A Top 10 in Response to a Random 25

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!

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

I Made the Cover of Sports Illustrated!

I wouldn’t say my life as a mascot is complete just yet, but a major notch in the wood has been made with the news that yours truly graces the cover of the Sports Illustrated (SI) NCAA March Madness issue.

You may remember each year that SI does a collage of photos for their March Madness issue, well this year, I was included in the collage. Albeit, a half-inch by inch spot, but I am quite visible in the top right hand corner of the cover wearing my Dawg Pound shirt and carrying my bone.

I can only speak for the canine eye, but I’m told that the upper right hand corner of any printed page is always where the human eye goes first in reading in English, and is considered “prime real estate.” I’ll take it!

You’ll see me and fellow Bulldog, A.J. Graves on the cover, but A.J. also has a two page spread inside the issue as well. He’s doing cartwheels at center court. That’s not a joke. Also on page 67, blog reader and senior Drew Streicher is shown for making SI's All-Tournament Brainiac Team.

As elated as I am with my cover shot, I am almost as equally deflated with it. Let me explain. So last night, my pops and I hop on the internet to check out a bit further. We go here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/specials/ncaa_tourney/2008/cover_challenge/

And what do you know, they have ME, Butler Blue II, the Butler University Mascot, listed as “Drake Bulldog – Drake Bulldogs Mascot.” Are you kidding me? I get my shot at big time national exposure and SI mistakes me for “Spike,” the Drake Bulldog!

C’mon SI, it’s sports…that’s what you do! You can’t be getting mascots incorrect, and on the cover no less! That would be like listing Indiana’s D.J. White as “Purdue Pete,” or labeling UNC’s Tyler Hansborough as “Mike Kryzewski.” People would have you taken behind the wood shed for that sort of thing.

I’m just hoping they didn’t list me that way in the actual print edition because that would be a dog-gone shame. Pun intended.

(And yes, the University Relations staff at Butler is informing SI of their mistake.)

I am willing to forgive them for the whole thing and put it behind me if they are willing to write up a nice multi-page profile about me in a future issue and they consider giving me another cover shot, much like UGA’s a while back. (And to anyone with Nike connections, yes, I would like a custom Butler Nike jersey like UGA's Georgia version.)



Yesterday I got to go to the “send-off” pep rally for the Butler men’s basketball team over at Hinkle Fieldhouse. We sang “The Butler War Song,” did cheers with the cheerleaders, and just let the team know how proud we are of them before they headed to Birmingham, Alabama to take on South Alabama in the NCAA Tournament.

One thing of note from the rally, Butler President, Dr. Bobby Fong, gave A.J. Graves a hug when he went through and shook hands with each of the players. I’ve got no problem with that, unless A.J. goes for only two points in our game on Friday. If that happens, I bet nobody gives Dr. Fong the same harassment I received when A.J. touched me on “Senior Day,” then went for a career low. I’m just saying, fair is fair here, people.

You can see a photographic documentation of the rally on IndyStar.com with photos taken by one of my favorite photographers, Kelly Wilkinson. Go to the multimedia section or here: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MULTIMEDIA

You’ll notice there’s a couple photos in the collection of dad and I. Since the NCAA won’t allow live mascots at tournament sites, I’ve been pretty bummed about not getting to go to the game. So dad tried to be funny and throw me into the cargo bay of the bus and sneak me down to Birmingham. His accomplice is Carl Heck. Both are now on my "list."

While you are also in the multimedia section, you can see the debut of my profile video that Kelly shot as well! You may remember me posting about that a while back. Well, it’s finally finished and ready for viewing. Look for the video titled “Butler’s mascot” and check it out here: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=videonetwork

Unfortunately, it’s only about three minutes long. Kelly actually shot enough footage to probably put together an hour long piece, but oh well; I’ll take what I can get. Great job, Kelly! I love it and thank you!

Today, I’ll be shooting another documentary at the office. It’s true, a group of students from a media arts class had to pick something to do a documentary on as a part of a class project. They chose me and shooting starts today. It should be fun.

I think that’s about it for now. Oh, I almost forgot, I have a couple of announcements before I sign off. First, don’t forget to vote for me again in the Bissell MVP challenge. I’m still trying to get on this vacuum box and I’m running out of chances so help me out!

Hopefully Bissell wouldn’t list me as the Drake Bulldog on their vacuum box. I can’t let it go. Anyway, click here to vote for me: https://bumail.butler.edu/owa/redir.aspx?URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bissell.com%2fredirect.asp%3fpage_id%3d47161%26Pet%3d1449

Second, I have a birthday party coming up! I turn four on Thursday March 27th, and the nice students in the Butler University Student Foundation (BUSF) are throwing a party for me during lunch time over at Atherton Union. They will be playing “pin the tail on the bulldog,” figuratively, not literally, as well as a “guess the weight of Blue II” contest and other fun stuff. I’ll let you know how that all goes.

Finally, don’t forget to clear your afternoon schedule tomorrow for the Butler NCAA Tournament game at 2:45 p.m. (EST). There are plenty of Butler viewing parties around the country which can be found here: http://www.butler.edu/alumni/?pg=4781

Besides being the first day of spring, it’s also the “most wonderful time of the year,” as today is the official beginning of “March Madness.” Make sure the volume on your computer is up loud so all your co-workers can hear it. It's time....

http://www.ilovewavs.com/TV/Sports/TV%20Theme%20-%20CBS,%20NCAA%20Basketball.wav

Blue II

ESPN All Access - Butler Bulldogs

If you've yet to see ESPN's "All Access" footage of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team, check it out: http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3287712&n8pe6c=2

Of course, I'm in it, so look for that too. My appearance is toward the beginning and Willie Veasly is petting me.

My dad wants to apologize for having an untucked shirt on in the background...we had just finished setting up the West Gym in Hinkle Fieldhouse for hospitality so he was a bit unkempt when I decided to break loose and run on the main floor during practice.

I also wanted to let everyone know they could vote for me again in the Bissell MVP Contest: http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47128&Pet=1148

Thanks for the vote, enjoy the video and Go Dawgs!

Blue II

The Graves Touch and Three Days of Fun

First of all, my apologies for not updating the blog until today, however, I've been so busy over the last three days that my little paws haven't had time to navigate the QWERTY. Second, be advised that this is a long post...you young readers might want to break it up in sections. I'll make it easy for you and categorize my recent adventures based on the day.

However, before I begin, I still could use your help in the BISSELL MVP contest. Please take a second and vote for me here: http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47101&Pet=4900.jpg

Thank you, and now on to my usual canine insights...

Thursday, February 28:

The best thing about this day was the Butler men's basketball game against Wright State at Hinkle Fieldhouse. If you noticed, my friend and videographer Kelly, from The Indianapolis Star was on hand to shoot some additional footage for my video profile which is due on their web site sometime this month.

Also, for as much trash as I talked about Rowdy the Raider, I actually got along great with the guy. I guess it's easy to do when you're winning, but it surprised even me. I don't know if you can call it a "Reagan and Gorbachev" relationship by any means, but it's something anyway.

The Dawgs won the game and as a result, sealed the regular season Horizon League championship...a feat they have done six times out of the last nine seasons! They celebrated by cutting the nets down in Hinkle and posing for pictures with the Dawg Pound and yours truly.

Friday, February 29:

Leap Day! I told my dad that technically we shouldn't have to go to work that day because it was an extra day and that wasn't in our contract, but he made us go anyway. I suppose it was a good thing as we got some things accomplished.

One thing we did was created a YouTube page for me so that I can upload all of my Emmy Award winning home videos for everyone to enjoy. Check it out and save it to your favorites: http://www.youtube.com/butlerblue2.

I will continue to post videos periodically so check back early and often.

Then, the mail arrived with a special package for me, from Amazon.com. It was a web cam. Or as I like to call it a "Blue II Cam," or a "Blue TV." That's right, if my blog and YouTube.com sites weren't enough for all of you devoted fans, soon you'll be able to watch live streaming video of me doing exciting things like sleeping.


My dad got the web cam all hooked up and ready to go and I think we'll use ustream.tv to host the broadcasts, but YouTube just announced that they are venturing into the lifestream hosting realm, so we may end up switching. Unless ustream.tv comes up with a significant multi-thousand dollar contract to keep us. Regardless, I'll let you know when we go live with the video stream.

After all of that, it was KIRBY TIME! Kirby is my best friend and every other week or so, on Fridays, he comes to the office to visit. Named after the late Kirby Puckett of Minnesota Twins fame, Kirby is a one year old Maltese/Shih Tzu mix and belongs to Butler student, Jessica Butler (no relation to Ovid). Although, I look more like Kirby Puckett than Kirby does.



We're kind of like the Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon of doggy friends, but it works. Kirby likes to bounce around and bit my neck rolls and ears while I like to growl and bark at Kirby and dare him to get the toy that's in my mouth. It's strange, but we like it.




I have some video of Kirby and I up on my YouTube site. In case you are really lazy, I'll include one for your viewing pleasure below. Keep in mind, we are just "play fighting." It looks and sounds a lot worse than it is. No Michael Vick activity ensued.

After playing with Kirby, I was exahausted, so I pretty much slept for the remainder of the work day. But, later that evening it was back to work with an appearance at the HRC for Butler's annual Freshman Skits.

I was asked by Kappa Kappa Gamma to be a part of their skit. Typically I get asked each year to be in somebody's skit and I'm happy to oblige. I will upload a short video of that on my YouTube page.

Saturday, March 1:

After getting to bed late, I was up early and headed back to the HRC for Butler's 16th annual Bulldog Jog. The Butler University Student Foundation and Alumni Association put on the 5K race as a fundraiser for student book scholarships. I'm all for literacy and physical fitness so it seemed worth my time.


In spite of the event's name, you'll see no actual Bulldogs jogging. I would venture to say that my 3.1 mile time would be somewhere north of an hour, so I left the running to everyone else, including my dad. I was mainly on hand for PR.


Dick Wolfsie of WISH-TV CBS Channel 8 was on hand doing live spots from the event so I got a little TV time as well. Again, see my YouTube site for some video of that.

The race went well and participants exceeded the 200 mark, which was great! Race results can be reviewed here: http://www.butler.edu/alumni/index.aspx?pg=4393

After that, it was a quick nap and back to campus for the Butler men's basketball game against Detroit. It was Senior Day at the game as well as Hinkle Fieldhouse's 80th birthday. I even did tricks at center court during a timeout, ran after my bone a couple times, as well as took pictures with the seniors and their families, but perhaps the most noteworthy event was the fact that senior guard, A.J. Graves, actually pet me during the announcement of starting lineups.

You may remember my earlier post regarding A.J. and his desire, or lack thereof, to pet me during starting lineups. Well, he decided that Senior Day and some 120 starts were as good of time as any to show me some love.

The event was so monumental, David Woods of The Indianapolis Star wrote about it in his Butler Notebook as well as his Butler Insider blog, and the folks on the Butler Basketball message board took note too.

In spite of additional cheers from the crowd for finally giving me a pat on the head, A.J. went for only two points, the lowest of his Butler career. Oops. Sorry A.J. At least you tried it once. You don't have to pet me ever again. It's cool . I'm not mad at it.

But, it seems to have worked for other players. Take for instance, Pete Campbell who started, gave me a pre-game rub down, and then went off to make 8 of 12 three pointers. Nicely done, Pete.

So what does all of this mean? Nothing.

The first day of the month also means that the Butler News Flash was sent out to email inboxes world wide. If you don't receive the News Flash, you should. Email me at blue2@butler.edu and I'll make sure we get you signed up.

Okay, I think that covers just about everything for now. Today, I think I'll mainly rest and spend the day at home getting ready for next week and the Horizon League Tournament. I feel a bath in my future, but my mom said that if I was good, then I might be able to get the skateboard out for practice. We'll see.

Finally, the sound of chirping crickets and my lap top cooling fan is deafening...please feel free to use the "comments" feature. I enjoy the feedback and questions.

Blue II

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The weather forecasters in Indianapolis finally got a snow prediction correct this winter! And while it wasn't much, it was more than we've seen in a while, so I decided to make the most of the fresh snow.

On my way into the office (read Jordan Hall) my dad let me off the leash and I enjoyed a little frolic on the campus mall.

Below is a picture a and a video of the adventure...

As you can see in the video, I'm really into just eating the snow and rubbing my face in it. It's like one giant sno-cone. Just imagine if you could get a big jug of that flavoring syrup and coat all of that snow and then plop down and just eat it. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks of these things, but that would be soooooo gooooood! Granted, it would probably give you a pretty big stomach ache, but it would be worth it.

How do I know about sno-cones you ask? I go to Butler games...I get in on that action! Although, I think they call it a "shaved ice" in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Anyway, my morning snow adventures only left me craving more time outside so I met up with some students on the mall this afternoon for a snow ball fight. Unfortunately, some of the snow had evaporated by that point, but we still had fun. Below are some pictures by Brad Ward of the Office of Admission. Good shots, Brad!

Can you tell that I like the snow?! For more of Brad's pictures from today, click here: http://flickr.com/photos/bradjward/sets/72157603949018228/

Also, here's a video from our little snow ball fight...

That pretty much sums up my day, and the good news is, supposedly more snow is on the way! According to the our local weather forecasters more snow is expected after 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in Indianapolis. Although, that is supposed to change to freezing rain at some point. That's been the case that last couple of storms and we haven't got but a dusting of snow, so I'm not holding my breath.

If it does snow and and we get a fresh layer on the ground, you can bet I'll be out eating my fair share of it!

Okay, well, I've got a Butler game to watch right now on the Horizon League Network so I'm going to sign off for now.

If you've yet to vote for me this week in the Bissell MVP contest, please take a second and vote... You can vote here: http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47088&Pet=7217.jpg

Blue II

Friends in High Places

Retired General and former Secretary of State, Colin Powell once said, "Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard."

Sounds like a good plan to me, after all, as the old saying goes, "you are the comapny you keep."

So, I did just that, I spent my Monday with some pretty significant and successful people...the type "who take their work seriously, but not themselves."

Maybe you will recognize some of the people I spent my day with yesterday...

That's right, I got to spend the day with THE Colin Powell; Butler head men's basketball coach, Brad Stevens; 2003 Butler graduate and IndyCar Series driver for Vision Racing, Ed Carpenter; the entire Butler men's basketball team; and Indianapolis mayor, Greg Ballard. That's just how I roll!

It started out as a typical Monday...lots of sleeping in the cage that's in m dad's office, a lunch time appearance at the HRC, and more sleeping for the afternoon. Settling into the work week after a busy weekend has never been one of my strengths.

Then, come late afternoon things started to get interesting. My dad and I headed to the car and made our way to my favorite building, historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Once there, we met up with Ed Carpenter and headed into the arena to watch the men's basketball practice.

You see, last May Ed gave A.J. Graves and the coaching staff a tour of the Vision Racing garages at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when A.J. waved the green flag to start practice for the Indianapolis 500 . This time the Bulldogs returned the favor by inviting Ed to come watch practice, tour the locker room and basketball offices, etc. I was fortunate to get to tag along.

Here's a picture of Ed and Coach Stevens discussing the intricacies of Butler's motion offense and which Horizon League member institution has the best cafeteria food. No, not really, but those would be things I would like to talk about with the coach.

After that it was over to Clowes Memorial Hall where General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) was scheduled to enjoy dinner with some VIPs and speak to a capacity crowd as a part of the Diversity Lecture Series.

That's where I ran into General Powell and Mayor Ballard, as well as some other Butler and community big whigs like university president, Dr. Bobby Fong, and the Butler Board of Trustees.

I even got to take a picture with General Powell! Unfortunately, I do not have the picture to post right now, but I will do so in a future blog. It was sweet. All of these important folks got to meet General Powell and get a picture with him. I'm pretty important, so yes, I got a picture with him as well.

When I arrived, he smiled, kneeled down, clapped his hands once and said, "come here boy!" So I quickly ran over (when a General calls, you come) and he proceeded to pet me and love on me a little. He then stayed in a kneeled position and we took a picture together. It was cool.

Here I am, just an English Bulldog from Indiana who ended up mascot of Butler University posing for a picture with the one-time military leader of the free world. Eat your heart out "Spike," the Drake University bulldog!

Yeah, we've got a big game against No. 16 Drake on Saturday at Hinkle, so I am starting to prepared for that. It airs on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. (EST) and has been billed the best ESPN "Bracketbuster" matchup ever...of course it is, after all, both teams are represented by the English Bulldog! By the way, the Bulldogs of Butler are ranked a school-high No. 8 this week in both polls. That's pretty impressive! Go Dawgs!

Today, wasn't quite as exciting, but that's not to say I didn't get to have a little more fun. Each semester, my dad's favorite professor while in school, Dr. Steven Vibbert, invites me to come visit his public relations classes. He usually asks me to come mid to late semester when the students are starting to get restless. So today I stopped by class, did my tricks, and got a little love from the students. Below is a picture of that...

Note that class size. That's a student to teacher ratio of 16:1. Nice. Gotta love a Butler eduation! Although, it's not quite as good as my puppy class, but still, it's pretty good.

Okay, my bed time is quickly approaching so I've got to get going. Thanks for reading and before you leave, please vote for me again this week for the Bissell MVP contest! You can vote here: http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47088&Pet=7217.jpg

Blue II

all SHOW, no DOG

In the wake of the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (aired on the USA Network) which wrapped up last evening in Madison Square Garden, I received a couple of comments as to why I haven't registered my AKC number for competition.

Personally, I didn’t watch much of the dog show given that the Bulldogs played last night up at Milwaukee as well, but I did catch some of it. But anyway, to speak to those comments, I originally had hopes to compete in the show ring and even pass along my genes to younger kin, but it wasn’t meant to be, I guess.

In a nutshell, it is my understanding that the criteria in which these dogs are judged includes their natural/pure representation of the breed as well as their ability to "mate" with fellow purebreds, thus transferring those great traits to offspring.

I think I do a fair job of representing the breed, acting somewhat obedient, etc. It’s a technicality with the sexual reproduction part that’s got me ineligible to compete.

In addition to serving as Butler’s mascot, there was a desire to make a show dog out of me as well as allow me to sire a litter or two. However, a few months after I was born, it was found that I had a condition known as cryptorchid…look it up and draw your own conclusion. As a result, my hopes of going pro were dashed by a couple of snips. (wimper)

Hindsight is 20/20, but it wound’t have worked out anyway given the eye surgeries to fix a couple conditions known as entropion and distichia. (A special thanks to Dr. Deborah Stephan of Indiana Veterinarian Specialists for taking care of that for me!) Once you get a little plastic surgery done, you’re out of the competition as well.

That’s okay, we all know what I was born to do and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. They can aspire to win some ribbons and I’ll see if I can’t get my paws on some NCAA hardware!

Besides, did you know that a show dog trying to make it to the top travels the country doing up to 150 shows per year! That's hardly a dogs life!

But back to the dog show…had I competed, would have been in the Non-Sporting group coming out of the Bulldog breed. This year’s bulldog bred winner was Ch. Cherokee Legend Rock.

Good looking bully. I’m no stranger to the Cherokee Legends. In fact, my great grand-father via my mother’s mother, was a Cherokee Legend. Cherokee Legend Mouser Bill to be exact.

You can learn more about the Cherokee Legends here:

http://www.cherokeebulldogs.com/

http://www.legendbulldogs.com/

I am a product of Frank and Jeane King’s Kong King Kennel in Lizton, Ind., and in my family tree I have eight champions.

Now you know where I got my stunning looks!

At any rate, in this year’s WKC Dog Show, the winner out of the Non-Sporting was some poodle. Look at that thing! It looks more like a manicured shrub than a dog. The Bulldog was second within the group.

Best in Show was the Beagle named “Uno” who turned out to be a real crowd pleaser. Uno made history last night, becoming the first of his breed to win the event. Big deal, you might be Best in Show, but as Elvis once sang, “you ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog.”

Oh well, for all of us wannabes and has-beens, there’s always the annual Bulldog Beauty Contest at Homecoming. See you there!

Blue II

P.S. Voting Period 6 is now open in the BISSELL Most Valuable Pet Contest. Please be sure to vote for me again this week and get me on that vacuum box!

To vote for me, click on this link:
http://www.bissell.com/redirect.asp?page_id=47081&Pet=4757

Uncle Ovid Wants You...

…to vote for me!

While you’re online voting for Mike Green for the Bob Cousy Award, direct that index finger to make another couple of clicks to vote for yours truly.

That’s right, after watching Meaty of MTV's Rob & Big fame land his mug on Dick Van Patten’s brand of dog food on season three, episode four (“Meaty Goes to Hollywood”), I figured, why can’t I break into the product endorsement scene?

Enter Bissell’s MVP competition. You know?! The vacuum company. Anyway, they are having this contest where people can enter their pets to be featured on the box of their new Pet Hair Eraser vacuum package. I just went ahead and logged on and entered myself.

The contest winners are selected through online voting, so Uncle Ovid (Ovid Butler (pictured) wants you to get out and vote for me! Click here to view my submission and to vote.

You know I am looking good and should be on that vacuum box! You see my face on a vacuum box and you know right away the thing is good. People be in the store looking at vacuums and then see my face and be like…

Dude: Hey honey, let’s get this one!
Lady: Why, you know something about Bissell?
Dude: No, but it’s got this cool bulldog on it…it has to suck!

(and by suck, I mean in a good way, because that’s what vacuums do…they suck, literally)

Lady: Okay, if you think that’s the best one then get it.

Sold. Everybody wins. What’s not to like about that?

You could put my face on brochure selling ocean front property in Arizona and it would sell. That’s not cocky, it’s just cute.

Okay, there was maybe just a little bit of trash talk in all of that, but still. If my ability to use this face to score treats is any indication, then get me on the gravy train of endorsements…be bringing in checks so big it would make Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning and Michael Jordan look like chump change.

Hey, a dog can dream can’t he?

Regardless, get out there on the world wide web and vote for me and Mike Green; a couple of Bulldogs who need your support!

Enough about that, you get the idea. I've got a couple "day in the life" updates for everybody as yesterday was a busy day.

I had two appearances to make yesterday. One was for the annual Grad Finale where seniors go and to the Reilly Room on campus to get their cap and gown, graduation tickets, make a gift to the senior class fund, etc. That was cool. It's always bittersweet to go to the event b/c I know that I'm not going to get to see that group of students very much anymore, but I'm happy to know that they will soon enter society and represent Butler well.

At the same time, I had to stop in over at an event put on by some business students who created their own business plan, secured the funding, and started the business; all for a class project! They had the unveiling of their product yesterday which essentially, in a nutshell, is a photo booth. The business is called Strike a Pose and their website is located at http://www.strikeaposeindy.com/. Check it out.

After all of that, it was off to home where we cheered the Bulldogs on to victory over the Valpo Crusaiders 71-68 in a thriller of a game! Although, I had to sit out part of the game in my cage when the storms rolled through town. I'm not a huge fan of thunder and lighting.

In all, it was a successful day. Living the dream, baby!

Now go vote already!

Blue II

P.S. Be sure to watch all five clips from that episode of Rob & Big which can be viewed online here: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1580197&vid=206200 If you don’t laugh, see a doctor immediately.