appy 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

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

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 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 

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

 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

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 

 While Homecoming was a big weekend for me, that certainly hasn’t been the only thing filling up my work schedule (that’s code for “this is going to be a long post”). In fact, it all started a week before Homecoming when I was invited to pay a visit to Clinton Young Elementary School on the south side of Indianapolis.

You see, Clinton Young Elementary has these little learning communities where classes at various grade levels get together and learn about going to college and all of that good stuff. Well, it just so happened that one of their learning communities picked the bulldog to be their mascot, and it just so happens that I work for a university and I happen to be a bulldog. So, I’m pretty sure that’s why they invited me to be a part of their kickoff convocation.

We all gathered in the gymnasium where the kids got me barking when they sang “Who let the dogs out?” Then I did my routine of tricks, posed for pictures and let my dad do a little talking about me to the students. Good times.

Fast forward past Homecoming and into the week following Homecoming and I got things going right away with an appearance downtown at the Indianapolis Marriott on Monday. The Office of Admission invited me down there to take part in the annual IACAC Conference. The IACAC is basically a nerd-speak way of just referring to the Indiana delegation of admission counselors and professionals. Sweet.

Anyway, they had a little competition with other state institutions to see who displayed the most spirit at their respective admission booths. So it was set up like a giant college fair, only there were no aspiring college students, just a bunch of has-beens with name badges and school gear. I have no idea how Butler faired, but I think we should have won. Sure, other schools had guy-in-suit mascots on hand like the rat, er greyhound from UINDY (sorry Mom) and the grizzly from Franklin, but nobody had the live mascot thing going.

On Tuesday it was a visit to my favorite professor’s class. That’s right, Dr. Vibbert invited me to call on one of his PR classes. He lists me on the class agenda as the “guest speaker.” That just means I get to go run around the classroom for a few minutes, enjoy some loving from the students and of course, perform my tricks.

You may remember that Dr. Vibbert was the one included me in his commencement speech this last May. That alone earns you honors as being one of Blue II’s favorite professors.

Wednesday it was time for the annual men’s and women’s basketball tip-off luncheon in Hinkle Fieldhouse. A capacity lunch time crowd filled the main floor in Hinkle to hear Coach Couture and Coach Stevens speak about their impending seasons. I had the honor of welcoming those folks to the event and then my dad stashed me in one of the admin offices while he enjoyed lunch…hardly fair, but I that whole reasoning and speech thing puts me behind in these arguments all the time, so I just have to deal with the consequences.

Although, he awoke me afterwards to another adventure that involved heading back downtown for an appearance at the new Lucas Oil Stadium, so I forgave him for leaving me out of lunch pretty quickly. Funny, I remember not being allowed in that place for a grand opening ceremony because of some policy about dogs. Just a month or two later and I guess the sheen and prestige has worn off enough for dogs to enter. Whatever, I wasn’t going to complain.

It was the gracious NCAA who happened to make arrangements for me to be there as they were unveiling the new logo for the 2010 men’s basketball final four which will be hosted at Lucas Oil. Butler is the host NCAA institution for that event, thus my/our involvement.

I had a good time greeting guests and media there and posing for pictures with the Butler cheerleaders and dignitaries. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get down on the field to “mark my territory,” but I still had fun.

At this point, we were only half way through the week and I was exhausted. I think my dad could tell as I was asleep in the car before we even left downtown proper. So he drove me straight home where I basically slept, or was in some state of sleepiness from 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday until about 7 p.m. on Thursday. And after some dinner, back yard business and some play time, I was back to sleep for the night on Thursday as well.

And for good reason too as I had a big weekend ahead of me including the made out to be scary, but actually ridiculous holiday known as Halloween. But before my parents subjected me to the costumes, parading and pictures, I had real work to do, and early in the morning too!

After being carried from the bed to the car on Friday morning, I awoke in the parking lot of the Glendale Mall at 6:15 a.m. where the Smiley Morning Show was set up and doing a remote broadcast for their annual pumpkin drop. However, my role there had nothing to do with Halloween, pumpkin destruction, or anything like that. Instead, I was there to promo Smiley’s presence at the Butler Bowl on Saturday as a part of his college tailgate tour.

Again, I let me dad do the talking, but I really enjoyed running around the parking lot, checking out the big crane that was to drop the pumpkins, barking on-air, and stealing the show.

After that I headed to campus where Brad Ward from the Office of Admission picked me up and took me over to Atherton Union to visit with all of the prospective students and families in for the big open-house. Someone told me that there were 900 visitors on campus for the open-house, but I don’t really know for sure.

One thing I do know is, I got my picture taken with a lot of folks and Brad promised all of these people that their smiling mugs would appear on my blog, so here they are…


After work we headed over to Schwitzer Hall where the residents were hosting trick-or-treaters for the evening. My parents dressed me up in my lobster suit and took me over to greet the youngsters and families that came. I also ran into my pals Addison and Wrigley (Bulldog Beauty Contest winners) who were also dressed up as a bumble bee and a piglet (respectively). It’s all pictured below…

On Saturday it was back to campus for another round with Dave Smiley of WZPL-FM, 99.5, who had his camper trailer all set up and ready for the Butler stop on the Smiley Morning Show College Tailgate Tour.

Smiley always knows how to get me fired up and while hanging out with he and his producer “Weedman,” I located one of Smiley’s footballs in his camper and made myself at home. And by “made myself at home” I mean that I destroyed his football. Just check out the video…

Anyway, the contest was great. As I mentioned last week, we had more than 70 dogs pre-register, which was a new record and while we had some no-shows the day of the event, we also had some late additions so it evened out nicely.

We had a total of nine rounds of competition and below are the categories and the respective winners. My congratulations to all of the winning dogs…

Cutest Bulldog: Wrigley, Owned by Sam Ford

Youngest: Addison at just over 3 months and Owned by Sam Ford

Best in Show: Hugo, Owned by Kearsten Casey (great Butler outfit, Hugo!)


Again, a big hearty congratulations to our winners! Bravo! (and a big thanks to Maribeth Fischer for the photographs!)

Winners were selected by a panel of five distinguished judges and friends of mine. They are…

Mr. Bob Dearing ’57, Ovid Butler Society Executive Committee
Dr. Kurt Phillips ’92, Woodland Animal Hospital
Dr. A.J. Stump, Ovid Butler Society Executive Committee
Kim Netherland, City Dogs Grocery
Ryan Waggoner ’10 , Student Government Association President

As the afternoon grew long on Wednesday, it was as if tumbleweed began to blow through campus and the sound of crickets became deafening. It was even worse today as things were eerily quiet on campus and Friday may be even more solemn yet. Why? Fall break, of course. Upon the completion of the last classes on Wednesday, the students were on the road and heading to their respective homes to get a little of mom’s cooking, free laundry service and of course, a little rest and relaxation.

If you see a student on campus during fall break, then chances are he or she is a student athlete or holds down a campus job that requires their presence. Like the aforementioned, there’s no break in the action for this pooch either. In fact, since I last posted things have continued to stay quite busy, but I suppose that’s to be expected when your bulldog costume mascots come up missing and you’re all that’s left to carry the mascot duties.

More than anything else, it seems like I’ve been doing quite a few photo shoots lately. I had fall photo shoot to do for the university that is being used for some Thanksgiving cards. That one was a lot of fun because I got to run through the leaves, bite at the leaves and even eat some! Here are some pics from that shoot…

I also did a shoot this week for some students who are making a calendar to sell as a part of a “real business” class. I say good luck to them and hopefully they can use my image to do well.

Speaking of students, I got to mingle with some College of Education majors on Monday evening for a Global Opportunities event they were having on campus. They all got to find out about opportunities abroad and eat ethnic food while I got to walk around, get some free loving, beg for food and pose for pictures. Below is a picture of me with some of the COE majors who are also student athletes.

Oh, about those student athletes, in addition to a great season for our fall sports, our men’s basketball team is set to begin practice for the 2008-09 season in a matter of hours and they were one of the subjects in a athletic department fundraising dinner I attended last night at Hinkle Fieldhouse with keynote speakers Gene Keady and Brad Stevens.

That’s right, long-time Purdue University men’s basketball coach, Gene Keady, was in the house last night and gave a great talk about his years of coaching and how our Butler Bulldogs are fun to watch as well as a team to get behind because they do things the right way: the Butler Way.

Coach Keady said that former Michigan State coach, Jud Heathcoat always told him that he was perfect for Purdue because he looked like a “Boilermaker.” But, we think there may just be a little “Bulldog” in Gene as well. You decide…

I’m going to be real honest, after cocktail hour dinner was served, Coach Stevens and Coach Keady began their remarks and I studied the back of my eyelids. No disrespect gentlemen, but it was a long day for this old dog.

Tomorrow I’m filling in for our missing mascot, the costume version, and heading to the south side for an appearance at Clinton Young Elementary School. They are having an assembly for some of their students regarding a program they have to get students interested and excited about one day attending college. They’ve adopted Butler University since it is close and I’m going to serve as the special surprise portion of the event. Imagine how surprised all the kids will be when I come strolling in. I love that stuff!

The best part about being me is that more often than not, I put a smile on someone’s face. Whether it is a student, faculty or staff, a fan, or just somebody in the car next to me at a stoplight, I can usually evoke a smile or even a laugh from folks. Imagine having the ability to lift spirits like that…I think it’s one of the defining characteristics of the bulldog breed.

So if you want to really smile and laugh, make plans to come to campus on Saturday, Oct. 25th at 10 a.m. for the ninth annual Bulldog Beauty Contest. We’ve got 55 dogs signed up so far with the overwhelming majority of those dogs being bulldogs. So you can just imagine how much fun this event is going to be! My dad has been cooking up some good stuff for this year’s Bulldog Beauty Contest so I think I may do a special post on it next week to fill you in. Good stuff.

I wish everyone a great fall weekend this weekend and may the Bulldogs take down the Valpo Crusaders in the Hoosier Helmet Game!

Go Dawgs!

Blue II

 I don’t know what you did this weekend, but this bulldog had a pretty solid couple of days. In fact, if you stretch it from Friday through Monday, I got blessed, helped my fellow Bulldogs go 5-0, entertained house guests, hosted a Colts viewing party, and attended a golf outing. The only setbacks I faced were being denied access to a parade and seeing the doctor for an ear infection. Not bad for a dog, right? It’s just another weekend in the life of this mascot.

I suppose the logical place to start would be Friday when I was invited by Butler University neighbor, the Christian Theological Seminary (CTS), for their annual Blessing of the Animals service. You may have noticed that this past weekend there were these types of services going on all over the country. Reason being, the Feast Day of St. Francis occurs annually on Oct. 4th and just in case you don’t know who old St. Francis is, he was a friar known for his love of animals. Unfortunately, he’s not with us any more (he passed away just a few years ago in 1226), but his teachings as well as his love for animals and God’s creation lives on and thus the reason why we have these services today. There’s a free little history lesson for you…don’t say I never taught you anything.

Anyway, it was a good service, but my dad was real serious during it. He got real emotional and kept hugging on me, but I just wanted to go play with the other dogs that were there. My parents always tell me how blessed and fortunate of a dog I am, so I’m not sure why I needed to go get blessed some more, but I was happy to get out of the office and outside for a bit, so it was fine with me.

A photographer from The Indianapolis Star was there along with a videographer from WXNT-TV FOX 59, but I never saw if any of those images made it in print, on television or online. Fortunately Chris Varnau, the Sr. Director of Communications at CTS, took some photos of the event and I’ve included those below.


I guess the blessing must have worked because the Butler Bulldogs went on that Friday and Saturday to go 5-0 on the pitch, in the field, and behind the net. Our men’s and women’s soccer teams both took victories on Friday, as did the volleyball team and then on Saturday, our football team took down the Drake bulldogs and the volleyball team again took victory. Besides the blessing, my presence in the Butler Bowl on both Friday and Saturday might have had a little something to do with it as well. Regardless, I’m proud to be a Bulldog right now as our fall sports student athletes are doing a great job this year.

As I mentioned last week, the changing weather has allowed me to get out more and make it to more of these athletic contests. Below is a picture of me and my dad getting ready to run the football team onto the field for their big win over Drake. There’s nothing like a pleasant fall day in the Butler Bowl for some football. It’s a bulldog’s dream! The next home football game in the Bowl comes at Homecoming on Oct. 25th versus Morehead State. I hope to see you there!


On the home front, I was just as busy this past weekend. My parent’s friends, Jason and Betsy Weatherly came up from Nashville, Tenn. and brought their miniature daschund, Reese (like the peanut butter cups). You may remember some of my escapades with Reese from this past summer when I went down to her place. I really enjoyed getting to see my old friend. I wasn’t the best at sharing my toys with her, but we had a good time tearing through the house and around the yard together. I rather enjoy being an only “child,” but it is nice to have some four-legged company once in a while.


Sunday, some of my parents’ friends and colleagues came over to the house for a little Indianapolis Colts viewing party. That was a lot of fun as well…plenty of attention, table scraps, people to play with me, and lots of excitement. Not to mention, the game turned out to be fairly entertaining and successful as well.


Needless to say, on Monday I was pretty exhausted, but as they say, there’s no rest for the weary. So dad and I headed north to Carmel, Ind. for the men’s basketball Blue Team golf outing at Plum Creek Golf Club. In addition to greeting guests and welcoming the players, I also got to hang out on the golf carts, attempt to chase golf balls on the putting green and see old friends like former Bulldog standouts, Julian Betko and A.J. Graves.


As I alluded to earlier, it wasn’t all treats and toys this past weekend. As you may remember from my previous post, I was all set to appear in the annual Circle City Classic parade. My good friend and Butler colleague, Barry Rector, was kind enough to lend me his beautiful 1991 Corvette to ride in for the parade so early Saturday morning we made our way downtown to join the Butler contingent who was also set to represent BU in the parade. Unfortunately, the parade staff denied me access and forced my dad to turn the Corvette back around and take me home. Can you believe that? Their loss.


The other setback I had is the discovery of a double ear infection, so after my trek to the golf outing, I headed across Hamilton Co. and over to Woodland Animal Hospital to see Dr. Phillips who gave me some medicine to get better. I’m not too fond of the meds, but if it helps my ears from itching and keeps me from wanting to shake my head all of the time, then I suppose it’s worth it.

As you can see, minus a few small speed bumps it’s been a pretty good couple of days for me. I hope that you enjoy some good fortune of your own and here’s to a hope for a little good fortune on the horizon for America after all of this economic crisis stuff I keep hearing about on the news.

Sorry for my long delay in posting, but I’ve been a busy bulldog over the past couple of weeks. Sure, I’ve kept my nose to the ground with the enduring search for the missing Butler Bulldog mascot costumes (more on that later), but I’ve also been helping my dad move our office.

Yep, that’s right, I’ve moved offices at Butler, but this actually isn’t my first move. We started in Jordan Hall office 11 and not too long after, we took over office 13 where we spent the majority of the last four years. But after a six year stint in the Office of Annual Giving, my pops is changing roles in the development office and that has us moving down the hall to office 16. I figure I’ll just ride his coattails wherever they take me.

The move sort of had me a little nervous and on edge at first, but once I got used to my food, water, cage, toys and dad being in one spot, I became a little more used to the new setup. Although I still get a little confused as to where I should hangout from time to time. I miss my old pals down the hall in annual giving from time to time.

The good news is that we are still in the basement of Jordan Hall so it’s all familiar surroundings. And even though we have smaller digs, we did get a corner office…even if it is in the corner of a basement. And yes, it’s a basement. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s a “garden level.” That’s such a joke.

It’s below ground level, it smells like a basement, there’s moisture like a basement and there’s those lovely insects and bugs that are often found in a basement. Therefore, it is a basement…and it even has a lovely 1980s pink décor with worn grey carpet that might be older than my father. Now you know why the development staff ventures OUT to see donors.

Anyway, after my dad gets all of his pictures up on the walls and it’s finally all put together, I’ll have him post some pictures of our new office. Until then, you can always tune in to Blue2TV and watch my live office cam. Whether or not I’m in view of the webcam is hit and miss, but if you log on at the right time, you just might see me. Click here during regular office hours to have a look: http://go.butler.edu/lifeatbutler/?pg=4724

Changing bones back to the missing mascot story…I know that I said there would be a sequel to the movie that I originally starred in, but I am not really sure what happened to that second film. We did the shoot, but the project didn’t make it out of production. Such is life in Hollywood, I guess.

There have been some developments in the case of the missing mascot costumes, but I’m not at liberty to divulge any details just yet. I’ll be sure to share the news once it is official, but right now I’ve got other pressing issues anyway.

My life as a mascot has me doing some interesting things yet this week and weekend. On Friday I’ll be heading over to see our neighbors at the Christian Theological Seminary for their annual “Blessing of the Animals” service. I like to go because we get to be outside and I get to mingle with a bunch of other animals, but other than that I don’t really quite grasp what happens at that thing. My dad seems to get something out of it and he says that it gives me a Holy blessing for another year, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

On Saturday I’ve got a busy day on the books…first I’m set to appear in the annual Circle City Classic parade with the Butler contingent and after that it’s back to campus as the 2-1 Bulldogs host our first Pioneer Football League contest of the season against the dreaded Drake Bulldogs. Of course I’ll be there to lead the team onto the field, but I’m not quite sure about my new friend Blue of the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are away this weekend so I’m hoping he’ll be in town to lend me a hand again with the mascot duties since our new mascot costumes have yet to arrive.

After a busy weekend (which I will get to later) I came back to work refreshed and ready to find those missing Butler Bulldog mascot costumes this week. I was so fired up, that I shredded my red dragon in an attempt to send a message of intimidation to whom ever took these costumes. Here are a couple of pics of the aftermath…

  It's been a busy week in the life of Butler Blue II, and it's only getting busier. I love it!

This missing Butler Bulldog mascot costumes caper has kept me hard at work and while we’ve yet to find them, the plot has thickened. For starters, thanks to the Butler faithful, the reward for the safe return of the costumes has been raised from $100 and one of my bones, to $550 and one of my bones. Now we’re getting somewhere.

And sure enough, just as the reward increases then so do the rumors, anonymous tips and unsubstantiated leads as to the whereabouts of these unique suits. I even got the photo below suggesting that our suit may have been picked up by the dog catcher and sent to the pound. Very funny.


Following the example of one of my beloved heroes, McGruff the Crime Dog, I’m hot on the case and sniffing out all possibilities. Should you hear anything, keep me posted at blue2@butler.edu, and better yet, call the authorities! You can reach the Butler University Police Dept. at 317-940-9396. They would be happy to take your call.



I hope to have another video up next week that illustrates my detective work. The massive amount of rain that we are getting today and this weekend isn’t really conducive to shooting film so sorry for the delay.

The media continues to pick-up the story and again, we’ve received national coverage. This time it is the world-wide leader in sports, ESPN. Check out this clip…

Since I am the only mascot that Butler has at the moment, I will be especially busy tomorrow as we host our first home football contest of the season and we welcome the Lugar Run to campus. My day gets started at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 7 a.m. for the Lugar Run as WISH-TV will be on campus to do some live TV hits for that.

Then it’s on to the OBS Gridiron Brunch and pre-game event and then kick-off against Franklin College at 1 p.m. where I will get to run the team out on to the field for battle. A win on Saturday will make the football Bulldogs 2-0!

It’s looking like it might be a little warm, muggy, windy and wet tomorrow, but I don’t care. No matter the conditions, I am ready!

Finally, I’ll sign off with a story that show’s just how in vogue us English Bulldogs are. Not only did we make it back into the top-10 of AKC registered breeds this year, but now we’ve been voted the hottest in Hollywood!

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/ask_the_answer_bitch/b28361_a-list_secrets_hollywoods_unlikely_hot.html

My good friend Jackie, a young Butler alumni who resides in our Nation’s capital, sent me a link to story on E! (watch The Soup on E! w/ Joel McHale, Fridays, 10 p.m. EST…it’s hilarious) that explains just how the English Bulldog has become all the rage amongst celebrities (Adam Sandler, The Kaltenmarks, etc.) and just all around “cool people.”

Specifially, the article states, "Hollywood's dog o' the moment is an unexpected breed...That dog is the English Bulldog." It’s no wonder our bulldog mascot costumes were stolen!

By the way, if you have a chance some time, check out Adam Sandler's website and watch his videos with his English Bulldogs. They are great! (http://www.adamsandler.com/index.php?section=matzomeat)

Have a great weekend, keep looking for those costumes, stay dry, and GO DAWGS!

Blue II 

 The audio from my radio appearance yesterday morning on the Smiley Morning Show, WZPL-FM 99.5 is now available. I was on from 7 - 8 a.m. to discuss the case of the missing Butler Bulldog mascot costumes. Well really I let my dad do most of the talking.

Anyway, today I'm back on campus and drumming up support around the country to find these missing mascot costumes. But, I'm hearing rumors of the costumes actually being somewhere on campus. I won't name names or locations just yet to proctect the innocent, but I may just have to go check it out!

Stay tuned,

 Another day is in the books, and still no missing Butler Bulldog mascot costumes have surfaced. I can't say that it isn't for lack of effort on my part that these costumes have yet to be found. From internet campaigns to morning radio shows, I did my fair share of hitting the beat today.

This morning my dad and I did an hour-long stand on the Smiley Morning Show, WZPL-FM, 99.5. Milk Bones to Dave Smiley (pictured), KJ (pictured) and Weedman for having us on the show. It was a great segment that included an investigative report by Smiley, heavey breathing and barking from me, commentary and the facts from my father, and a call-in phone interview with Marion County Prosecuter, Carl Brizzi.

I expect to have a link to the audio from the radio interview in the near future and once I have that, I'll be sure to post it here for all to listen.

Then while I was doing my radio gig, my good buddy Brad Ward in the Office of Admission was simultaneously uploading a video he shot and edited of me looking around campus for the mascot costumes. You can scroll down to my previous post from today to watch that or visit Blue2Tube at www.youtube.com/butlerblue2.

Evidently that video prompted our rivals and fellow Horizon League member, University of Wisconsin Green Bay and their mascot Phlash to do a costume hunt (video below). Unfortunately, their exhaustive search produced no results and thus, it has been determined that the Butler Bulldog costumes are not in Green Bay, Wisc. Thanks for looking anyway, Phlash!

The story continued to generate attention in the media/news again today. It even got some national coverage! Keith Olbermann (pictured) of MSNBC picked up the piece and ran it in his “Oddball” segment on his Countdown show. You can view that here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#26649166

Locally, it received a follow-up story in The Indianapolis Star. In fact, it was front and center with a color picture in the Metro/State section. Here’s a screen shot of that in case you missed it:

You can read the article here: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809100352

It’s worth a quick read and it brings up some quick points of note/clarification.

First, the Butler Bulldog mascot costume is NOT named “Butler Blue,” or “Blue.” People (students, university officials, media) have used that name quite a bit in the last couple of days and I think that’s what’s generated most of the frantic calls to my parents from friends and family that think I’ve come up missing.

The name “Butler Blue” first came about in 2000 when Frank and Jeane King of Kong King Kennel, Lizton, Ind., donated Butler Blue I to the university. “Butler Blue” was the name that received the most votes in a “name the new live mascot” contest and thus the reason why I’m known as “Butler Blue II” today.

So I just wanted to take the opportunity to clear that up.

Also, at the end of that Indy Star story, it reads, “The new costumes could arrive as early as Nov. 1, Tuell said. Until then, students will have to rally around the school's other mascot, a real live bulldog known as Butler Blue II who does not dance.”

Well just call me “Blue II the belittled!” I’m so sorry that the university only has this mangy old mutt to serve as mascot for the next several weeks. Sure, I might not be able to dance, but I do have a fine repertoire of tricks and at least I do not smell like B.O.! Last time I checked, many colleges, universities and high schools have a costumed mascot, but only a fortunate few have the privilege of having the real thing to represent their school. The condescending Heather Gillers is on my list!

Oh well, as long as it continues to make the news, well then I’ll continue to shamelessly stump for the cause online, on-air and wherever I can. We just couldn’t buy this kind of coverage otherwise! I can’t say exactly why media/news outlets keep covering the story. I’m sure there are lots of reasons, but if it distracts us for just a moment from political campaigns, hurricanes, oil prices and foreign fighting, then I suppose it serves a purpose.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I attended another home volleyball match last night in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. After all, I am the only mascot we have at the moment so I’ve got to make the rounds. My good friend Mike Freeman took me out on the court for starting lineups in our matching against the Sycamores of Indiana State University. I had a great time and I even came home with a mini-volleyball (pictured) signed by all of the Lady Bulldog players!

Below is some footage from the event…

Good times! I am definitely ready for my first home football game on Saturday!

Be sure to check back to the blog often for more info, updates and news regarding the search for the missing mascot costumes. In addition, text “follow butlerblue2” to 40404 (Twitter.com) for daily updates from yours truly.

Blue II.