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

Horizon League Tournament Champs

It's official, the Butler University men's basketball team is not only the regular season Horizon League champions, but they are also the Horizon Leauge Tournament champions as well. A feat they had not repeated since 2001.

There's actually too many accolades to list from this game/season, so just check out The Indianapolis Star's David Woods, and his recap from last night's affair: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/SPORTS06/803120471

In addition to Mr. Woods, Star photographer Heather Charles was hard at work last night as well. Her first two shots from last night's game are quite good if I say so myself. I have added the two aforementioned pictures below. If you'd like to see the rest of her great shots, look here: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MULTIMEDIA


I know a lot of you were in attendance or watched live on ESPN. Either way, you most assuredly caught a glimpse of me doing my gameday thing. There are unconfirmed reports via text messages on my dad's cell phone that I was on screen during the broadcast as much as four times! Not bad for not even playing in the game.

We heard that during the game last night there was some sort of "Butler commercial" or promo. We are not aware of any such thing, but we didn't get to see it either. A friend and faithful blog reader, Jackie, posted this in the comments section:

Blue, Last night, during the televised game on ESPN, there was a mid-major commercial for Butler. It featured 3 cheerleaders, and some people who work in the cafeteria. At one point, the cheerleaders were crowded around the big cement statue in front of Atherton. The commercial would have been much better if you were in it. Are you planning to do a Butler commercial in the future?

Good question, Jackie. I can't believe they used a concrete stand-in for this so-called "commercial" that was aired last night. I don't know if there's another commercial in the works, but I'll have to get my people in talks to get that worked out. Let's face it, if a Butler commercial doesn't feature the live mascot (in this case: me, with emphasis on "live") then it's not official. Granted, I'm a little biased, but I think that's a fair statement.

Anyway, the game was great. It was bittersweet since it was my last home game this season and the last home game for our beloved seniors(pictured), but it was more sweet than anything given the circumstances, outcome, etc.


While I enjoy all of the pre-game rituatls and activities that I participate in, last night's game was more unique for it's post-game fun. I typically end up on the court after most home games to pose for pictures and mingle with fans, but given the ceremonies (trophy presentations, net cutting, etc.) we got to enjoy a lot of fanfare after the game.

I got to take pictures with the Horizon League Tournament Trophy, pose with Pete Campbell and Drew Streicher (a special shout-out to Drew who, I understand, reads my blog), mingle with the media and even tear up a cardboard box at half court!


Again, thanks to the Horizon Leauge for the box...they left a box on the sidelines that was used for the HL Championship t-shirts, so I helped myself. It was great fun to thrash on the box at center court and have a little crowd watching as well. Good times.

Given the late start time of the game, we finally got home sometime after mid-night and into bed at 1 a.m. Needless to say, I was tired when it was time to head to the office this morning. Today was a standard day at the office. Much sleeping, some playing, and a lot of just hanging out. Remember, you can catch all of this insanely captivating activity on Blue2TV.

The big buzz around the office today, outside of the basketball game, was an e-mail that was sent on Tuesday afternoon to alumni, parents and friends of the university. It's a really cool piece and definitely worth the watch, especially because I am in it. (Would you expect anything less?) To watch it, click here: http://www.pursuant4.com/butler/buselect/email_1.asp

After a full day at the office, I was off on a trip up to Carmel, Ind. for an appointment with the Official Veterinarian of Butler Unviersity and Butler graduate, Dr. Kurt Phillips (pictured) of Woodland Animal Hospital. My mom noticed that my ear has been bothering me this week, so they took me up to see the good doctor. Sure enough, Dr. Phillips diagnosed an ear infection and gave me some meds.


As it turns out, the ear infection was a result of not getting my ears dried out enough after that little bath I took on Sunday. You remember...the one that's on YouTube and has all of that incriminating footage of me in a tub. Thanks, parents.

Whomever said your parents always know what is best for you was lying. My parents give me the hard-sell on why I should take a bath, blah, blah, blah, so I oblige and what do I get for my trouble (besides internet humiliation)? An ear infection!

No "Worlds Greatest Dad/Mom" t-shirts or mugs for them any time in the near future.

Back to ballers...the 29-3 Butler Bulldogs are awaiting their NCAA Tournament assignment which will be handed out this Sunday, a.k.a. "Selection Sunday," and I am eagerly anticipating the Dawg's first matchup in the "Big Dance."

For whatever reason, I've always been under the impression that live mascots were not allowed at NCAA tournament sites. I had my dad check with his peeps at the NCAA, and that might not actually be the case. The verdict is still out, so we'll see what happens. Should I be cleared to go, the game location be relatively close, and the stars align, I might just be hitting the road as well. I'll keep you posted on how that develops. I'm crossing my paws in hopes that it all works out.

Blue II

My Raider Romp

Remember the Wright State Raider that was lurking near my cage yesterday? (See post below for visual.) Yeah, he got dealt with...

Here's hoping my fellow Bulldogs do likewise on Thursday evening (9 p.m. EST) at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

By the way, no actual Wright State Raiders were physically harmed in the making of this film. All harm was inflicted figuratively.

And yes, Wright State considers the "Raider" to be a wolf. I don't get it either. Perhaps the Wright State Mangy Dingos would be more descript. They actually changed from a red-bearded Viking to a wolf. The wolf is now known as "Rowdy Raider."

Here's a picture of WSU's current (middle) and former mascots...

I see why they switched from the crazy-eyed Viking. That thing is sure to scare all small children. I believe that to be what a suspect sketch artist would draw if you said the criminal resembled the off-spring off a Keebler Elf and one of Willy Wonka's Ump-Lumpas. (Sorry, that's the best I could come up with this close to bed time.)

Regardless, somewhere Wilbur, Orville and Ovid are sitting around a table, smoking pipes, wearing distinguished suits and asking each other who came up with "Bulldogs" and "Raiders."

Oh well, at least WSU's "guy in a suit" actually resemlbes their mascot...which is more than we can say for a certain school in Des Moines, Iowa. (For visual, see post below...again.)

Enough about the Raiders, let's just settle this on the court Thursday night.

In case you missed it, I was featured in Sports Illustrated.com's photo account from the Bulter/Drake game this past Saturday.

The picture taken by John Biever can be seen here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0802/campus.superfans.feb26/content.5.html

Also, mad props to A.J. Graves and Drew Streicher for being named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division Men's Basketball Team, chosen by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). The two Butler student-athletes were among 15 players chosen to the honor squad, and Butler was the lone university to have more than one player selected!

Nice work fellas...not only can you challenge opponents in a game of hoops, but you also can dominate in the occasional standardized test-off. Clearly old "Dawgs" can learn new tricks!

Blue II