Wednesday, April 28, 2010

A Clean Dog is a Happy Dog

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!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

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

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

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