorite things, and top that off with the fact that the book is written from a dog’s perspective, much like my blog, and he was hooked on every word.

On top of that, July 20 marked the 40th anniversary that famed astronaut Neil Armstrong and colleagues Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins crewed the first mission (Apollo 11) involving a lunar landing. My dad is a big space geek as well, so of course he was all about commemorating that event by watching and reading the media coverage.

So I spent a lot of time on the couch with my dad watching rockets, bicycles and reading about racecars which was all just fuel on my own burning fire of desire to test the limits of my Burley Tail Wagon.

I suppose that with all of the good that July brought there’s bound to be a little bad as well. The bad came in the form of broken glass. Long story short, my mom was driving our family’s new Honda Ridgeline and I was on the backseats, chilling out in my seat cover/hammock. And by “chilling out,” I mean I was fast asleep. While cruising along the highway, suddenly, and with no warning, our sunroof just exploded. No, it did not crack, we did not hit a bump, it just exploded. Shards of glass were everywhere as it covered me, my mom, and both the interior and exterior of the truck. Thankfully everyone was fine and after I was able to get vacuumed off later that evening, I was good to go. Unfortunately the folks at American Honda did not deem the failure of the glass to be a warrantable occurrence (I find that to be leaning on the side of unethical.) so they didn’t pick up the tab for the damage. The didn’t even spilt the bill, so my parents were truckless and a little lighter in the pocketbook for much of July, but that’s life I suppose.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Honda makes a wonderful product, but I pinned them as one to stand by their product just a bit more than they actually did. After all, while there are known cases of sunroofs exploding in their vehicles, it does appear to be rare and often times caused by a manufacturer defect. But I’m just a dog, so what do I know?

July also saw a couple of our Butler Bulldog student athletes bring home some new hardware in the form of gold medals! Yep, our own men’s basketball players, Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack won gold medals on behalf of the USA in the FIBA U19 World Championship in July. Not only that, but the pair were the talk of the team and represented Butler quite well. Read all about it: http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=967621

August

I was worried that with all the highlights brought about by July would leave August an absolute bore. But the “dog days of summer” did not disappoint either. In fact, August got started with a bang as 2003 Butler University grad and Vision Racing driver Ed Carpenter put on an impressive display of driving in the IndyCar Series’ race at Kentucky Speedway on August 1st.

Ed put on the drive of his young career by charging from a 14th starting spot all the way up to lead the race for 34 laps and eventually battle with Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske in an exciting ten lap duel which ended in Ed taking second by just 0.0162 of a second! It was Ed’s best finish and most laps led in an IndyCar event. Of course, my dad works part-time for the team so I have a vested interest in all of it, even outside of Ed being a Butler Bulldog. I was proud of all involved.

Summer Etcetera

The promise of another academic year and the students returning to campus is definitely something that I look forward to in August. The return of the students brings a buzz back to campus that even I can sense and pick up on; adding a pep to my step. My social calendar picks up immediately and my desire and need for attention is met by students who adore me, and/or miss their own doggie that they left at home.

Of course, there were other noteworthy summer highlights as well and include the usual activities like swimming in my kiddie pool, trips to my grandparents’ houses, frequent visits to local ice cream shops and outdoor dining facilities like Boogie Burger, Greek’s Pizzeria and Yats, which are all in the Broadripple area.

Summertime is also the anniversary of my annual health checkup and vaccinations. So I went to visit my pal and Butler grad, Dr. Kurt Phillips of Woodland Animal Hospital in Carmel, Ind. Dr. Phillips gave me a clean bill of health, but was a bit concerned about my propensity to walk gingerly from time to time, specially as I tend to stiffen up after a hard play or romp. While I’m only five years old, I am now considered to be middle-aged and VERY active for a bulldog, so he thought it might be wise to put me on some arthritis medication as a preventative measure.

Not only do I like taking the arthritis medication each day as my parents cover it with peanut butter to get me to swallow it, but it actually works too. A month or so after taking the stuff, I’m feeling like a young pup again! So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.

So that was my summer, or at least that was my summer as summarized in essay form. I hope you enjoyed it.

Stay tuned to the blog as now that school is back in session, I’ll be more diligent about updating it early and often. Also, don’t forget to follow my Twitter feed as well: www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2 as I’m updating that on a regular basis and including photos as well.

Here’s to summer days gone by and now a great 2009-10 academic and athletic year on the campus of Butler University. So far so good!

Blue II

P.S. For pictures and video of my summer adventures, head to http://www.twitpic.com/photos/butlerblue2 and www.youtube.com/butlerblue2. Sorry, this post was already long enough without the imagery, so I just decided you can go check it out on your own.

MAY-DAY, MAY-DAY!

2009-06-06T16:00:00.005-04:00

So the month of May has come and gone and my dad completely failed at updating my blog. He claimed to be too busy to post anything…said he was occupied with end of fiscal year activities at Butler University, a little race called the Indianapolis 500 and everything leading up to it, as well as chauffeuring me all around town for appearances. I can’t speak for the first two, but can attest to the latter. I was quite busy this past month my self and seeing as how I don’t book my own appearances, drive or do any of that stuff, I guess I should cut him some slack.

My month of May was primarily characterized by elementary school visits and I did quite a few. I’d show up, let my dad read one of Paul Brown’s Chowder books (pictures books about a bulldog named, Chowder), hand out bookmarks and posters with my likeness on it, answer questions about me, let the students pet me and last, but not least, perform my repertoire of tricks. I did this at such places as…

-Pine Tree Elementary – Avon, Ind.
-White Lick Elementary – Brownsburg, Ind. (My good friends in Ms. Butler's class!)
-Forest Dale Elementary – Carmel, Ind.
-Jeremiah Gray-Edison Elementary – Indianapolis, Ind.

And some photos…

I also got to visit Congregation Beth-El Zedeck where I attended their kindergarten graduation and accepted a check from Lily Farber in memory of her father and Butler grad, William Farber who passed away in February. It was an emotional gathering, but one that I was honored to be a part of for sure. My sincere appreciation to Congregation Beth-El Zedeck and its students for their student giving program and their support of Butler University.

I also got to be a part of Butler University’s ButlerRising Campaign Finale at Indiana Roof Ballroom, downtown Indianapolis. Yeah, big time! Seriously, how many dogs do you know attending formal events in ballrooms in downtown Indianapolis? Yeah, I’m kind of a big deal.

The event was spectacular and it was a great way to end Butler’s most successful fundraising campaign which saw nearly $154 million in gifts from more than 20,000 donors!!!! Another sincere thank you goes out to all of those who have contributed to Butler in the last six years to make this possible. Bravo!

So all of that, and of course a lot more, pretty much made up my month of May, but if you took all of that times ten, I’m still not sure it would explain the volume of activity my dad was involved in. Still no excuse for not keeping my blog up to date, but what can I do?

June has started a bit slow, but that’s summer around Butler’s campus. Sure, there’s summer school in session, but I miss all those young whipper-snappers running around. But I did make a new friend this week. One of our student workers in the development office brought his new 12-week old bassett hound puppy in for a visit. His name is Gustavo and he’s a happy-go-lucky little guy. Unfortunately my dad wasn’t around to shoot any pics or video, so this little mobile phone pic is all I’ve got at the moment. Hopefully Gus can come back soon so that we can get some video for your viewing pleasure.

Well, that’s about all I know at the moment. The dog days of summer are on their way which means I’ll be trying to find ways to beat the heat (read kiddie pool), but until then I’ll be enjoying some good old fashioned playing in the yard, or the campus mall.

I’ll try and make sure my dad blogs about it early and often! Until then, make sure you check me out on Twitter. Simply visit www.Twitter.com/ButlerBlue2 and you can read about what I’m up too even if my dad says he’s too busy write up a blog.

Bow wow,

Blue II

Family Fun

2009-04-15T14:06:00.010-04:00

Whether it’s been my Butler family or my immediate human family, it just seems that this spring has been filled with family fun for me.

Of course, this past weekend was the celebration of the Christian holiday, Easter, so I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one getting in some quality time with the family. My parents and I loaded up and headed to Wabash, Ind. to see both sets of grandparents.

Of course, my young cousins (read nieces and nephews to my parents) were in attendance at these family gatherings so their playtime was also my playtime. That also means that I got to share in their Easter egg hunts, romps in the yard, rough-housing sessions and even a little dance-off. The videos are below and all featured on BlueTube. Enjoy!

I've also made a new friend to add to my extended family. His full name is Wilberforce, but we just call him Wilber for short. He's a 10-week-old English Bulldog puppy adopted by fellow Butler grads, Noelle and Daniel Pulliam.

I got to go over to Wilber's house last week, meet him and have a fun play date. I showed him the ropes a bit, taught him how to be a man and gave him some tips as to what to watch for growing up. He's a great little dude and I look forward to future get-togethers with him. Below is a video of our time together...

Even though the basketball seasons have come and gone, I’ve still been very active on campus. My Butler family has been requesting my presence quite frequently as well. From greeting prospective students and their families at early registration events to making class visits, I’ve been a busy bulldog.

Like I do every semester, I made my visits to Dr. Steven Vibbert’s public relations classes. I absolutely love Dr. Vibbert and visiting his classes so this is always a highlight for me. So much so that when my dad says his name, my ears go back and when he gives the command, I drag him through Jordan Hall, out the door, to the Fairbanks Building and directly to Dr. V’s classroom.

Dr. Vibbert is the only professor that habitually invites me to his classes so he and I have a special bond. Here’s a pic of me with some of his class members…

We also had some first graders on campus this week from IPS School No. 91. They were visiting some of our faculty and students from the College of Education. So I stopped by to see them just in time to get a look at their great bulldog drawings.

Here’s a shot of me with those kids, some of their mentors and their great bulldog drawings.

In other news, I got a promotion the other week. It’s true! Well, sort of anyway. I’m no longer just the official mascot of Butler University, but now I’m also an official building supervisor for the HRC! Yep, since I’m at the HRC so much, hanging out behind the control desk while my dad works out or teaches a fitness class, the HRC staff got me a belated birthday gift which made me a building supervisor.

It’s my very own HRC building supervisor bandana to wear around the joint. I sort of had an all-access pass anyway, but not it’s official. Special thanks to my friends at the HRC for the great gift!

Finally, the big buzz on campus recently has been a new contest featured in the campus newspaper, The Butler Collegian. It’s a photo caption contest that the Collegian staff started last week and the picture they chose to kick things off is of me laying a big smooch on my dad at a football game.

I didn’t think anything of it, but my dad just can’t seem to live it down. I’ve included a picture below, but this is a full color, half page spread of me planting a big wet kiss on my dad’s face. Consider it sweet revenge on my dad for making me do things that I don’t want to do. Ha ha ha ha! Good stuff.

Well, that’s about all from me at the moment. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to keep up with me on a daily basis via Twitter (www.twitter.com/butlerblue2) and on Blue2TV.

Woof!

Blue II

Extreme Makeover: Blue II Edition

2009-04-03T08:39:00.005-04:00

Just a quick post today to show off a little video that my good buddies at CMC Media Group put together of myself and P.I.C., Hink, at the ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition video shoot held at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

Many thanks to the kind fellas at CMC Media Group for doing this! You guys are good in my book!

Anyway, the video is below. I think it will give you a bit of a glimpse of the atmosphere on Wednesday night in Hinkle, and set the scene a little bit better than my poor story telling and weak photography. Enjoy...

A quick mention of congratulations to Butler men's head basketball coach, Brad Stevens, who was deservedly awarded a contract extension this week. He's scheduled to be at Butler now until 2014-15. In his first two years as head coach of the Bulldogs, he boasts an impressive 56-10 record. To put that into perspective, only North Carolina's Bill Guthridge (58-14 from 1997-99), had more victories in his first two years. (The credit to David Woods of The Indianapolis Star for that stat.)

This weekend is the opening weekend of the IndyCar Series 2009 season with a race in St. Petersburg, Fla. Why does that concern me? Well, my dad is there for one, but also because fellow Bulldog and 2003 Butler grad Ed Carpenter will once again be in the field behind the wheel of the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing machine. Check him out on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (ET) on VERSUS!

As for me this weekend, I'll be heading back up to Wabash, Ind. with my mom to visit the grandparents. I'm seeing a four-wheeler or tractor ride in my future!

I hope you enjoy the spring weekend as well!

Blue II

Welcoming an 'Extreme Makeover' after Mourning the Loss of a Friend

2009-04-02T10:34:00.007-04:00

If you live in Indianapolis, then surely by now that you’ve heard that ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition is in town helping the McFarland family by partnering with Estridge to build them a new home and by constructing a community center on Indy’s east side.

Well, Butler University got involved with the project yesterday as we hosted the show’s design team, production crew and several adoring fans inside Hinkle Fieldhouse for a special video shoot to let the McFarland family know that not only do they get a new house, but their mortgage is paid in full!

Myself and my P.I.C. (partner-in-crime), Hink, were on hand to welcome the crowd, meet the designers and production crew and just have a good time. Here are some shots from the evening featuring me with designers Ty Pennington, Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis and Paul DiMeo.

For the rest of the photos, check out http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=72132&id=23981937738&l=de697d51d2

The show airs weekly on Sundays on your local ABC affiliate at 8/7 central. This specific episode will air on May 17th, but don’t look for me as I don’t think that I actually made it into any of the filming.

The ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition was a good distraction for me this week as I’ve been mourning the passing of my first canine friend, Gabe, an Golden Retriever.

Gabe was the childhood dog of my dad’s good buddy and colleague, Uncle Kyle. I came home as a puppy on May 20, 2004. That next weekend was the Indianapolis 500 and so, Gabe and his parents took me in for the day so my parents could go enjoy the race. I was just a pup at the time and Gabe was a season veteran. He showed me the ropes and we were buddies ever since.

Gabe experienced a pinched nerve on Monday and was unable to use his back legs after that. That meant he could get up, walk, or do anything that a normal dog could do, so after 13 great years, Gabe went to doggy heaven on Tuesday morning. Rest in peace, Gabe! I’ll miss you!

Blue II

Birthday Boy, Blue II

2009-03-27T13:54:00.010-04:00

Happy birthday to me! That’s right, today, March 27, is the big day and this year happens to mark the fifth year of me roaming this earth. Unfortunately, that also means that I’ve hit the age of 35 (5X7), by this date next year I’ll be 42, and I’ve officially reached middle age as the English Bulldog’s lifespan is just 8-10 years.

Ah well, such is life. I’m just going to enjoy it one day at a time, which is really like seven days for me. Oh, it’s so depressing. I must think happy thoughts, which isn’t hard to do on a day like this when I got to go to campus and all my friends (read: students, faculty and staff) threw parties for me!

Yep, it’s been a busy birthday for me. Paying no attention to my birthday wish to sleep-in, my dad got me up early so he could work out at the HRC (rec center) before work. It’s beats staying at home, but seriously, let a lazy dog sleep!

Once we got in to work, we had just enough time to get settled in before heading over to an early registration event for incoming freshman and their parents. My role at that event is to greet people and pose for pictures. Since my dad got me up so early, there weren’t too many pictures that I had my eyes open for, nor was I standing in too many of them. Sorry about that.

After that I inhaled the breakfast that I neglected to eat to start the day and got a visit from my friend and colleague Linda Cooley who brought me four new toys and some delicious gourmet doggy treats in honor of my big day! Thanks Linda! Here’s a video of me receiving the gifts that Linda brought me…

I didn’t get too much time to play with my new toys as I had to head over to Atherton Student Union for my very own birthday party! The kind students with the Butler University Student Foundation (BUSF) hold a party in my honor each year and it’s fantastic. The entire campus community is invited and many of them stop by for a free cookie or cupcake, soda, the opportunity to get a picture with me and a chance to sign my birthday card. It’s so cool!

My friend Dave Furst, Sports Director at WRTV-6, the ABC affiliate in town, made sure a news camera was on hand to record the event as well so look for it on RTV-6 news this evening! Thanks Dave!

Lots of students came, I took countless pictures, salivated over cupcakes that I couldn’t have, and just had more fun than should be allowed for a bulldog. Thank you BUSF and Butler for the great party! Needless to say, I’m one tired pooch…

That’s what you get when you’re a celebrity, I suppose. To finish out the day, I think I’ll nap some more and my dad says that we’ve got to make a stop over at the Vision Racing shop too. Fine by me, I love field trips! I also particularly like to visit my buddies at Vision Racing.

Hey, be sure to check out my YouTube channel, “BlueTube” for more great videos. I have lots of four-legged visitors this month (Bella the Beagle, Pepper, Xena and Xander) and a lot of our escapades are captured on film and featured on www.YouTube.com/ButlerBlue2, so check it out.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, presents, prizes, treats, pats on the head, and love on my special day! I’m not just the luckiest mascot in the world, but the luckiest dog as well. Thank you!

…and many more!

Blue II

A Bittersweet March Madness

2009-03-20T11:10:00.003-04:00

First, I offer my hearty congratulations to the Butler Bulldog women's basketball team which held tough in the waning moments of the first-round WNIT match-up at Duquesne last night to win on running layup by Candace Jones! With just three seconds remaining in the game, Candance cashed in two points to bring the Bulldogs from behind to win by one (59-58) in what was the team's first post-season victory in more than a decade!

The Lady Bulldogs will move on to the second round of the tournament on Monday (March 23) to face host Marquette at 8:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. CT). Go Dawgs!

Given the victory by the women last evening, all was not lost regarding the day and the thrill that is "March Madness!" However, a Bulldog couldn't help but feel bittersweet when going to bed last night as our men's team put forth a valiant effort, but came up short against the LSU Tigers in Greensboro, North Carolina to open up the men's basketball NCAA Tournament.

After a slow start, our beloved Bulldogs came roaring back and made us all proud and even lead the game with just minutes remaining. But LSU was not to be denied as they shot "lights out" and made a sprint to the finish. The final score was 75-71 and while we may have lost the game, it wasn't for a lack of effort. Our Bulldogs played well, but our hats off to the LSU Tigers...well played!

I guess that fact that President Barack Obama picked us to win in his bracket wasn't enough to make the difference in the game yesterday. But really, the guy missed like five games in his bracket yesterday! Yeah, five in the opening day. Ouch. Let's hope he's better at running the country than picking winners in an NCAA Tourney bracket!

The good news is that the same Bulldog team you saw yesterday returns to the bench next season and will be joined by a strong cast of recruits! The future is never guaranteed, but I like the plan that is in place!

And, if its of any additional consolation, we did make the "Top-10" list of mascots in this year's NCAA Tournament! Here's a link to the story: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2009/03/20/obama_ncaa_bracket.html

We came in at No. 9 in the rankings determined by PetSide.com.

Speaking of pets, here's a "dog ate it" story for you from CNN that I think you'll enjoy. Every heard the old saying, "money doesn't grow on trees?" Well, perhaps money grows within dogs! Check this out...

Now that's what you call, "dirty money!"

Okay, enough with the bad jokes, I'm out of here.

Tomorrow I'll be appearing at the 17th annual Bulldog Jog held over at the HRC at 8 a.m. so I hope to see some of you runner types there. Otherwise, enjoy the first weekend of the spring season!

Woof,

Blue II

The Face of March Madness

2009-03-19T09:57:00.012-04:00

Ok, well "The Face of March Madness" title might be a little presumptuous, but for Indianapolis and central Indiana, I might as well be as my mug is front and center on the front page of today's Indianapolis Star!

Joining me in the cover shot are Butler athletic director, Barry Collier; head men's basketball coach, Brad Stevens; my mascot counterpart, Hink; Butler's 20th president, Dr. Bobby Fong. The headline reads "THE BUTLER WAY" and the following article includes an analysis of Butler's campus-wide winning philosophy as interpreted by David Woods.

Log on to www.indystar.com/butler to check it out and to read additional Butler coverage by Mr. Woods and Curt Cavin. Good stuff!

And if you've yet to see the front page of The Star today, or you don't live in the area, then here it is in all of it's glory...

Today's the big day, game day, so let's talk a little Butler hoops for a minute. Remember, the No. 9 Bulldogs open up NCAA Tourney play today on CBS at 12:20 p.m. from Greensboro, North Carolina versus the No. 8 seeded Tigers of LSU. It's been a highly touted game with college basketball analysts and experts teetering on the outcome.

With the experts and public opinion in question regarding just who will be victorious in the Butler/LSU match-up today, perhaps we should just put all of that aside and pay attention to one man's picks, our Commander and Chief, Barack Obama.

I'm not one to be politcial, but the guy is the President of the United States of America and he did pick Butler over LSU. Two things come to mind here. 1.) President Obama has some of the best intel in the world at his disposal and; 2.) If anyone has the power to "fix" the outcome of a game, I would think it would be this guy.

Ultimately, depending on how you voted in the fall will determine whether you think Obama's backing is a good or bad thing, but I'm a dog and I don't vote, so whatever. I'll take the support!

The Butler men's basketball team arent' the only Dawgs in action on the hardwood today, as the Butler women make an appearance in post-season play this evening in the WNIT at Duquesne.

The women tip at 7 p.m. (EST) in what will be their first appearance in the post season since 1998. A win tonight would give them their 20th win of the season!

Good luck to all of my Dawgs today!

If you know how to work the Twitter, or just like seeing my Twitter updates on my blog, then be sure to follow me all day today as I "tweet" updates regarding the games from my spot on campus. And for the upteenth time, no, I am not at the games because the NCAA does not allow live mascots at their tournament sites. Their loss.

For some additional coverage of Butler hoops besides the usual suspects:

http://www.butlersports.com/

www.indystar.com/butler

Also check out http://horizonleaguenetwork.blogspot.com/ for some great behind the scenes coverage!

Eventhough today is all about Butler hoops, I did want to leave you with a couple of other blogs that I've been following that highlight some of the amazing talents, efforts and abilities of Butler students and faculty.

The first blog revolves around some of Butler's Media Arts students and their creative work. The blog is designed to showcase the student's work that they complete for class assignments. Just have a look and checkout some of their stuff. It's some pretty impressionable work!

http://www.butlercreative.blogspot.com/

The second blog is written by Butler College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences professor, Mike Roscoe and revolves around his life as a medic with the US Military while stationed in Iraq and his attempt at serving his country and his students all at the same time. It's a humbling story of courage, discipline, honor and pride. Keep up the great work, Mike!

http://www.buprofessor.blogspot.com/

Whether you went to Butler, sent kids to Butler, had relatives attend Butler, work at Butler, once worked at Butler, just like bulldogs, the color blue, or whatever, it doesn't matter. We're all Butler Family today, so lets pull together and get ourselves a couple of victories in post-season play this afternoon!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

Sleeping Tiger, Hidden Bulldog

2009-03-17T14:32:00.004-04:00

In preparation of Butler's men's basketball NCAA Tournament appearance on Thursday, March 19, 2009 (12:20 p.m.) I thought I would offer up a little video illustration of how I think things might go on the court between the Butler Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers.

It just so happens that LSU has a nice little kitty named, Mike, who serves as their mascot. He's a friendly little feline and in this video, I wait until he falls asleep to rest up for the big day of our game and then I make my sneak attack. Just watch the video and you'll get the picture...

I hope that you enjoyed that little bit of home (or office) video. I certainly hope it inspires our real-life Butler Bulldogs to do the same on Thursday.

Of course, the game will be broadcast live on CBS and while you could watch it at home, why not join up with some fellow Bulldogs and enjoy the game? Fellow Butler fans are gathering all over the country to watch the big game and you should too! For a complete listing of the official viewing parties visit www.butler.edu/alumni.

Those Bulldogs in Indianapolis can gather at...

Moe & Johnny's, mid-town Indianapolis, IN located at 5380 North College Avenue.
Champp’s, downtown Indianapolis, IN located at 49 W. Maryland Street.

Here's to a great game on Thursday; enjoyed with Butler family and friends! Go Dawgs!

Before I sign off, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm not sure what the point of this day is, but people keep giving me a hard time for not wearing the color green. My name is "Blue." I don't do "green." Got it?!

In tribute to my "Blue II Facts" in the post below, I give you this statement of fact: Blue II was once pinched on St. Patty's Day for not wearing green...ONCE.

Finally, I leave you with another video in honor of this holiday. It comes from Mobile, Alabama and the subject of this news story is a leprechaun. It's now an oldie, but still a goodie and yes, this is for real. Even a bulldog mascot with his own blog couldn't even make this up. Enjoy...

May the luck of the Irish be with the Dawgs this week in GREENsboro, North Carolina!

Blue II

100th Post: The Dawgs are Dancin' and that's a Blue II Fact!

2009-03-16T11:38:00.009-04:00

Welcome to my 100th blog post!

Unfortunately, it took me a little over a year to reach 100, but we made it and thanks to everyone for reading all along the way. I am certainly looking forward to the next 100 posts and I hope that you are too!

As I’m sure you’ve heard by this point, the Butler Bulldogs are going “dancing” in the “Big Dance” again this year as the men’s basketball team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, picking up a No. 9 seed in the South Bracket and a chance to play No. 8 seeded LSU in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The Bulldogs and Tigers will go head-to-head on Thursday, March 19 at 12:20 p.m. (EST). For info on tickets, bus trips, viewing parties, etc., please visit:

www.butler.edu/alumni

http://www.butlersports.com/

Also, to learn more about the team and even a little bit about me, check out this new web page on Butler’s site:

http://www.butler.edu/spotlight/ (http://www.butler.edu/spotlight/?pg=7170)

In addition, don’t forget to check out The Indianapolis Star’s coverage of the Bulldogs headed up by staff writer David Woods. There’s always some good info and insight there. Check it out: www.indystar.com/butler.

Now keep in mind that it isn’t just the men’s team that will be dancing this year as the Butler women have earned a shot to compete in the NCAA women’s NIT tournament this week as well. Their game location, opponent and time are still to be announced, so be on the lookout for that!

Good luck to all my Dawgs in action this week! Let’s show the nation just what ‘The Butler Way’ on the hardwood looks like! Go Dawgs!

In honor of my 100th post, I wanted to do something special, but I wasn’t sure what that might be, especially since I dropped the “25 Random Things About Me” post a couple of weeks ago. Eventually, my inspiration came in the strangest of places as it ultimately was the 69th birthday of Chuck Norris that helped me come up with the subject of my 100th post.

In recent years, the popularity and cult following of Chuck Norris has exploded across America. Why, you ask? Well, material like “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and "The Delta Force" might have helped (not likely), but really, it was the ability of his persona to be played-up in a Paul Bunyan-esque way that shot his stock through the roof. Look no further than http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/ and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Read through the first page and if you aren’t laughing, then please consult a physician immediately. That stuff is hilarious and has led to the cultural phenomenon that is, Chuck Norris.

So, the following are some “Blue II Facts” that I thought I would share with you. Now, I can’t take credit for these, as they really come from my dad and his friends. They tend to find themselves more humorous than they really are, but I even had to laugh at a few of these “facts” and I think you might too.

I wanted those guys to think up 100 Blue II Facts in honor of my 100th post. The best they could do is 65, in honor of the NCAA Tournament field of 65 teams. Fair enough. So, I’m challenging you, the reader, can you help me get to 100 Blue II Facts? I need just 35 more. If you think of one, head to the comments section and leave your own “Blue II Fact.” Thanks!

And without further adieu, I give you 65 Blue II Facts:

Blue II doesn’t snore, he growls.

Blue II doesn’t chew rawhides, he chews bones.

Blue II can either squat or lift his leg to pee.

Blue II ate Blue I.

Blue II is smarter than your Honor Roll student.

The Amazon rainforest was created after a Blue II bathroom break.

Blue II gets more stud requests than Seabiscuit.

Blue II sired Seabiscuit.

Blue II's flatulence was the inspiration for the atomic bomb

Blue II doesn’t chew his food, he swallows it whole.

Blue II stuffs his own animals.

Blue II came up with the idea for Butler University, then told Ovid Butler to create it.

Ever seen a metal chain snap in half? Chain up Blue II.

Blue II doesn’t wear a flea collar. Fleas wear Blue II collars. They don’t work.

Blue II doesn’t bark. He speaks.

Blue II once caught a cold. That cold is now dead.

Blue II walks around naked every day...because he can.

Blue II understands and can speak 12 different languages. However, he chooses not to articulate with words as mere humans do not have the brain capacity to comprehend his diction.

Blue II has the ability to type his blog, but doesn’t have to since a simple stare-down with his PC will type it for him.

Blue II knows who let the dogs out.

Blue II doesn't breathe, he holds air hostage.

When Blue crosses the street, the cars have to look both ways.

Blue II doesn’t play “fetch.” He plays “seek and destroy.”

Blue II purposely walks slowly so as to not speed up the rotation of the Earth.

Hinkle Fieldhouse was originally designed and built as a “dog house” for Blue II.

Blue II doesn’t have a yard; he has a 180 acre campus.

The electric fence was invented for Blue II. Invention fail.

Blue II runs through electric fences when he has an itch to scratch.

Every door Blue II walks through is a doggy door.

If your dog has five Milk Bones and Blue II has five Milk Bones. Blue II has more Milk Bones than your dog.

If your dog has five Milk Bones and Blue II has five Milk Bones. Blue II now has ten Milk Bones.

Blue II can sneeze with his eyes open.

When Butler University does not win the Horizon League McAfferty All-Sports Trophy, it is only because Blue II allows it.

Laika, the Soviet space dog was the first canine and mammal in space orbit, or so she thought when she saw Blue II floating by her capsule window.

To the naked eye, Blue II’s teeth appear crooked, that’s only because he has the ability to cross the eyes of humans that look at him.

The Grand Canyon was formed when Blue II was once looking for a place to bury a bone.

It's not a dog eat dog world. It's a Blue II eat dog world.

Blue II caught the Chuck Wagon covered wagon.

Blue II’s puppy teeth can cut diamonds.

The first Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain was actually the Running of the Bulldogs. The animals were the ancestors of Blue II. There were no survivors.

After Blue II was born, all cats immediately lost three lives.

Noah was the only man notified before Blue II relieved himself in the Atlantic Ocean.

The phrase "raining cats and dogs" came from the time Blue II was locked in a room with other collegiate mascots.

McGruff takes a bite out of crime. Blue II takes a bite out of McGruff..

Blue II was Paul Bunyan's first choice as a pet.

An early version of Mount Rushmore featured a sleeping Blue II curled up at the feet of George Washington.

Petting Blue II gives Matt Howard the ability to dunk on a 45-foot high basketball goal.

Blue II has never died on The Oregon Trail.

It is said that the vision of dogs is reduced to just black and white. Blue II sees in full-color 1080p HP high-definition.

Blue II has the ability to fly, freeze hell over, and make today the day that you die. Do not continue procrastinate life choices or chalk up detriments to these facts or he’ll call you on them.

Claims of nations and terrorist groups around the world having weapons of mass destruction are simply false. Blue II resides in Indiana.

Blue II will never chase his tail. If he did, he’d have no tail.

Blue II was actually Butler University’s 20th president and every president prior, but he lets Dr. Bobby Fong do the job in his stead.

Blue II dunked on Air Bud.

Blue II taught Astro Jetson how to fly and operate the iPhone.

Benji was actually “hunted” by Blue II. The deleted scenes reveal this. Blue II was eventually replaced in the movie by bears, wolves and cougars to make it more “believable.” Blue II killed said bears, wolves and cougars and he and Benji remain card-playing buddies to this day.

Blue II actually took the bullet for Old Yeller.

Blue II told Scooby Doo the riddle to every mystery he ever solved. EVER.

“Scooby Snacks” are actually “Blue II Snacks,” Blue II just sold Scooby Doo the rights to the name, in blood.

Scientists believe that one year of human’s life equals seven years for a dog. Blue II believes that scientists have a short life expectancy with talk like that.

The movie “Turner & Hooch” was originally titled “Turner & Blue II,” but Blue II turned down the role because he didn’t want to be portrayed as a slobbery mutt that gets yelled at by Tom Hanks.

Blue II “bites the hand that feeds” for sport.

Take Blue II to a cow pasture and what’s left is a pasture of rawhide bones.

Blue II doesn’t have toys, just other live animals he catches and then chews on.

In 2009, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Selection Committee gave Butler a No. 9 seed. As a result, Blue II has decided that the 2010 committee will be a committee of one: Blue II.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed those “Blue II Facts.” If you can think of more, then simply add them via the comment section.

Remember to check the sites I referenced above for the most up-to-date information on our Bulldogs and their respective post-season tournaments. In addition, I hope to have another post up by our game on Thursday with a little something involving me and an LSU Tiger, so be on the lookout for that.

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

A Top 10 in Response to a Random 25

2009-03-11T10:10:00.015-04:00

So I got a special package in the mail on Wednesday morning from a group of 20 (or so) elementary school students. I must say, this package couldn't have come at a better time as I was feeling quite tired and irritable after the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team took one on the chin late the night before in the Horizon League Tournament Championship game. (The Bulldogs lost by three points to Cleveland State, but in all likelihood will return to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in 13 seasons and third time in a row. As the Indianapolis Star's David Woods put it, "Butler IS going to the NCAA Tournament. Twelve months ago, that was nearly unthinkable." Well put, Mr. Woods!)

Specifically, this package came from Miss Butler's multi-age kindergarten and first grade class at White Lick Elementary School in Brownsburg, Indiana (also home of Butler freshman Gordon Hayward) and contained a top-10 list citing reason why my dad and I should come and visit Miss Butler's class this spring. Here's a shot of me reading the list...

I must say, it's the most clever, witty and fun class visit request that I've ever received and I commend Miss Butler's students on their creativity, ingenuity and charm. According to Miss Butler, who graduated from Butler University in 2002 with my dad, this list came about as an original idea from the students. She only helped to scribe the list for them.

Evidently the list came about in their "writer's workshop" where Miss Butler was teaching them "organization in writing" and "lists" were brought up as an illustration of that. As avid readers of my blog, Miss Butler's students quickly recalled my recent blog post where I chronicled "25 Random Things" about myself. Their response, without further adieu, is a list of the "Top 10 reasons why Blue and Mr. K. (that's my dad) should come visit us..."

10. We are probably the only five, six and seven year olds that read your blog.

9. Some of us weigh sixty-two pounds, just like you!

8. We've bot some Star Wards fanatics in the room and we want to hear Blue's "whine." [In reference to my Chewey Chewbacca reference.]

7. We're dying to see Blue's infamous tricks!

6. We try to do things at school "The Butler Way." [Keep up the good work!]

5. We'll even make sure our room is really clean.

4. We're Bulldogs just like you (except we're not real dogs...we usually don't bark) [That's okay, I meet a lot of humans around Butler that claim to be Bulldogs, but don't appear to be anything like me. I get it.]

3. We're lots of fun (at least we think so)! [I can see that!]

2. For some reason we think body functions are hilarious. [In response to my random report on my bodily waste routines. Glad you enjoyed that one. Respect the relief of bodily waste being jettisoned from the body, but never lose the humor in it either. It is what it is.]

1. We're Butler University's #1 fans! [Thanks, we'll take all the support that we can get...especially come NCAA basketball tournament season!]

Signing off with a "Come visit soon" are Jakob, Brayden, August, Leister, Ellie, Andrew, Ryan, Ashley, Jacob, Dietrich, Leah, Gavin, Jonathan, Reagan, Martin, Evann, Lydia, Bo, Belle, Jackson and Miss B.

Thanks friends! You guys are the best! I lick my nose in approval...

A special thanks goes to Miss Butler who, by helping her students create and send this to me, is illustrating just what a great educator she is...bravo Miss Butler!

But how about those students?! Wow! According to Miss Butler, these youngsters love reading my blog and particularly enjoy the pictures of me, and they've become huge basketball fans this season. Miss Butler reports that her students now know more about the Butler men's basketball team and Horizon League than she does and they love http://www.butlersports.com/.

Right on, Miss Butler's class! Keep up the great work and you can sure bet that I'll be making a visit to your class very soon!

Stay in school,

Blue II

P.S. Don't forget to vote for me in Bissell's MVP Contest so that I can help them sell vacuums! Click here to vote for me: http://www.bissell.com/MVP09/Week09/Vote9.aspx?ImageName=Butler+Blue+II&FileName=769.jpg

Butler Blue II Needs Your Vote Again!

2009-03-10T14:38:00.013-04:00

Yep, I need your vote yet again as the folks at Bissell are looking for their next pet model in their Most Valuable Pet Contest. You may remember I entered the Bissell MVP Contest last year in hopes to try land my mug on a vacuum box. While I got a lot of votes, I didn’t seem to have enough support to make the cut. That or Bissell just selected a pooch on their own accord. I’m not sure which scenario is actually the case.

Oh well, I’m back to give it another shot. The BISSELL MVP Pet Photo Contest voting period #9 is open now through March 17! To vote for me, click here: http://www.bissell.com/MVP09/Week09/Vote9.aspx?ImageName=Butler+Blue+II&FileName=769.jpg

My parents could really use a free Bissell vacuum given all the dog hair I leave behind, so thanks in advance for your vote and support!

In other news, the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team is playing for the Horizon League Tournament title tonight in a 9 p.m . game at Hinkle Fieldhouse versus Cleveland State. The game is on ESPN so either get to Hinkle and get a seat or find your way to a television set and tune in!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

25 Random Things About Butler Blue II

2009-03-03T08:45:00.001-05:00

If you spent any time on Facebook.com over the last several weeks, then you may have come across the personal "note" phenomenon known as “25 Things about Me.” In a nutshell, Facebook.com members, i.e. those with a profile, write a “note” about themselves that include 25 random things about them…just as the title suggests. Some of these notes are very random, some are very predictable, but for a site that is meant for people to connect people and allow people to get to know each other better, they actually take that concept a step further.

In other words, they work…they’re funny, quirky, witty, intelligent and most of all, informative. As a result, they’ve become quite popular with the kids and under 40 crowd. So, I thought I would blow the collective minds of the cyber world and type up a little “25 Things about Me” of my own. Maybe even be the first dog to do so; at least the first mascot to let the world in on my world; 25 random facts at a time.

So with out further adieu, let’s begin…

1. I’ve got a book coming out this summer. It’s a photo book chronicling the first five years of my life in pictures; hence the term “picture book.” At this point in time, it’s probably going to be more than 100 pages in length. Unfortunately this won’t be any piece you can find on the best-seller table at Borders or Barnes & Noble, or even in the lavish and rich mahogany-smelling Butler Bookstore, as it’s being made by my dad on MyPublisher.com. Thus, it will be an expensive little coffee table piece that you’ll probably only find in my parent’s living room, in my dad’s office and in the third floor archives of the Irwin Library.

2. It wasn’t until just a couple of years ago that I realized most dogs have to stay at home all day instead of going with humans to work. I’ve never really known anything different so I often forget that, but my dad is always quick to remind me when I’m barking or committing some non-favorable office activity during business hours.

3. I have a sixth sense for ice cream. You can pull a bag of frozen peas or some frozen strawberries out of the freezer and I probably won’t bother to even come into the kitchen. On the other hand, I could be on my bed and asleep in the living room and you pull out the ice cream and I’m on the floor next to the counter before you can even find the ice cream scoop.

4. I sleep in the bed with my parents. I have since the first night…about 20 minutes of crying in my crate after the lights went out fixed that. I think that I’m pretty much the reason why my parents bought a king sized bed. Typically, I have to be touching someone in the bed at all times. That means that I push my butt into someone’s legs or butt all night. I don’t like to be covered up unless I don’t feel good, and that’s even with a fan on every night. And come morning, you have to wake me up and carry me out of bed, otherwise I’d just assume stay in bed until noon every day. Yes, EVERY day.

5. I “kiss” my dad and “hug” my mom. Okay, sure, I kiss my mom sometimes and hug my dad at times as well, but usually, I give face kisses to my dad and cuddle and hug on my mom. Also, every night when we all just crawl into bed, I have to kiss my dad profusely…I mean like enough kisses to practically chap his skin. I’m thanking him for the day, for taking me to work, for loving on me and just for everything.

6. I might be the most technologically advanced/savvy dog that you know outside of Astro Jetson. I have a blog, a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account and a live office web cam. I have to thank my dad for keeping all of that going on my behalf and my good friend Brad Ward for making some of that happen and marketing it.

7. My favorite toys are latex chew toys. Even though I have an amazing bite force, I just love to chew on them and feel the scrunchy latex in my mouth. I typically do not destroy my latex toys, just chew away. However, I do like to destroy my stuffed animals. I enjoy shaking the heck out of them and then watch the stuffing fly like snow flurries. My favorite stuffed animals are the basic teddy bears at Build-A-Bear. They’re well built, relatively cheap, and they don’t have plastic eyes. I nurse on their snout with my mouth and kneed the head with my paws. I do this a lot to calm my nerves or to put myself asleep. It’s weird, I know. I’ve always been nuts about balls, but my dad got me to relax just a little bit when it comes to the balls. Being around sporting events so much, it was kind important for me just “let it go.” Finally, contrary to popular believe, I really don’t chew on rawhide bones…just love to hide them.

8. I weigh 62 lbs. I’ve weighed between 60-62 lbs for probably four years now. No more, no less. Yes, that is normal for a male bulldog. No, I am not overweight. Bulldogs are built this way. Calling me fat is like calling Matt Howard fat. Not only is it not true, but we’ll make you pay for such comments. I get two cups of dog food per day (one in the morning and one in the evening). There’s pretty much food in my bowl at all times. I eat when I’m hungry and when I’m not, then I don’t eat. The same can’t be said for a lot of the people that say I look over weight. Check the mirror for yourself!

9. Movies, commercials, billboards, print ads, etc. have always interested me. I’d enjoy doing that stuff outside of Butler, but I have never really had the chance. If given the opportunity, I think I would be great at it. I am well trained, I take instruction well, I’m used to working all the time, and I’m extremely good looking. Get me an agent!

10. I might be the slowest dog you’ve ever seen or met. My run across the basketball court for that rawhide bone or the sprint from the Butler Bowl tunnel and out on the football field are just flukes. You should see me walking in and out of work every day…in those normal, everyday instances you would guess my name to be “Molasses” and not “Blue.” It drives my dad crazy, so that’s why I do it. It’s a bulldog thing.

11. When my parents leave home, I am capable of staying out on my own and not causing any problems. In that case, usually you’ll just find a warm spot on the couch from where I had been napping. We did that routine for some time, but for the past couple years I’ve gone back to being locked up in the cage while they’re gone. Staying out on my own kind of made me anxious or nervous, but hanging out in my cage allows me to really relax. I even hang out in my crate on my own time. It’s a safe haven.

12. My dad is working on a special project with a childhood friend named Kurtis Beavers that revolves around me. I cannot divulge what they are working on at the moment, but I think it will be pretty cool when it’s all finished. That should be a while though…they’re only in the development phase.

13. I enjoy getting out of the house and going places, but frankly, the car is old news for me. I’m a sucker for tractors, four-wheelers, and boats. I’ve been known to jump up on the four-wheeler by myself and wait for a human to hop on and give me a ride.

14. I love being a mascot! Granted, I don’t know anything different, but I truly think I was born to do it. I love going to campus every day, hanging out with students, going to sporting events, wearing jerseys, attending university events, doing photo shoots, and any other mascot duties they throw my way. I can’t imagine any other lifestyle.

15. I have some bad habits and issues with bodily functions. Good manners are something I’ve never been taught. Thus, I burp, fart and snore quite often and sometimes at the same time. Chalk it up to my breed: the English Bulldog. It’s what we do.

16. I’m not a “howler.” You know how with some dogs if you howl like a wolf, they’ll howl back with/at you. Yeah, I don’t do that. I make crying noises like Chewbacca when I really want something, but I don’t howl. I bark a lot and growl sometimes.

17. I’m not going to lie, my work accommodations could be better. But I am just No. 2, in the line of “Butler Blues.” Thus, I just think that sometimes people do not understand what could/should be done for a live mascot. Sometimes “Butler Blue II” is an after thought. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got it pretty good, but there could be more. After all, I am a bulldog and “getting around” isn’t exactly my strong suit. So, a reserved, close parking spot would be helpful. Sure, I’m a dog, but I’m not just some happy-go-lucky Labrador that’s running into work every morning. Believe me, I’m smarter than that. My dad practically has to drag me into work every day. A golf cart to get around campus would be good too. Maybe I should talk to the local Smart Car dealer and see about getting hooked up with a new blue Smart Car…the new “Blue Mobile!” I’m just saying, I’m the real thing…a living breathing mascot. That should come with some extra perks. See UGA at the University of Georgia.

18. If your dog has diarrhea, feed him/her 100% pumpkin with a little plain non-fat yogurt. Firm ‘em right up! I’m just saying, it works for me! Seriously! Don’t get the can of pumpkin pie mix. That’s not the stuff you want. Look on the can and make sure it’s 100% pumpkin. Very important. Works like a charm.

19. Love the water. Can’t swim. As a puppy I jumped in a pool once and immediately sunk to the bottom. Think about it, I don’t have one good characteristic for swimming. My nose is smushed, my airways are small, my legs are little, my hips are narrow, my feet aren’t webbed, I weigh a ton, I’m as dense as they come and my coat holds as much water as the Sham-wow! Swimmer: no. Anchor: yes. So, my water time has been restricted to bath time, one of those plastic kiddy wading pools (which I love!) and boat rides. I have a life jacket, but even that thing struggles to keep me afloat!

20. When it comes to toys, I’m completely spoiled. I love new toys! Say the words, “new toy,” and I’m all ears. It’s pretty much the only thing that can get me to get up and jump out of bed on my own terms. Otherwise, you’re picking me up out of bed and setting me on the floor. Bring home some shopping sacks and I’m going through them to make sure there isn’t a new toy in there for me. Bring a new toy home, and I’m going nuts! I’ll cry until I get it and once I do, I have to take it straight to my bed. I don’t know why, I just do. After that, it’s the only thing on my mind when I’m home for at least a week. Say “new toy” after bringing one home recently, and that will be the one that I go get. Love me some new toys!

21. I love going to the vet. I hear a lot of dogs don’t like going to the vet. I don’t get that. I go to the vet and all of the staff make over me, give me lots of treats, give me my own room (no really, I have a room at the vet with my pictures on the wall) and after all of that, my vet, Dr. Kurt Phillips (pictured) as Woodland Animal Hospital, comes in and takes care of me. Seriously, I love going to the vet. Say “Dr. Phillips,” and my ears perk up. Pull up to the vet’s office, and I race you to the door. Good times!

22. While I’m not supposed to have “people food” I still have been known to have fair share from time to time. Like any canine, I’ll eat just about anything. Here are a few things I won’t devour: lettuce, pretzels, Pepto Bismol, and sometimes popcorn and dry cereal…just depends on my mood for those last two.
23. High-maintenance and pampered, that’s me. I don’t try to be. I don’t go seeking that sort of care and attention, it just comes with the territory and the breed. Several hundred years of inbreeding has bred most of the good stuff right out of us English Bulldogs. As a result, I often have to have Desitin or A+D (you know, the stuff for diaper rash) Ointment applied to my wrinkles, nooks and crannies. That means I have it applied to my face wrinkles, nose rope and tail pocket. Pleasant huh? It supposed to dry up the wrinkles and prevent fungus and infection. I don’t much like it, but I’m a trooper about it and take it. I also have to have my wrinkles and what not frequently cleaned with baby wipes. They like to put Vaseline on my nose too. Put Vaseline all over your nose and let me know how that goes. It’s tough being me.

24. When I go potty and I have to urinate, 50% of the time I squat and the other 50% of the time I lift a leg. I would also say that 60% of the time I kick after I go potty to “cover it up.”

25. I’m a “wiggler.” I get excited, I wiggle. I’ll even do it on command. Show me “the twist” and I’ll shake my booty better than Chubby Checker ever did. Think about it, I’ve got a tail, but it’s a corkscrew and nothing to wag, so when I get excited, I wiggle. And pretty much every time my parents sing KC and the Sunshine Band’s lyrics “shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake youuuurrrrr booooootttttttaaaaaayyyyy,” I do just that. It’s embarrassing.

The end.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed those 25 very random facts about me and maybe even learned something new too!

Blue II

March is My Month!

2009-03-01T17:58:00.010-05:00

Why is March my month? Well, it's my birth month and if that's not good enough for you, then because Butler University says so!

According to today's Butler University "NewsFlash," our e-newsletter for alumni and friends, the Butler University Student Foundation (BUSF) will be helping me celebrate my fifth birthday on March 27th .

To view the newsletter, follow this link: http://editor.ne16.com/he/vo.aspx?FileID=917d9802-76dd-451e-9931-4c2709cc03d7&MemberID=286244402&MailID=8626727

In addition to a student, faculty and staff campus birthday party on my big day, they are also allowing everyone to celebrate my "born-on date." BUSF is supplying a special Blue II coloring card with wich you can send me your special birthday wishes. So have at it and let me know what you think!

In other news, the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team closed out February as the regular season Horizon League Champions as they defeated Cleveland State at Hinkle Fieldhouse on IndyCar Series Day.

That means Butler gets to host the Horizon League post-season tournament and I get to go to more home basketball games! So I'm excited about that! Not bad for being picked fifth in the League to start the season! Go Dawgs!

Since yesterday was IndyCar Series Day at Butler, I got to hang out with IndyCar drivers Ed Carpenter (2003 Butler grad) and Sarah Fisher (pictured/former Butler student).

Ed and Sarah signed autographs, presented special Butler branded IndyCar race helmets to Butler athletic director Barry Collier and Hink, as well as raced tricycles. Yes, they are so desperate to race something this off-season, they went head to head on trikes. Here's some footage of that...

IndyCar Day also gave me an opportunity to pose next to Ed Carpenter's No. 20 Menards Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine, operated by Vision Racing.

It's a nice looking car, but I'm not sure where the family dog is supposed to ride.

In like a lion, out like a lamb,

Blue II

Two for Tuesday

2009-02-24T15:35:00.007-05:00

I titled this post, "Two for Tuesday," but really, it's two for the work week! Yep, I'm batting 1000 when it comes to getting my name in print this week.

On Monday it was the CASE Currents Magazine that my dad gets at work. There they chronicled my (and the university's) "publicity boon" as a result of the stolen bulldog mascot costumes.

The best I could do was a scanned copy of the article in two seperate files. You probably can't even read them. I'll summarize...then university employee Brad Ward had a great idea to create a video of me searching for the missing bulldog mascot costumes, put it online and hope it goes viral. Some 13,000+ video views and a ton of publicity later, the plan worked. Sorry, that's the best I could do. Deal with it and enjoy...

Today it was Indy's Examiner.com. The Indianapolis Dogs Examiner, Rachael Niehaus put up a cute little feature on me, appropriately titled, "A Dog's Life." You can check that story out by clicking here: http://www.examiner.com/x-3061-Indianapolis-Dogs-Examiner

Not bad for a couple of day's work!

Enjoy the reads,

Blue II

A Stinky Week

2009-02-19T22:38:00.003-05:00

How about a new movie to start this post? That should serve as a nice little attention-getter.

The video below is of me, just after the introduction of the Butler Bulldog starters as I make my way across the court to retrieve my over-sized rawhide bone from the Dawg Pound. This video was shot on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 by Damon Lewis of the Horizon League, prior to the Butler/University of Illinois-Chicago men’s basketball game. Thanks for the video Damon!

As far as basketball goes, the rest of the week wasn’t so kind to the Butler Bulldogs…the men’s squad anyway. Since this game in which that video was taken, the Dawgs dropped two straight…something they haven’t done in 111 games. That’s downright stinks and unfortunately, my gastrointestinal system has matched their play.

You may remember an entry last year in which I posted a story about the bulldog being the gassiest of all dog breeds. Yeah, I lived up to that this week. I wouldn’t say that I’m proud of it, but to have such a strong smell come out of such a small being was kind of impressive.

The culprit of the flatulence was the consumption of unauthorized substances. In other words, I was eating something other than my dog food.

I’m on a strict diet of Holistic Select Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon Meal Formula made by Eagle Pack Pet Food, Inc. It treats me well. I have a nice smooth, soft and shiny coat, I am no longer affected much by seasonal allergies and I digest it well. When I deviate from my regular dog food, then you’re most certain to smell it.

Where/how would I consume such things other than my regular dog food, you ask? The office. Think about it. I work with a lot of people. These people are always bringing in food, throwing parties, eating at their desks, etc. These people also can’t say no to the pouty puppy face. Finally, these people don’t have to go home with me a night. That’s a perfect recipe for methane gas.

So my dad had to send yet another “don’t feed the dog” email out to his colleagues this week. In one email and just a few strokes of the keyboard, my dad has completely put the kibosh on my office culinary delight. Bummer.

Of course, now it’s just a big joke and I’m the “butt” (pun sort of intended) of these jokes. The office colleagues are suggesting my dad hang up signs outside his office like you’d find at a national park about not feeding the wild animals. They also came up with a t-shirt design for him. I’ve included it below. Note, I’m not laughing.

So the bad news is I no longer eat like a king. The good news, I no longer have a constantly upset stomach, indigestion and of course, bad gas. I suppose the positives out-weigh the negatives, but it’s been a tough lesson to learn.

Before I sign off, I’ve got to give some blog love to those sending love my way on Valentine’s Day. First, special thanks yet again to Leslie Bishop for the special Valentine’s Day bulldog card that she sent to the office! And, this time a special thanks also goes to Hiram Schilling for the card and treats and to Linda Cooley for the great new toys! It’s good to be me!

Here’s to hoping the Bulldogs regroup and come away victorious on Saturday (Feb. 21) at noon on ESPN versus Davidson in the BracketBuster and to a flatulence free weekend!

Blue II

A New Champ, But No Bulldog

2009-02-11T13:31:00.010-05:00

Well, another Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has come and gone, the 133rd to be exact, and we’ve got another stunner taking the “Top Dog” spot this year. Last year it was the Beagle (named Uno), this year it is a 10-year old Sussex Spaniel named Stump.

My congratulations to Stump on cheating death and coming out of retirement, as of last Wednesday, to become the oldest “Best in Show” at Westminster! This dog has quite a story! Check it out at USAToday.com; http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-02-10-westminster-dog-show_N.htm

All that aside, I’m still waiting for the English Bulldog to bust out of the Non-Sporting ranks and take the top prize. People will be saying, “Uno and Stump who?” An English Bulldog with the silver cup will blow peoples’ minds!

I’d do it, but there was a certain procedure that my good vet, Dr. Kurt Phillips performed on me back in the day that has since disqualified me from competition. Remember, these sorts of shows are judged upon “breedability” and the best dog to pass along his/her defining breed characteristics. I think you get the idea now as to why I cannot participate.

A-hem, anyway, as I was saying, I would be happy to capture the crown for the English Bulldog, but it wasn’t meant to be. So some bully, somewhere, is going to need to get their A-game together and make it happen. Personally, I think it’s only a matter of time. Our recent climb into the AKC’s Top-10 breeds over the last two years has us prime to make a stand at Westminster in the near future. When it happens, you can just remember that I told you so!

In a non-related story, I finally visited those “comment-leaving” HRC life guards this morning down at the HRC pool. My dad had to teach Boot Camp this morning, so that means a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call for this tired pooch and an early trip to campus. My reward was a trek down to the pool to pay the life guards a visit. I think they loved it! After all, they’ve been clamoring for it over the last two semesters!

Thankfully, I did not jump in the pool, so my dad says that I can come back and visit again. It was tempting, but I was good boy and refrained. That water sure did look refreshing, up until the point I remembered that I sink like a rock in water.

Finally today, I leave you with the promised pictures from my most recent photo shoot. You know the ones I mentioned in my last post regarding the recycling shoot and my new Nike jersey shoot. I’ve included some below (photos by Brent Smith), but for the rest, head to the album on my Facebook fan page, located here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=59617&id=23981937738&l=bbed4

I wish everyone nothing but the best on Valentine’s Day! If you haven’t got a special someone to share it with, then I’ll be your “Valentine!” Oh, that reminds me, I must send a special thanks to Leslie Bishop for sending me a Valentine’s Day card! It’s so nice to be loved! Thanks Leslie!

Much love,

Blue II

Blue II: Internet Superstar, Camera Hound, Basketball Junky, and More!

2009-02-08T20:51:00.014-05:00

Since my last post, snow has given way to mud (much to the chagrin of my parents), but before all of that wet white stuff could dissipate from the campus scenery, university photographer Brent Smith and I were able to get out and capture it all. Below are some photos and a video from that little venture.

For the rest of the photos, visit this public Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=61703&l=0a712&id=23981937738

By the way, I do have my own Facebook fan page, and if you’re on Facebook and not a fan, then what are you waiting for? As of Feb. 8, 2009, I have 205 fans on Facebook. Trust me, if those 205 people are wrong, then they don’t want to be right. So make sure you join them and become a Blue II Facebook fan today!

Now, back to the photo shoot…that wasn’t the only photo shoot I’ve participated in since my last post. Just this past Friday I headed across campus and over to Brent’s studio to do a pose for a little something called Recyclemania and to get a few snap photos of me in my new custom Nike jersey.

Once those photos are available, I’ll be sure to post them. Until then, you’ll just have to make due with my dad’s amateur photography of me and my new uniform.

Again, special thanks to Nike for supplying the material and to the Tom James Company for putting it together. Luckily Nike sent enough material to make another one, so I may just be able to get two in the rotation.

Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped about the jersey. Once I get it on, I feel invincible! A real Super Dog! I just can’t help but get on a healthy strut in that thing. Just wait until you catch me at the next basketball game…you’ll see.

Speaking of jersey, one of my colleagues at Butler has a nice half yellow lab, half sharpei mix puppy named Jersey and fortunately me, she’s brought her in to work a couple of times to play. I’m completely enamored with Jersey and ever since our time together, I like to stop by her mom’s office on a regular basis just to see if she is there. Come back, Jersey! I miss you!

Anyway, here’s a video of our time together…

In case you missed it, last week’s news featured a story about the sentencing of the four boys guilty of stealing and damaging “Hink,” the Butler Bulldog mascot costume. Here’s the Indy Star report in case you missed it: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902040377

Basically, those guys avoided jail time, got a year of probation, some community service and a hefty bill. Butler received two new mascot costumes and a ton of publicity. So, thanks? It’s funny how things work out sometimes.

Moving on, let’s take a look into the mailbag since our last post…

First, I’d like to give a shout-out to the morning lifeguards at the HRC! Much love. Now, lets take a look at the question posted by “Ben & Molly” who wrote…

I did catch you on ESPN's SC. Big time. So I've been wondering, I attended my first women's game last week (Valpo) and as it turns out was sitting next to your parents. So I wanted to know, every time you go out on to the court for men's introductions you can't wait to run over and grab that big rawhide bone from the Dawg Pound, do you get disappointed in the fact there is no bone waiting for you at the girls games?

Good question and observation, Ben & Molly. And yes, when the player introductions have concluded at the women’s games, I want nothing more than to run across the court and retrieve my bone. As you noticed, however, there’s no bone at those game to retrieve. Of course, I’m a creature of habit, so I start heading in that direction any way and literally make my dad drag me off the court by the way we came…biting my leash and digging in my claws the entire way!

But bone or no bone, it’s good to be a Butler Bulldog right now. The men are currently 21-2, notching their 11th 20-win season in 13 seasons and giving head coach Brad Stevens 51 wins and counting with just six losses. They are still ranked in the top-25 and sit atop the Horizon League standings. Meanwhile the Lady Bulldogs are 14-8 and 9-2 in the Horizon League which places them second in the standings.

That’s about it from my world at the moment. I want to thank those who made use of the comments section of the blog. I encourage you to do the same. Ask me a question, I “double dog” dare you! (pun intended) Otherwise, don’t forget to catch me on Facebook, on Twitter and inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

Happy Anniversary and Snow Day!

2009-01-28T15:47:00.013-05:00

Happy anniversary and happy snow day to me! The anniversary is in honor of my blogging career and the credit for the snow day goes to Mother Nature, who dropped a foot of snow in my yard over night!

I’ll report on the snow first, since that seems to be the most pressing bit of news in Central Indiana today as it's Indy's biggest snowfall in 13 years and sixth largest in Indy history! After sleeping in a bit today, I ventured outside just to see how deep a foot of snow actually is. And let me tell you, for a bulldog, that some deep snow! As you can tell by the pictures and videos, I had a blast romping around in the stuff.

The snowfall actually got started the evening prior and so I got my first taste of it, literally, on my way out of work. Finally, a healthy dose of that fluffy white precipitation blanketed campus and I got to be around to experience it. It was glorious! Below are a couple of photos of my dad's idea of trying to get me ready for the weather...

And here’s a bit of video of my campus snow fun as well…

For more of my snow frolic videos, be sure to head to BlueTube!

Now, back to the anniversary celebration…in my previous post this month, I failed to mention that January 13th marked the first anniversary of “The Life and Times of Butler Blue II.” In my first year, I (read: my dad) pounded out a total of 89 posts, which averages out to be 1.7 posts per week!

A quick look at the dashboard reveals some pretty telling stats about my blog too. A snap shot of just the last four months (since the release of my “search for the bulldog costume” video) shows that my blog has been visited and read by folks in 60 countries! Amongst the United States and its territories, I’m only missing a visitor from those in Idaho, Wyoming and Alaska…so if anyone knows people in those states, could you tell them about my blog and have them check it out?!

The blog has received a total of 5,500 page views with about 4,664 visits and a bounce rate of 88.8% since September. A bounce rate that high would not be ideal for say, a business, but for a blog it typically means people are just coming in to read the most recent post and then moving on. Thus, I’ve got some repeat offenders, i.e. a solid following.

However, my blog is currently syndicated to http://go.butler.edu/cs, and that adds another 12,257 visits and 18,302 unique page views from the past four months! So all together I’m not doing half bad…consider me an internet superstar!

Perhaps what’s most fun about reviewing the stats is to see how some people stumble upon the blog. In other words, what key words are people using in their Google search that leads them to my blog. Here are some of my favorites from the past four months…and no, I did not make these up.

Some of the most bizarre Google search keywords that have led internet users to my blog include:

- “Cardboard Box”
- “UGA VI Breeder”
- “Turner and Hooch Slime”
- “Is there an IHOP coming to Butler”
- “Buy and English Bulldog of UGA Lineage”
- “Ed Carpenter and Friends”
- “Indianapolis Blues Veterinarian” (Drs. Phillips and Stephan, you can thank me later for that!)
- “Selling Booth at Bulldog Beauty Contest” (Not a bad idea…I may have to pursue that!)
- “Vacuum Covers”
- “Vets for Rooster Food”

Kind of makes you wonder what the most bizarre Google searches are in all of Google. I’m sure there are some real strange ones, to say the least.

Another one year anniversary milestone is also coming up for BlueTube, which was founded on Feb. 28, 2008. Since its founding, the Butler Blue II YouTube channel (aka BlueTube)has logged 37,942 video views!

A special thanks to all of my faithful readers (and viewers) for your support over the last year. I hope that you’ll stick around to enjoy another year of my futile blogging and maybe recruit some friends and colleagues to log on from time to time as well.

In an effort to keep the blog somewhat fresh, I added a new feature in the top left corner which displays my recent status updates that I’ve posted on Twitter. That’s right, I’ve got my own Twitter account, so if you Twitter as well, then be sure to “follow me.” Or, if you find Twitter to be a bit technologically advanced for you, then no worries, that is why I installed that new little widget.

Other than that, I just want to encourage all my readers to feel comfortable using the comments section of the blog. I always love the feedback and the added dialogue tends to led to some better blog posts so knock yourself out!

Moving on, how about those Butler Bulldog basketball teams? Both the men’s and women’s teams have been tearing up the competition like I would an innocent stuffed animal. The women’s team has an overall record of 12-6 with an impressive 7-0 record in Horizon League conference play.

Meanwhile, their male counterparts have racked up an 18-1 record and are also undefeated in the Horizon League with a 9-0 start. Those are both university records making this the fastest start in Butler basketball’s 117 year history! And they’re doing it with a second year head coach, age 31, and his cast of starters that include three freshman, one sophomore and one junior. In fact, there aren’t any seniors on this team! Their impressive play has earned them the 13th spot in the national rankings, which includes both the AP and ESPN polls.

Last Saturday some 9,400 fans, including myself, packed Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch them destroy the Horizon League’s second ranked team, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. This Friday, Jan. 30th at 7 p.m., the next victim will be the Crusaders of Valparaiso University. You know that you don’t have anything else to do this Friday, so get your butt over to Hinkle for the game…you’ll love it! Its basketball played the right way; The Butler Way.

While I may just be the second, in what we all hope is along line of “Butler Blues,” I may just go out the with the most wins as a “Butler Blue” in all of time. If nothing else, I’ll have a tough reign as mascot to beat by my predecessors!

Speaking of basketball and mascots, at one of the recent games, the official name was finally revealed for Butler’s costumed bulldog mascot, formerly known simply as “Bulldog.” When the university had that whole missing mascot costume fiasco, the local news agencies started referring to that bulldog as “Blue.” That, of course, is incorrect since “Blue” is my name, and I certainly wasn’t missing.

So, a need for name for the costumed mascot was identified and as a result, the “Name that Dawg!” contest was created. After several great submissions and a fantastic voter turnout, the name “Hink” was selected. Why “Hink?” After the late, great Tony Hinkle, of course! Regardless of the name, at least the costume has one now. So, problem solved, right? Wrong.

(photo below by Heather Charles, Indianapolis Star)

“Hink” was announced and what do half the people I stumble upon at subsequent games call me? Yep, “Hink.” I thought Butler people were supposed to be smart. For those keeping score at home, let’s go over this one last time. My name is Butler Blue II, or just “Blue,” for short. Got that? The real looking bulldog that appears to be a living, breathing mammal, (a la ME), is named “Blue.” The over-sized, not-so-bulldog-looking, guy-in-suit version is named “Hink.” This shouldn’t be that hard. Oh, and there will be a test…it’s called life…don’t screw it up.

And while I’m all worked up, let me just chime in on all of those comments I’ve been receiving lately about my weight. I’ve got news for all of you chumps with Chihuahuas, dachshunds, and other ankle biting dogs, I’m exactly where an English Bulldog should be…62 lbs. In fact, I’ve probably weighed between 60-62 lbs. for the last 3-4 years, so no; I have not gained weight this season. Got that? I’m not fat and I’ve not put on weight! Sorry, I just had to get that out of the way and clear the record, yet again.

The topic of my weight is a nice segway into my next item of discussion regarding my new custom tailored Nike jersey. Thanks to the good folks at Nike, the Butler athletic department received a few yards of Butler blue Nike jersey material which is to be used specifically to fashion a new, custom jersey for me. So my dad called up his haberdashery at the Tom James Company and they agreed to fit me and complete the creation and tailoring of the jersey.

Much like UGA’s jersey (pictured below) mine will have a block “B” on the chest, with my name “BLUE” across the back and the Roman Numeral II for my number. Nice! It’s in production now, so when it’s time for a fitting, I’ll be sure to post some pictures and possibly some video. Until then, many thanks to Nike and the Tom James Company for their efforts!

In other recent news, the annual top-10 dog breeds were announced by the American Kennel Club, and not only did the bulldog make the list again this year, but we moved up from 10th to eighth! Remember last year when we made the list we did so after a some 50 year hiatus. So it feels good to be back, and to be moving up! Watch out dime-a-dozen labs, the bulldogs are coming after you for that top spot!

Here’s the official list…

1. Labrador Retrievers
2. Yorkshire Terriers
3. German Shepherd Dogs
4. Golden Retrievers
5. Beagles
6. Boxers
7. Dachshunds
8. Bulldogs
9. Poodles
10. Shih Tzu

Finally, I leave you today with a story from this past summer (July 2008) that I missed regarding a fellow colleague in the bulldog mascot ranks, Chesty the Marine Corps mascot. Chesty called it quits this past summer and hung up the rifle, baton, or whatever piece of weaponry he uses, to enjoy the fruits of retirement. It’s a good story, so be sure to check out the video below. Chesty, I hope that you are enjoying retirement and continuing to live life to the fullest!

I hope to see all of you soon inside Hinkle Fieldhouse for a men’s and/or women’s Butler basketball game!

Until then, Go Dawgs!

Blue II

P.S. Did you see me this past weekend on the intro to ESPN's SportsCenter?

New Year...Same Blue II

2009-01-18T20:07:00.012-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry I’m a little late on that, I know, but keep in mind that it’s not my fault…I don’t get to type these things so I’m at the mercy of my old man finding his way to the keyboard to hammer these posts out. Needless to say, the hustle and bustle of the holidays followed by a “family” (family = sans family dog) hasn’t given him much time to submit a new post on my behalf.

Yep, he and my mom took off for Disney World for a little more than a week, back on Jan. 9th while I got to go stay with my Kaltenmark grandparents in Wabash, Ind. I love my grandparents, but I’m not so certain that I got the losing end of that deal. My dad said something about no dogs being allowed at Disney World. What? No dogs? Isn’t their main mascot a mouse?! Please.

Oh well, as the week without my parents went on, I resigned myself to the fact that I’m was going to be away from them for a while and spending some quality time with the grandparents wasn’t so bad. After all, I was able to get plenty of sleep, attention, pampering and playtime with my toys. So, while it wasn’t so bad, it still was no Disney World either. Below are some pics my grandpa took to illustrate my week...

I hope the holidays and the first couple weeks of the New Year treated everyone very well. Per usual, jolly old Saint Nick was kind to me. I’ve got enough new toys to keep me busy for a while. Below is a little video of me tearing in to one of my presents. You can view more video at my BlueTube site or www.youtube.com/butlerblue2.

(That's my cousins, Andrew and Alex Dinkins on the assist.)

Outside of the presents there was just a lot of hanging out with family, napping and eating…the sort of thing I do on a daily basis really. We did watch that new movie, Kung Fu Panda…I liked it and I couldn’t help but notice some similarities between the panda and myself. We’re both big, cumbersome, jolly, hungry cuddly guys. I just don’t know much in the way of ninja battle tactics. It’s a good movie...I suggest it for all ages.

It seemed that the Nintendo Wii was another popular activity this past holiday season and well, all of that activity in front of the TV kind of got me excited. I mean, think about how that looks to me; humans standing in the living room, waving their arms at the TV while jumping around and contorting their bodies. To this bulldog it looks like your either having a grand mal seizure or inviting me to play. I just assume the latter and take it upon myself to jump on your leg and completely wreck any positive progress you’ve made in whatever game you’re playing. Game over Nintendo Wii; game on Blue II.

Moving on, the New Year started out well for us Butler Bulldogs as the men’s basketball team reentered the Top-25 rankings. In late December they hit the AP poll and into the first week of 2009 they moved up and entered both polls. A week later and they moved up yet again. We’ll see what this week brings, but regardless of our position in the Top 25, it’s just nice to be there.
At 16-1, the Dawgs are looking good…keep up the good work!

Well, that’s about all the material that I have for you at the moment. All this vacationing, mostly by my parents, has left me with little to discuss. However, worry not, with the students returning to campus, basketball season getting into full swing, and other things, I have a feeling that my social and work calendar will be full soon enough and I’ll have plenty to share. Until then, stay warm and enjoy the start of 2009!

Blue II

Have a Blue Christmas!

2008-12-23T16:32:00.008-05:00

First, I wish everyone a merry week of Christmas and I hope you are like me and are able to spend some quality time with the family this week and weekend. To my Jewish friends who are amidst the Hanukah tradition, may you have a very happy one!

And as promised here’s my picture with the fat man from the North Pole from earlier in the month.

Even though I told old St. Nick what I wanted for Christmas, I’ve been fortunate to have been getting additional gifts all month long. Dean Ena Shelley gave me a rawhide bone on behalf of the College of Education. However, I went ahead and hid that somewhere in the office before my dad could get a picture so you’ll have to take my word for it. Linda Cooley spoiled me yet again showering me with everything from treats, to stuffed animals and a stocking full of goodies like tennis balls, rubber toys, etc. I even had a student, Stephanie Smith, come down and give me a little stuffed bone that’s good for chewing on.

Needless to say, it’s good to be me at Christmas…so good that I even have old Christmas classics being reworded for me. Below is a video that the Office of Admission sent to prospective students for the Holidays. It’s titled, “Jingle Blue.”

This has also been a good month because I’ve finally received a little feedback in the comments section of the blog. I’m happy to see a little reader response so that I can engage in a little blog dialogue instead of just thinking all of this stuff up on my own all of the time. So, without further adieu…

The HRC morning life guards lovingly write, “Blue, I hope you know those pool facilities you mentioned are just as clean as they possibly can be. It’s been pretty slow in the mornings with finals and all, so we've had time to Clorox positively everything! and we think that when your dad and mom come to swim or sit in the sauna that you should come for some swim lessons! Just kidding, but we ARE mighty jealous of the control desk supervisors that get to play with you all the time.”

Dear HRC morning lifeguards, I have complete faith in your cleaning abilities. Your efforts combined with the magical capabilities of Clorox must surely be Norovirus proof. My parents swam in the HRC numerous times during the Norovirus campus attack and never contracted a symptom. Good work!

As for swim lessons, there’s no doubt that I’d love such a thing, but no matter how hard you tried to teach me to swim, I don’t think it’s possible. There’s just no trait given to an English Bulldog that lends itself to swimming. Thanks for the thought though.

As for hanging out during open swim, well, there’s a possibility of that, I suppose. Chances are I’ll just sleep on the pool deck, but in the event I might make myself believe that I can swim, you may need to be on high alert.

My next comment comes from Jamaica who says, “Butler's campus isn't the only place being struck. Check this out:” http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/75741/Killer-virus-grips-Britain

Of course, Jamaica is writing in reference to my report on the Norovirus attacking Butler. In the case that Jamaica shares, we have a deadly winter vomiting bug that’s attacking my ancestors in Great Britton. Yikes! I suppose it could be worse!

There was another bit of mail that caught my attention this month. It came via US Mail and was addressed to my dad. It was an anonymous letter dated Dec. 11 and thanked my dad for taking care of me. Judging by my dad’s reaction, I think it might be the best Christmas gift he gets this year. I’ll let you read it so you’ll understand:

Dear Michael,

I want to thank you for taking such good care of Blue II. Yes, I want to thank you for feeding, walking, and playing catch with your dog. It might seem a little ridiculous for me to share my appreciation for you completing a task that involves your own life, however I want to explain to you why. You dog, our university’s mascot, means so much to so many. Blue is a symbol of unity – something with which all Butler students can belong. But he wouldn’t be so if it were not for you.

You don’t have to take care of him. You don’t have to be around. You don’t need the responsibility. You don’t depend on us in any way except for that we show up when you show up. But you do it anyway. Doing so shares with us an exceptional amount of loyalty to your alma mater, and shows the Butler community leadership through longevity. Not to mention, you’ve cared for a very wonderful dog that all Butler students have grown to love. We appreciate seeing him in passing, in Starbucks, and expecially at basketball games. You steadfast school spirit is truly “the Butler Way.”

So thank you again, Michael, for being such a good owner to that sweet little dog. Take care of yourself this holiday season as well as you would Blue.

Sincerely,

Anonymous

My thanks to the anonymous author of this letter and I hope that said author doesn’t mind me sharing it on the blog. I often thank my dad, and my mom for that matter, for their abundant love and guidance and their special care, but sometimes I think its better if they hear it from someone else from time to time. And by thank, I mean that I give them kisses and hugs.

My dad often says that caring for me isn’t something he would trade for anything in the world. I think he’s quite proud of it actually, but I’m totally dependent on my parents so I know it takes some effort and thus, that’s why I think it good they hear a little appreciation some times. Anyway, that letter made my dad cry, so my thanks again, to whom ever wrote it.

This week’s Indianapolis - Marion County Public Library Call-A-Story features freshman guard Ronald Nored reading from Slam Dunk Basketball Poems. Call 317-275-4444 to hear Ronald’s eloquent reading and to watch Ronald and the boys in action, tune in to ESPNU tonight at 7 p.m. (ET) as the Bulldogs take on the No. 12 ranked Musketeers of Xavier University.

I was so excited for this game and the possibility of our underdog Bulldogs to pull off an upset in Cincinnati, Ohio, I took it out on my Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer stuffed animal. Sorry Rudolph!

Oh and don’t forget to log on to ButlerSports.com to vote for a name for my costumed counterpart. That’s right, the final vote for the Name that Dawg! Contest is taking place now. You can vote for the following names: Buster, Barkley, Buddy and Hink. Almost 300 different names were submitted for the new costumed bulldog and the powers that be have got it down to four names. Cast your vote today!

May you have a very Merry Christmas and of course, Go Dawgs!

Blue II

All I want for Christmas is a Norovirus Cure

2008-12-11T19:23:00.011-05:00

If you haven’t experienced it for yourself, then chances are you’ve heard about it or even seen in the news that Butler University is not just the home of the Bulldogs, but the Norovirus (pictured) as well. Just like a cruise ship, we’ve got a pool, exercise facilities, dining areas and yes, the Norovirus.

Fortunately, I haven’t contracted the illness and neither has my dad, but cases continue to pop up each day with over 200 reported in seven days. New cases have drastically slowed down, thankfully, but the risk still exists! So, thus far so we’re just trying to stay clean and out of contact.

Basically, the best way to keep from getting the virus is to wash your hands and paws…early and often. Thus the irony, National Hand Washing Awareness Week is Dec. 7-13. Visit http://www.henrythehand.com/ for details. Too bad this couldn’t happen a couple of weeks ago, but seriously, wash your hands folks!

Per usual, I’ve been keeping myself occupied since my last post. Last Friday I was invited to the PRSSA oath ceremony where journalism/public relations students at Butler joined our Public Relations Student Society of America chapter. Why was I there? I’m not sure, but they gave me and my dad an official member certificate for coming and that’s cool. So yes, I am now a member of the PRSSA. For the right price, I may even let PRSSA use me in their promotional materials. Hey, the economy is down and I’ve got to get paid!

On Saturday we ventured over to 49th Street and College Ave. to drop in on my friends at City Dogs Grocery for their annual Furry Friends Holiday Open House. I got some complimentary treats from the official food provider of me, Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc., I got a nifty little tennis ball to chomp on and of course, I got to pay a visit to the fat man from the North Pole, jolly old St. Nick. Check it out…

I asked Santa for a few things for myself, a couple things for my parents, and a few big ticket items for Butler. We’ll see if he can come through. I’m on the “nice” list this year, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.

Again this week Christmas has come early as Linda Cooley from the Political Science Department brought me some more stuffed animals. Linda is pretty much my new favorite person on campus.

Just behind Linda would have to be my new friend Emily Reeser in the Marketing Communications office. She’s my new seamstress of sorts. Emily’s been hard at work putting those years in 4-H to good use by helping me get some proper fitting attire.

Let me explain…thanks to Shelby Roscoe in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and her friend who is a rep for Nike, I have a new football jersey. However, that jersey needed a couple modifications to fit this fine specimen of a bulldog body, insert Emily, who was able to put in an elastic band in the waist area. Now I just have to pin up the sleeves and I’m in business next football season! Sweet!

Thanks to all that made it possible! I’m still working on a truly custom fitted jersey, but this will be a big improvement for the time being. Much appreciated! As you can tell, I like wearing it…makes me feel like a big deal.

On Monday I had another little photo shoot on location at the HRC. The premise of the shoot was me on a treadmill. It’s kind of an oxymoronic pose really, but it works. The photo is going to be used for some HRC promotional items, etc. I had a good time with it, although I’m not too keen on doing anything other than just standing on the treadmill. Fire the thing up and I’m hopping off and barking at it…much like my skateboard routine.

Congratulations again goes out to the Butler men’s basketball team who soundly defeated the Bradley Braves last night to go 8-0 thus far on the season. The Bulldogs head to Columbus, Ohio for Saturday’s battle of the unbeatens as we take on the 5-0 and nationally ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

Our Lady Bulldogs head to Ohio this weekend for a Saturday match-up with the Redhawks of Miami University. The women are 3-5 and have won 2 of their last 3 games.

Don't forget to call this week's Butler Bulldog, Matt Howard on the Indianapolis/Marion County Public Library Call-A-Story to hear him read a selection from The World According to a Dog. Call 317-275-4444 and have a listen today!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

ESPN Calls it "Mayhem in December"

2008-12-05T09:03:00.006-05:00

If you missed last night's ESPNU airing of the men's basketball match up between the undefeated and young Butler Bulldogs against the No. 1 pre-season Horizon League favorites, the Cleveland State Vikings, then I hope you maybe saw the highlights on ESPN's SportsCenter's Top-10 plays.

And if you missed that then maybe you heard Joe Gentry and Nick Gardner on WXNT 1430 AM, or perhaps you caught the game online at the Horizon League Network. And if none of that happened, then I need you to get out from under that rock in which you are living, change up your priorities and get behind the Dawgs!

Wow! What a game last night. It was brutal and undeniably ugly. There were more fumbles, miscues and missed shots than anyone would care to admit. However, what shown brightly from the Butler squad throughout the entire game was a positive attitude, perseverance, tenacity and a refusal to quit. Those boys just didn't have it in them to roll over and play dead when the going got tough. They just found a way, ugly or not, to get the job done.

That job manifested itself in two big three point baskets by sophomores Shawn Vanzant and Zach Hahn. The latter at the buzzer to win the game. If there was ever grace under pressure, that was it. Check it out...

But it wasn't just Vanzant and Hahn that made it happen. It was a total team effort. From the coaching staff, through the players and all the way to the bus driver, the whole thing just came together and worked. They all stayed positive, knew their job, followed through. Take for instance freshman and "Roly Poly Puppies" reader (317-275-4444) Gordon Hayward...the kid had 8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Solid and darn near unnoticed...just another day at the office.

Now the Bulldogs are 6-0 heading further east across Ohio to take on conference foe, Youngstown State on Saturday. I suggest you get your radio or computer fired up to take in that game. For more info on the Butler Bulldogs, might I suggest you take a look at the Indianapolis Star's David Woods and his great coverage: http://www.indystar.com/section/SPORTS0605

Can you tell I'm pumped up?! This is one happy Butler Bulldog!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

P.S. On a more somber note, our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to Shawn Vanzant, who's grandmother recently passed away. Your Butler family is here for you, Shawn.

Already a December to Remember

2008-12-03T19:50:00.029-05:00

Thanksgiving 2008 is in the books and we are now officially amidst the Holiday Season. That automatically means things get busy as I’m sure you’ve probably already noticed. For me anyway, there’s been no Thanksgiving hangover. It’s been nothing, but Holiday hustle and bustle for me. But what’s new? I’m always busy, so I’ll just get to the good stuff.

Flash back to Saturday and it was the Butler versus Evansville men’s basketball game at Hinkle Fieldhouse where the Bulldogs looked strong in a convincing victory over the Purple Aces. This game was memorable for me for a couple of reasons.

Here’s the first item: Shelly Rabideau, who works in Butler’s purchasing services department by day and assists with the game day will call on the side, is famous for baking and bringing homemade chocolate chip cookies. For this game she put forth a little extra effort and made me some special peanut butter cookies with dog-safe ingredients in a recipe she got from Three Dog Bakery. I loved them! She even made enough for me to take some home so I’ve been enjoying them every night this week. Thanks Shelly!

The other reason that the Butler/Evansville game is memorable is because the State of Indiana Governor, Mitch Daniels was in the crowd and I was able to get my picture with him Thanks for the pic, Mitch!

Oh yeah, America’s Best Frisbee dogs also performed at halftime of the Butler/Evansville game and while I did enjoy the performance, those dogs only have one trick...catching Frisbees…so I’m not even going to waste my time on them.

After the game, my folks and I headed up to Wabash, Ind. for a second Thanksgiving dinner with my mom’s side of the family. Besides scoring a little more good Thanksgiving grub, I was able to experience the season’s first significant snowfall on Sunday morning. Between 2-4 inches fell in Wabash County on Sunday morning so I went out and enjoyed that just a little bit. I’m alright with the snow, it’s fun to play in, but as you’ll see in the video, when I just want to go out and do my “business” the snow is less than ideal.

Speaking of videos, it’s been drawn to my attention by my esteemed colleague, Brad Ward, that I’ve uploaded 102 videos on YouTube (currently only 97 show up on BlueTube, but five others were added in the favorites from a different account). From those 102 videos that have been uploaded over the last nine months I’ve had 30,348 total views; or about 110 video views a day! Not bad for a Bulldog!

So what does all of that mean? Nothing. However, I’ll do my best to have my dad record anything and everything and throw it up on my YouTube page because clearly some of you out there are enjoying watching that stuff. Fine by me, that’s why I do what I do.

In addition to video, I also do photo shoots, as you may remember from the video and pictures from my post last week. I finally have some of the official pictures from that and they are posted below. Feast your eyes on that!

(Photos by Brent Smith)

Pretty good stuff, huh? How many dogs do you know that could do that? I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy…took some serious restraint to not tear open those nicely wrapped boxes and completely devour that cake, but I finally got to enjoy the cake so it was worth the wait and temptation. Not to mention, thanks to my discipline the pictures turned out pretty sweet looking too!

Today I had the privilege of visiting Stone Gate Elementary School in Zionsville, Ind. to read a book to my cousin Lauren’s kindergarten class. Lauren happens to be the student of the week this week and as a result, it was her chance to invite a special guest to come to her class and read a book of her choosing. Naturally, she picked me to join my dad and her mom and the book was If You Gave a Cat a Cupcake. Lauren’s mom did the reading and I did the tricks. We also handed out my READ! bookmarks to the class. Good times! Thanks for inviting me, Lauren!

Speaking of reading, not only can our Butler Bulldogs play a mean brand of basketball, but they read a good book every now and again as well. This week you can dial up starting freshman forward, Gordon Hayward (pictured) and hear him read “Roly Poly Puppies” on the Indianapolis Public Library line at 317-275-4444. It only takes a couple of minutes and its fun to do, so dial it up and have a listen.

As I mentioned to open the blog, we are currently amidst the Holiday Season and that means, gifts, presents, prizes, treats and much more. I love it! The fun has already begun as Linda Cooley, the secretary for the Political Science Dept. has already brought me an early gift…a tin full of little Three Dog Bakery peanut butter snacks. They are delicious! Thanks Linda!

I think I also have a “Secret Santa” as I mysteriously had one of my favorite Build-A-Bear teddy bears show up in my office. Thanks to whomever left that for me. I’ve already claimed it as my own and I’m enjoying it very much! I hope this is just a prelude of much more Holiday cheer to come my way! I must have been a good boy this year and made it on Santa’s “nice list.”

I got a couple of other great items this week thanks to Butler grad and owner of Your Image Works, Mary Shaw, who was able to find some shirts that actually fit me. With such a barreled chest and skinny hips, it’s hard to find clothes that fit, but thankfully, Mary came to my rescue. I now have a custom Dawg Pound shirt to wear to the games and a special Butler recycle shirt for Butler’s Eco Dawgs program. I’ll have more to report later about the Eco Dawgs thing…this shirt is just the beginning, but I can tell you that “Butler Blue is going ‘Green!’” Here are some pics of my new threads…

Tonight I’m headed back to campus and over to Hinkle Fieldhouse for team pictures with the Cheerleading squad and I also got a couple of photos taken with the new mascot costume. You may remember their picture from last year contained a bulldog that was not the author of this blog. That’s all I’m going to say about it, but if you search the blog you can find my opinions on the matter. I’m excited that they invited me back and I’m happy to get my pics with the squad and the new mascot. Here's a few shots from tonight...

And don’t forget, that new mascot costume still needs a name and we’re asking you to help us select that new name. The Name That Dawg! mascot naming contest runs through Dec. 7, so don’t delay…log on to http://www.butlersports.com/ and place your vote today!

Talk of the new mascot costumes has reminded me of a story my dad showed me on FoxSports.com the other day about “Mascots Gone Bad.” You can read all about it here: http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/pgStory?contentId=8824820&MSNHPHCP&GT1=39002#sport=COLLEGE%20FOOTBALL&photo=8824504

Let’s hope that myself nor my esteemed costumed colleague don’t make this list any time soon!

Finally, I want to invite all of you dog and cat owners to the Furry Friends Holiday Open House this Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008 from 1-4 p.m. at the southwest corner of 49th Street and College Ave. One of my partners and sponsors, City Dogs Grocery, is located there along with building dwellers Claire Corbin Photography and The Paw Patch Veterinarian Hospitals. They’ve all teamed up to offer pet photos with Santa, treats, raffle goodie bags and discounts on their products. I’ll be there to support City Dogs Grocery and you should come on out as well!

Don't forget to tune in to ESPNU at 8 p.m. ET tomorrow evening to watch the men's basketball team take on Cleveland State who was picked first in the pre-season Horizon League poll!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

One Thankful (and hungry) Bulldog

2008-11-27T21:07:00.010-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you had a great day filled with good food and great company. And what a great day it is as us Butler Bulldog fans have a lot to be thankful for after an impressive win over the Northwestern Wildcats last evening. It was an old fashioned dog and cat fight, pun intended, and it lived up to its billing with the Dawgs prevailing. There were dunks, blocks, three-point bombs, captivating plays and even a proposal for marriage. Yes, you read that correctly. During one of the timeout promotions, Ethan Ax proposed to Robin Wilson on the court. Much to the crowd’s enjoyment and approval, she said yes. Later the couple got their picture taken with me…consider it an early wedding gift.

Anyway, back to this Thanksgiving thing. Granted, I should probably be the most thankful dog alive, but I’ve got my gripes. The main one being that this holiday is pretty much positioned around the dinner table and that’s a place I’m not very welcome. Hey, I want turkey, dressing, corn pudding, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, noodles, deviled eggs, and rolls as much as the next dog! I had to settle for a little turkey and my standard kibble, which isn’t bad, but I was hoping for all the fixin’s.

Ah well, like I said, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for…I’m the mascot for a great university, I have adoring fans, my own blog, an abundance of toys and a great family. What else could a bulldog want? I’m sure I could think of some things, but that’s not the point. The point is, I’m a thankful bulldog and I hope that you are too. Moving on…

When I checked in late last week, I was getting ready to go to the women’s basketball regular season home opener on Friday night where my dad was part of the halftime entertainment, and by “halftime entertainment,” I mean that he played a little exhibition basketball game between the Butler faculty and staff and whatever students that did not head home for Thanksgiving break.

The game lasted eight minutes, on a running clock and both team rosters featured males and females. The faculty and staff dispatched the students 15-7 in a rather humorous affair. Much to my surprise, my dad led all scorers with 9 points, going 3 for 4 from behind the arc. Who knew my dad could ball?! But let’s not give him too much credit, after all, he did heed my advice and gave me a good luck pat before the game. I’m sure that had everything to do with it. Here's a picture of him getting ready to receive an inbounds pass and make his third straight three pointer from the corner.

Unfortunately, the Butler women did not fair as well against the Dayton Flyers that night. Maybe they could have got my dad an extra jersey and a wig and he could have checked in. Probably would have never worked, but it would have been fun to try. (Special thanks to my mom for taking me out on the court for starting lineups of that game.)

At the IU-South Bend/Butler men’s basketball game last Saturday, I finally had a chance to get up close and personal with the new costumed version of the bulldog mascot. I actually dropped my bone before him in a peace offering. True story. If you know anything about me and that bone, then you know I don’t give it up easily, so the fact that I simply dropped it at the costume bulldog’s feet should tell you something.

After two games in two days, I used Sunday as a day of rest while my parents raked leaves and played in the yard. That is until the evening when we gathered with friends for the Colts game. That affair and all of the excitement that went with it got me all wound up and kept me awake until mid-night. So, needless to say, after a weekend like that, I spent the majority of my Monday with my eyelids closed. It wasn’t until Tuesday until I fully rejoined society, so to speak.
It’s probably a good thing that I spent something like 19-20 of 24 hours on Monday resting, because Tuesday was demanding of my attention, focus and talents. You didn’t know I had attention, focus and talents (besides the ability to hold down a blog), but I do.

On Tuesday morning I had a photo shoot with university photographer, Brent Smith where we knocked out about three different shots…a globe-trotting pose, a holiday pose and a birthday pose…all coming soon to Butler propaganda near you!

That was fun because the birthday shoot involved an actual cake, of which I eventually got to feast upon. Mmm, mmm, mmm, creamy peanut butter deliciousness! It was worth being positioned in all sorts of ways, told to “stay” and “look here” countless times and wear silly hats. As soon as I was granted permission to allow my huge, pink tongue to smother that cake, I forgot all of the pain and suffering I endured during that shoot. Pure bliss.

I don’t have the actual photos from the proof yet, so bootleg YouTube videos and regular snap photos will have to suffice for now. Once I get the real shots, I’ll be sure to put them up on the blog.

After that, it was time for more rest and relaxation until my friends Xander and Xena came to visit me. Xander and Xena are English Bulldog pups from the same litter and are now five months old. You may remember them from the Bulldog Beauty Contest. They are owned by Stefanie Carel and her sister.

I had a good time with them, but after about 10 minutes, they completely wore me out! Bascially, I just stood around and dared them to try and take the toy out of my mouth, which you wouldn’t think would be hard work, but I seem to make a chore out of it. After that, I was pretty much wiped out again. I can’t keep up with these young pups anymore! A video is included below, and for more, visit BlueTube at www.youtube.com/butlerblue2

Speaking of the young pups, my half-baby-brother, Winston, stopped by to see me yesterday. It was good to see him again and even though we are family, we don’t necessarily play nice. I’m sure many can relate to that. We both think we should be the alpha-male in the relationship. That usually ends up in lots of barking, growling and charging. No hard feelings though. Here’s a little video from the encounter…

And with that, have a great Black Friday. May you find plenty of great sales and deals and may your shopping list be completed. And don’t forget to add your pets to that Christmas list!

Blue II

As Seen on TV!

2008-11-20T22:14:00.009-05:00

Three days, three media outlets. It's just what I do.

Okay, so I really didn't have to do too much...I leave the most of it to the guy on the other end of the leash, my dad. He's not bad either.

So as I posted previously, it was the Smiley Morning Show on Monday, followed by Good Morning Indiana on WRTV-6 on Tuesday and yesterday, during the Butler/Ball State game at Hinkle Fieldhouse, it was WTHR-13 and reporter Emily Longnecker.

To view last night's footage and read the story, click here: http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=9383922

Basically, Emily was reporting on how the situation that lead to our new bulldog mascot costumes has now manifested itself into a little "Name that Dawg!" contest to name said costumes so that they aren't confused with me in the future.

If you've got an idea for a good name for the costumed version of the bulldog, then log on to ButlerSports.com and place your vote today!

Today was my first reprieve this week from any media requests and that was fine with me as the men's basketball regular season home-opening victory left me quite tired. In other words, I slept all day!

It wasn't until the 4 o'clock hour until I was required to make myself available. I was asked by the Butler chapter of College Mentors for Kids! to meet up with some youngsters who were roaming Butler for the afternoon learning different things about school spirit. It was my job to show them first hand just what school spirit looks like in the form of a live mascot.

One young man asked me if I could do back flips. I thought it sort of a strange question, but to not leave him empty handed, I peformed my "rollover" (illustrated below) trick to much enjoyment by the little ones. Anyway, I had a great time and I think the kids did too.

Tomorrow I'll return to the Fieldhouse to watch the Butler women play their first regular season home game against Dayton at 7 p.m. However, it's more than just the lady Bulldogs that I'm interested in as my dad will be the evening's halftime entertainment as well. Yes, you read that correctly, he will be the halftime entertainment and by that, I mean, he will be joining fellow faculty and staff for their own basketball game against the students at halftime.

I'm not expecting much, but it should entertaining to watch, nonetheless. If he knows what's good for him and if he's been paying attention these last few years, he'll be sure to give me a pat on the head for good luck before he takes the court. Good luck pops!

After that, I'll head home to rest up for Saturday's men's game at Hinkle against IU-South Bend at 2 p.m.

My week seems to be defined with media appearances and basketball games and those happen to both be some of my favorite things, so I guess you could say this has been a good week! Here's to a winter full of good weeks on the horizon!

Blue II

Media Hound

2008-11-18T07:36:00.012-05:00

The first two mornings of this work week have been quite busy for me as I've been in high demand with the media. Okay, I may have exaggerated a little, but two media hits in two

On Monday the Smiley Morning Show, WZPL-FM 99.5 had my dad call in to do a follow-up on the news that was released over the weekend about the arrest of suspects in the case of the missing bulldog mascot costumes. Since we didn't have to go in studio and I don't talk, I really didn't have to do anything for this one, but sleep in my office crate while dad chatted with Smiley, Weedman and Paul Poteet. However, if it wasn't for me, my dad would have never got the interview, so I'm going to take credit it for that one anyway.

This morning we were invited down to WRTV-6 studios where we were stumping for Butler Basketball and the annual RTV-6 Toy Drive on their morning show, Good Morning Indiana. This time I was on camera, but given the early wake-up call, I wasn't too lively.

Unfortunately, my dad forgot to bring the camera inside, so I've nothing in the way of photography to post, so if you didn't see the broadcast, you'll have to take our word for it that we were on.

As I mentioned, we were promoting Butler's four-game homestand at Hinkle Fieldhouse which starts tomorrow night at 7 p.m. versus the Ball State Cardinals. Show up early to that game and receive a complimentary Pepsi schedule magnet and keep your eyes peeled for a look at the to-be-named new bulldog mascot costume!

On Saturday at 2 p.m. the Bulldogs will take on IU-South Bend where the SemCycle uni-cycle team will perform at halftime. Following that will be the Northwestern Wildcats on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at 7 p.m. and finally, next Saturday, Nov. 29, we'll host the Purple Aces of Evansville for the Toy Drive game. Bring a toy to Hinkle Fieldhouse for that game and receive $5 off of a ticket for admission to the game. In addition, my canine friends America's Best Frisbee Dogs will be performing at halftime for that game, so you'll definitely want to check that out!

For all of the info, just check out ButlerSports.com.

If you saw the RTV-6 broadcast this morning, then you saw my nervous energy get the best of me when I started chewing on my leash. That could have been avoided had they let me use the prop that I brought, but there just wasn't enough time in the show to make it work.

To promote the Toy Drive, my parents brought a wrapped Build-A-Bear (my favorite, no plastic eyes, no beads for stuffing, and just as cheap as Target or other stores) for me to open on-air. They thought it would be hilarious and a lasting reminder for viewers as I do not take opening gifts lightly.

Since I didn't get to open it on-air, before I left I stopped by the RTV-6 control room where the folks there got to watch me open it so it wasn't a completly lost cause. So I guess for getting up so early I got a new teddy bear...that's a fair consolation, I suppose.

For the remainder of the day I think I'll just stick to chewing on my new teddy bear and resting up. In addition to the game tomorrow and the subsequent men's games over the next several days, I'll also be at the women's home opener on Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. versus the Dayton Flyers, so it's a busy week for me to say the least.

I hope to see you at Hinkle Fieldhouse over the course of the next two weeks. I'll be there quite often and I hope you are too!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

In Memory of a True Bulldog

2008-11-16T22:45:00.005-05:00

This past Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 saw the unfortunate and sudden passing of a true friend and Butler Bulldog, Bob Dearing. A Butler graduate of the class of 1957, Bulldog Bob was as fine of a guy as they come.

He was one of my biggest fans and always made a point to read each one of my blog posts…probably read them twice to be honest! Bulldog Bob was always happy to see me and I was always happy to return the favor when I saw him.

Reading Bob’s obituary, it’s easy to see just how involved and successful he was. In addition to all of the things listed in the obituary, Bob also helped me out each year as a judge for the annual Bulldog Beauty Contest…Bob knew bulldogs!

But beyond all of the accolades and accomplishments was one of the most affable and vivacious characters you’ll ever know. Bulldog Bob’s great character will not soon be lost on any of us that knew him. It is a great loss for our beloved university, but Butler is a better institution for having Bulldog Bob in the family.

Being that Bob bled Butler Bulldog blue when it came to Butler Athletics, it wasn’t surprising that the men’s basketball team captured a victory on Saturday at Drake University in their regular season opener and it was announced today that the men’s cross country team earned a bid to the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country Championships.

I’m sure Bob had a little hand in those successes and I can just see him now, smiling at more Butler Bulldog triumphs.

I'm sad that you're now gone, but I've taken a bit of solace in knowing that you're now in an even better place, after all it's well known that all bulldogs go to heaven. I’ll miss you, Bulldog Bob, but I’ll never forget you!

Your friend and fellow bulldog,

Blue II

The Case of the Missing Bulldog Mascots: SOLVED!

2008-11-15T13:53:00.007-05:00

Finally, the news we’ve all been waiting for dropped late Friday afternoon and the case of the missing bulldog costume mascots was solved. Thanks to the detective work of BUPD, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center and to a tip or two from an unnamed witness (of which I think I owe one of my precious bones) the case has finally come to a close.

The result: four dudes not only ruined two bulldog mascot costumes, but also ruined their reputations, some kid gets a whopping cash reward and one of my bones in rewards, I get a lot of mileage out of a YouTube video (featured below), Butler gets two new bulldog mascot costumes and a plethora of national and local media coverage, and the new mascot costumes will receive a new storage place under lock and key.

Not surprisingly, it was NOT Butler University students arrested/charged in the case. I’m not saying that I don’t think Butler students are capable of such a thing, I just think they have lives and wouldn’t bother with such immature antics. Now four guys (named here) are charged with a Class D Felony for possession of stolen property and a Class C Felony for burglary. If convicted, each could be fined up to $10,000 and face a maximum of five-and-a-half years in prison. Smooth move.

Maybe someone can explain to me the rationale of stealing unique bulldog mascot costumes. Not that I approve of stealing, it’s just that there seems to be more obvious things to heist, starting with, oh, I don’t know, maybe cold hard cash? Again, these weren’t Butler students so I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised.

Anyway, good luck with future job applications, boys. Just hope that the person doing the hiring isn’t a Butler grad!

Now granted, the old suits (one pictured below with me) were nine years old, a bit smelly, visibly tattered and in need of replacing, but we didn’t need any help with that. It sure would have been nice to have them on hand to preserve and display for history’s sake. After all, these were the same suits that were new when my dad was a sophomore and a young mascot himself. He can remember wearing them when they weren’t so smelly! Unfortunately, thanks to the work of these jackals all that’s left is a disfigured suit and a head that’s missing an eye and an ear.

Fortunately, the new costumes have been ordered from Street Characters (Calgary AB, Canada) and I believe one of them has already arrived on campus. I’ve yet to see one of them, but I hear that they are looking good. We’ll all get our first look at the men’s home basketball opener on Wednesday against Ball State.

In addition, since everyone thinks the name “Blue” is synonymous with “Butler mascot” we are having a naming contest on campus this winter to name the new costumed bulldogs. (Details coming soon.) Us live versions of the mascot are named “Blue,” but not the costumed version, so we’ll just clear that up via the naming contest. My vote: “Buster Bulldog.”

If anything kids, there’s a valuable lesson here and that is: if you really want to wear a mascot costume, go buy your own and have a great time, otherwise the cost is just too expensive.

Blue II

Stars of 'The Office'

2008-11-07T14:24:00.013-05:00

Last night stand-up commedian, actor, and writer B.J. Novak came to campus and did a stand-up routine in Clowes Hall in front of students, faculty, staff and the community at large.

B.J. is perhaps best known for playing the character of Ryan Howard on the NBC sitcom The Office. He is also a writer and co-executive producer for the Emmy Award-winning show...the same show that my parents are fans of, so of course they went to the performance.

And while they did that, I hung out behind the control desk over at the HRC where I helped the student staff do laundry and check-in patrons. I rather enjoyed myself over there actually.

Then after the performance my dad came and grabbed me and we ventured back over to Clowes so that B.J. could get his picture with me. After all, I am the star of the Development/University Advancement Office at Butler.

So that was cool, and now B.J. can add to his résumé that he had his picture taken with me so he's got that going for him. No really, thanks for playing along, B.J.

That's the highlight of my week. Otherwise, it's just been mascotting and other random stuff. On Monday I didn't do too much, but my grandparents Kaltenmark came in to town so that was cool. Tuesday was my Mom's birthday so we celebrated that and the nation in which we live held an election. Today I got to visit with the Parent Council members and this evening I will be visiting with the "Lil Sibs" of our current students at a pizza party. Tomorrow is action packed with the Fall Scholarship Breakfast, a football game and another basketball exhibition game so that should be a good time.

Otherwise, that's about it for me. There's been a few other things happening this week, but I'm going to wait for those things to further develop before I let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. Mainly, I've really just been trying to catch back up on rest this week after all of my fun last week.

So with that said, I'm going back to sleep. Maybe I'll see you on campus tomorrow for football and/or basketball...Go Dawgs!

Blue II