Bulldog + Beauty = Only at Butler

I was hoping to have this Homecoming recap up sooner, but it’s been quite a busy week for me and I’m not even done yet! Oh well, better late than never, and besides, I don’t even get paid to do this blog so if I’m late here and there, then so be it.

Well, Butler University Homecoming 2008 came and went and while it was a little bit cold outside, things stayed dry and everything else went exceptionally well, so I’ve got no complaints.

We got things kicked off Saturday morning on the main campus mall, outside of Jordan Hall with the Blue II Family Fun Fest. Besides lending my name to this event, I didn’t really have much to do with it. Basically it consists of face painting by clowns, blow up bounce houses, and more clowns constructing balloon creations. I’m not really into much of that stuff, but the kids seem to like it.

My real activity began at 10 a.m. for the ninth annual Bulldog Beauty Contest, presented by the Ovid Butler Society. Of course, I cannot compete in the contest given my title and stature on campus and in the community, so I play the role of “host dog.” Basically that means I strut my stuff on the runway prior to the judging and welcome the crowd. Then I let me dad take over with the emcee duties and I just sit back and watch. And by watch, I mean play with the bulldog puppies and snap at some of the adult bulldogs. Hey, it’s a territorial thing…I just want to make sure they know whose campus they are on and that there’s only one official mascot around here.

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

Meanest Looking Bulldog: Mojo, Owned by Doug Welks


Best Wannabe Bulldog: Hector, Owned by Eric Fairbrother


Most butler Spirit: Hugo, Owned by Kearsten Casey


Best Dressed Bulldog: Panda Bear, Owned by Wendy Crawford


Best Trick: Abby w/ “the rollover,” Owned by Nancy Hardin


Oldest: Katie at a young 11 years, Owned by April Paulman

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

All contestants received a gift bag with Holistic Select treats courtesy of Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. as well as a gift certificate for use at Woodland Animal Hospital. On top of that, our category winners received dog toys and prizes from City Dogs Grocery and Meribeth Fischer.

We owe all of our sponsors a big THANK YOU for all of the great treats, prizes and other items. Our sponsors are…

Woodland Animal Hospital (Dr. Kurt Phillips)
City Dogs Grocery (Susan Smith…located at 49th and College Ave.)
Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. (Liz Morken)
Firehouse Images (Terry Corman)
Ovid Butler Society
Maribeth Fischer

If you missed out on this contest, then you need to be there next year. When the 2009 Homecoming date is announced, go ahead and mark your calendar.

Of course, just writing about the contest and dropping a couple of pictures can only do so much. Perhaps some additional images would help. Thanks to Mr. Rick Miller of New Palestine, Ind. we have a great album of photos for you to view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471995@N08/sets/72157608395935893/

After the contest, I was able to take a quick break before rejoining my dad and assuming our spot in an all original, silver 1975 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. Talk about a sweet ride…just imagine what it did for the value after a celebrity like me rode in it. You’re welcome.



I enjoyed the parade as a lot of people would yell my name as I hung out of the car. I was on display for all to see and I didn’t have to walk! Perfect. That’s a mascot’s dream!
Here's a quick video of it as well...




The parade route dumped us off at Hinkle Fieldhouse where I hung out in the Wildman Room before heading down to the tunnel to lead the football team out on the field prior to their game against the Eagles of Morehead State.



After being down 21-3 at half time, our Butler Bulldogs rallied to win the game by a score of 31-21 and to go to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in the Pioneer Football League. The four league victories match Butler's PFL win total for the previous five seasons! Go Dawgs Go!

Following all of that, I went home and slept. My day was done. My dad had to go work a class reunion that night in Broadripple, but this old dog was officially off duty at that point.

Needless to say, I slept quite well. After all, it was a great day…clowns, bulldog beauty, a parade, a football win, alumni, students, families, cold beverages, warm beverages, good food, etc., etc., etc. It was a successful day and I’d like to think I had a little something to do with that. If you did, then I thank you for doing your part as well.

So Homecoming is now in the past, but that doesn’t mean my schedule has let up any. I’ll save all of that scoop for another post so that my dad can round all of that material up for me and get it ready for posting. Until then, have a very Happy Halloween!

Blue II

There's No Place Like HOMEcoming!

Well, it’s here, the biggest weekend of the year. That’s right, it’s time for Homecoming! If you don’t know about it, then as the kids say, “you’d better ask somebody!” Or, you could just log on to www.butler.edu/homecoming for complete details.

As for me, well, I’m going to be “working like a dog” this weekend (pun intended). The students have been hard at it all week with all sorts of activities and shenanigans, but I’ve been laying low in preparation for my weekend responsibilities. The students’ theme for homecoming is something about superheroes and below is a picture of me by their banner.

Besides a couple of appearances on Friday morning, thankfully I still get to rest up before it all goes down on Saturday.

On Saturday morning I get things started of a 10 a.m. for the Butler University Bulldog Beauty Contest, presented by the Ovid Butler Society, then make my way over to the Young Alumni Board’s Barktoberfest, then head back across campus to ride in the parade, then get dropped off back over at Hinkle Fieldhouse and the Butler Bowl to get ready to run the team out onto the field and then I get to go home and sleep some more. (And by the way, our Butler Bulldogs are 5-1 and 3-0 in Pioneer League play! Here's to hoping they keep it going against Morehead State!)

Okay, so really, my dad has a lot more appearances to make over the next 48 hours than I do, but I’m just a dog and the only mascot Butler has right now, so I’m kind of a big deal.

And speaking of big deal, let’s talk more about this Bulldog Beauty Contest. Its ninth year looks to be its biggest year yet and I’m thrilled to once again serve as the “host dog” for the best bulldog pageant in all the land.

On the eve of this contest we have 70 dogs pre-registered and we have unfortunately had to even turn some dogs away at this point! Anyway, last week I promised some skinny on the contest, so here it is…

The contest will begin at 10 a.m. at the main campus mall, by Norris Plaza and will feature eight categories. Dogs are eligible to enter up to two categories only not counting best of show. The categories are…

-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. Non-bulldogs being defined as any breed other than the English Bulldog, Olde English Bulldog, French Bulldog and American Bulldog. Again, only two categories of competition per dog and once a dog has won a certain category, they are excluded from competing in any remaining categories until the “Best in Show” round.

The “Best in Show” round will be the final round of judging and will be limited to the eight category winners. Judging criteria for the “Best in Show” is subjective and loosely defined, so anything goes for the final eight at that point.

We have five judges and their identities will be protected until the day of competition so that there may be no influencing, buyouts, etc. We want a clean competition.

All participants will receive a bag of Holistic Select natural dog treats with 90% meat, courtesy of Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc. In addition, category winners will receive some special toys thanks to City Dogs Grocery (49th St. and College Ave.).

So that’s how the show is run. Here’s how things look…our setup has improved again this year as we will have three small sets of bleachers erected for spectator viewing. Again this year we’ll have a stage and runway/catwalk for the dogs and handlers to parade in front of the audience and judges. We also have a nice big banner as a back drop behind the stage this year, so it should look pretty legit.

Now, if the weather holds out, we’ll be in business. I’ve been told that the weather report keeps improving by the hour, but we’ll see. Regardless, we owe our sponsors some love and our sincere appreciation goes out them. We would like to thank the Ovid Butler Society, Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Inc.(Liz Morken), City Dogs Grocery (Susan Smith), Woodland Animal Hospital (Dr. Kurt Phillips), Indiana Veterinary Specialists (Dr. Deborah Stephan), and Firehouse Images (Terry Corman). This event would not be possible without these businesses and people.

Before I sign off I’ve got just a couple of other items of business for all of you devoted readers. First, I need your vote…yes, again! Just do it, besides, its good practice for the highly anticipated November 4th.

I’m vying for the top honors (Zelda’s Lick or Treat book and her entire collection of Halloween costumes) in Zelda’s 1st annual Lick or Treat Canine Costume Halloween Contest and I need your vote to win. The picture my dad used is me as a pirate on Halloween a couple of years ago. You can view that and vote here: http://www.zeldawisdom.com/halloween/halloween_2.shtml

A big thanks to my great aunties in Huntington, Ind. for hooking me up with Zelda’s Lick or Treat book already! I found it to be a good read…couldn’t put it down!

Finally, there are a couple of blogs that I’ve recently enjoyed frequenting recently and I think you will too.

The first blog is http://www.ihasahotdog.com/. You English majors and grammar specialists might want to steer clear of this site as it will drive you crazy, but those of you who enjoy dogs and good humor, then this is the site for you. Below is one screen shot from ihasahotdog.com.

The other blog of interest lately is http://www.failblog.org/. Don’t “fail” or you may end up on this blog! They featured a “fail” the other day that Butler would be guilty of as well. Once you see it below, you’ll understand why…

Have a safe and happy Homecoming! I hope to see you around campus.

Blue II

Fall Break = No Break

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

One Blessed Bulldog

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.

As a matter of principle, I tend to refrain from discussing politics and religion. After all, I’m a bulldog, and my expertise lies in animal behavior and school spirit and not worldly things. But I already touched on religion tonight, albeit objectively, I might as well as speak to politics given that as my dad types this blog post, I’m snoring through live coverage of the presidential debate and wondering about these politicians who are vying for your vote next month.

I like to think of myself as a pretty good judge of character (a lot of dogs are) and from what little I saw of the debate tonight, I’d vote for that Tom Brokaw guy...just some free advice from your mascot.

Here's to a blessed week of your own,

Blue II