The Case of the Missing Bulldog Mascots: SOLVED!

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