Go Green with Blue!

It's been another great spring week. I've continued to enjoy the spring weather, especially the cooler temps at the start of the week. Perfect bulldog weather!

With the end of classes and the start of finals, things have been relatively quiet on campus. Not as quiet as they are in the summer, but noticeably different than the normal hustle and bustle that the school year typically provides.

However, Tuesday was still a lively day as it began with the annual Campus Sweep event. Campus Sweep is an event held by the Staff Assembly for faculty and staff to join in together and help clean up the campus for the spring. That morning you can find employees sweeping side walks, washing windows and even spreading mulch. It's as much about comraderie and community as it is about cleaning the already beautiful campus.

This year's them was "Go Green with Blue!" so of course I was invited for the opening ceremonies, but not so much the cleaning up part. I tend to make more messes than I do clean them up. Nonetheless, I sported my event t-shirt and made an appearance.

I did help out with the cleaning a little bit...primarily in the role of supervisor. I saw Greg Lily of the facilities staff fire up that John Deere Gator and I helped myself to the passenger seat and off we went. It was just like riding the tractor and four-wheeler at grandma and grandpa's house!

For more videos from the event, be sure to visit BlueTube at www.youtube.com/butlerblue2.

After that, we got to go to the annual faculty and staff picnic where I managed to score a few illegal table scraps. All told, I got enough pieces of grilled chicken to constitute a full breast, a cherry tomato, and a couple pieces of a cookie. Not bad for a dog who's not supposed to receive handouts. I've still got it baby...suckers!

Later that afternoon, my dad and I were out doing errands when we ran across senior Loren Snyder and his English Bulldog, Bella. She's a 5 year old bullie and you may remember that she and I didn't quite get along the first time we met.

Well, we worked out our differences and just had a great time out on the lawn on Tuesday. A special thanks to Bob Marcus who came along while we were playing and snapped some pictures. Check them out...

The layout of the pictures is to represent the nature of our playtime. Basically we would play for 20 seconds then rest for 2 minutes. We went on like that for quite a while until it was obvious we didn't know when to quit. But it was fun!

Fast forward to today and I got to go to another Office of Admission Early Resgistration event. I always like greeting those future bulldogs and begging for a piece of their breakfast, so that was fun too.

Next week should be a busy week with the Seniors participating in their last social events given that commencement is just around the corner. I'm sure there will be some fun stuff for me to get into.

Speaking of next week, be sure to check your mail boxes for a piece of mail from yours truly! That's right, many of the Butler family will receive a letter and envelope with my mug on it and a message from me. I talk about all the great stuff that's been going on around campus this year as well as ask for a little dough too. (There's also a cool window decal inside as well.)

So if you get that letter, be sure to send a check back in the return envelope that is provided! Don't worry, the money won't be spent on dog bones or anything like that...I let Dr. Fong and Trustees figure out where to spend that stuff. I just ask for it. I figure it's just like begging for food and as you read earlier from my faculty/staff picnic venture, I'm pretty good at that sort of thing.

Of course, you don't have to respond to the letter. You can give anytime at www.butler.edu/gifts. Tell 'em Blue II sent ya!

Thanks!

Blue II

Front Page News...and second, and third pages too

This week's issue of The Butler Collegian, Est. 1886 (Vol. 122, Issue 16) has arrived on campus and just by looking at it, you would think it was the National Enquirer and I was Britney Spears!

I mean, I was all over that thing. You can find a nice color picture of me on the front page, along with large pictures of me on pages two AND three! Not to mention, there's an article about me and the blog on page two by Butler student and managing editor, Bob Hermon. The headline reads, "Butler Blue II rolls onto Internet with new blog." Nice!

Props to The Butler Collegian staff for the article and the face time. I suppose it's fitting that I am a staple in the school/student newspaper. Not just because I am the mascot, but it is The Collegian, after all, that is essentially responsible for me being here. Well, in a round-about sort of way.

According to http://www.butlersports.com/ and the university archives, prior to 1919, Butler's athletic teams were known as the "Christians". But numerous losses in the 1919 football season caused Butler's followers to grow weary of the nickname. During the week leading up to Butler's game with the heated rival Franklin "Baptists", Butler Collegian editor Alex Cavins and his staff, which included cartoonist George Dickson, decided something "hot" must be conceived for the school's weekly pep session.

About that time, the mascot of a Butler fraternity..... a bulldog named Shimmy (you couldn't shake him), wandered into the Collegian office. The idea was born. The next school paper came out with a big page-one cartoon showing Shimmy the bulldog, labeled "Butler", taking a bite out of the pants seat of a figure labeled John the Baptist. The caption was: "Bring on That Platter, Salome!" (Butler lost the game to Franklin, 14-0, but the name "Bulldogs stuck).

And what do ya know? It's another Paul Harvey (pictured) moment on the The Life and Times of Butler Blue II..."and know you know.......(long pause).......the rest of the story."

By the way, I'm guessing it's never good to reference a bulldog eating the head of a prominent Biblical figure served on a platter by the person who is considered to be responsible for that revered person's death. Uh, I'm guessing that's why we lost the game. Something to keep in mind, Collegian editors...let's stay away from the negative Biblical references come March...okay?

Anyway, back to the article...Dawg Pound president and senior, Loren Snyder was quoted in the story. He said about my blog, "It's pretty entertaining sometimes. It's just funny to imagine Blue II saying those things."

Oh yeah, Loren?! What's so funny? Next time I see you, I'll say them to your face! Then we'll see who's laughing! (just kidding)

Loren went on to ask, "What does Blue plan on doing with that huge bone every time he takes it off the court?"

That information is confidential and top secret. So much so that I don't know what I'm going to do with it. It's a big bone. It looks cool. I want it. It's kind of like going to the Dollar Store and walking out with stuff you'll never use or need. It was a dollar and it looked cool. 'Nuff said.

Finally, Loren says that his daughter and English Bulldog, Bella, has become "less demanding" since our first date and that he'd like for us to give it another shot. We'll see, Loren. We'll see.

Wow, look at the time! I had better get to my afternoon nap.

Until next time...

Blue II

Girls, Girls, Girls

My good friends, newly weds, and Butler grads Noelle & Daniel recently posted,

"Sounds like the dream life of every Butler Bulldog! Do you have a girlfriend Blue??"

Not only do I live the dream life of every Butler Bulldog, I pretty much live the dream life. Period.

Living the dream, baby. Living-the-dream!

Now, on to your question...

It’s been said that a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. Good news for you, I’m a dog, I do whatever I want. In the words of George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic, "Why must I feel like that? Why must I chase the cat? Nothin' but the dog in me." In other words, I've been known to like the ladies. Ya dig?

But, about those "girlfriends." Officially, I’ve never really had a girlfriend. Technically, I’ve had a lot of ladies in my life.

I’m cute, I’m cuddly, I’m a mascot and I’m a BMOC. Ladies love me.


My main lady in my life, besides my birth mother, Margie, (pictured below) is my adopted mother, Tiffany.

Tiffany taught me how to treat a lady and she said it was okay for me to date, but I’ve still yet to find “the one.”

I used to have a “relationship” with Kristen Nichols when she was on the cheerleading squad. Unofficially, she was my “girlfriend,” but we’ve since moved on. It was a mutual break-up, and we’re still good friends though. Besides, it was all fun and games…she is a human after all!

So when it comes the humans, I just enjoy the love from everyone. It’s platonic. But, I don’t really have a girlfriend on the K9 side either.

A good friend and Dawg Pound cohort, Loren Snyder, adopted a nice female English Bulldog recently. Her name is Bella. We went on a first date, but that didn’t go so well. We found that two Type A personalities don’t necessarily mix. She’s a nice lady, and we can be friends, but she’s too much woman for this man to handle.

I have an ongoing crush on Hoops Green. Hoops belongs to Butler men’s basketball guard, Mike Green. I haven’t seen her since Mike was playing ball in Alaska and Hoops was walking through campus with her sitter. We hit off right away. She’s hot, no question. And I think she was in to me, but we just don’t get to see each other very much. Distance just seems to make the heart grow fonder.

Ah well, I’m not giving up on love, but I’m still just three! I'll wait until I'm longer in the tooth to be settling down. That’s a big commitment…all those expectations, demands, emotions, etc.

Like the late Christopher George Latore Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, i.e. Notorious B.I.G. once said, “mo money, mo problems.” True. So true.

So I guess it’s best that I just kick it as a one-man-band for the time being. I am most definitely single and ready to mingle, but you just can’t force true love. I know that "Mrs. Right" is just going to find me when I least expect it.

Sleepless in Indianapolis,

Blue II