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!

A Bittersweet March Madness

First, I offer my hearty congratulations to the Butler Bulldog women's basketball team which held tough in the waning moments of the first-round WNIT match-up at Duquesne last night to win on running layup by Candace Jones! With just three seconds remaining in the game, Candance cashed in two points to bring the Bulldogs from behind to win by one (59-58) in what was the team's first post-season victory in more than a decade!

The Lady Bulldogs will move on to the second round of the tournament on Monday (March 23) to face host Marquette at 8:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. CT). Go Dawgs!

Given the victory by the women last evening, all was not lost regarding the day and the thrill that is "March Madness!" However, a Bulldog couldn't help but feel bittersweet when going to bed last night as our men's team put forth a valiant effort, but came up short against the LSU Tigers in Greensboro, North Carolina to open up the men's basketball NCAA Tournament.

After a slow start, our beloved Bulldogs came roaring back and made us all proud and even lead the game with just minutes remaining. But LSU was not to be denied as they shot "lights out" and made a sprint to the finish. The final score was 75-71 and while we may have lost the game, it wasn't for a lack of effort. Our Bulldogs played well, but our hats off to the LSU Tigers...well played!

I guess that fact that President Barack Obama picked us to win in his bracket wasn't enough to make the difference in the game yesterday. But really, the guy missed like five games in his bracket yesterday! Yeah, five in the opening day. Ouch. Let's hope he's better at running the country than picking winners in an NCAA Tourney bracket!

The good news is that the same Bulldog team you saw yesterday returns to the bench next season and will be joined by a strong cast of recruits! The future is never guaranteed, but I like the plan that is in place!

And, if its of any additional consolation, we did make the "Top-10" list of mascots in this year's NCAA Tournament! Here's a link to the story: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2009/03/20/obama_ncaa_bracket.html

We came in at No. 9 in the rankings determined by PetSide.com.

Speaking of pets, here's a "dog ate it" story for you from CNN that I think you'll enjoy. Every heard the old saying, "money doesn't grow on trees?" Well, perhaps money grows within dogs! Check this out...



Now that's what you call, "dirty money!"

Okay, enough with the bad jokes, I'm out of here.

Tomorrow I'll be appearing at the 17th annual Bulldog Jog held over at the HRC at 8 a.m. so I hope to see some of you runner types there. Otherwise, enjoy the first weekend of the spring season!

Woof,

Blue II

The Face of March Madness

Ok, well "The Face of March Madness" title might be a little presumptuous, but for Indianapolis and central Indiana, I might as well be as my mug is front and center on the front page of today's Indianapolis Star!

Joining me in the cover shot are Butler athletic director, Barry Collier; head men's basketball coach, Brad Stevens; my mascot counterpart, Hink; Butler's 20th president, Dr. Bobby Fong. The headline reads "THE BUTLER WAY" and the following article includes an analysis of Butler's campus-wide winning philosophy as interpreted by David Woods.

Log on to www.indystar.com/butler to check it out and to read additional Butler coverage by Mr. Woods and Curt Cavin. Good stuff!

And if you've yet to see the front page of The Star today, or you don't live in the area, then here it is in all of it's glory...

Today's the big day, game day, so let's talk a little Butler hoops for a minute. Remember, the No. 9 Bulldogs open up NCAA Tourney play today on CBS at 12:20 p.m. from Greensboro, North Carolina versus the No. 8 seeded Tigers of LSU. It's been a highly touted game with college basketball analysts and experts teetering on the outcome.

With the experts and public opinion in question regarding just who will be victorious in the Butler/LSU match-up today, perhaps we should just put all of that aside and pay attention to one man's picks, our Commander and Chief, Barack Obama.

I'm not one to be politcial, but the guy is the President of the United States of America and he did pick Butler over LSU. Two things come to mind here. 1.) President Obama has some of the best intel in the world at his disposal and; 2.) If anyone has the power to "fix" the outcome of a game, I would think it would be this guy.

Ultimately, depending on how you voted in the fall will determine whether you think Obama's backing is a good or bad thing, but I'm a dog and I don't vote, so whatever. I'll take the support!

The Butler men's basketball team arent' the only Dawgs in action on the hardwood today, as the Butler women make an appearance in post-season play this evening in the WNIT at Duquesne.

The women tip at 7 p.m. (EST) in what will be their first appearance in the post season since 1998. A win tonight would give them their 20th win of the season!

Good luck to all of my Dawgs today!

If you know how to work the Twitter, or just like seeing my Twitter updates on my blog, then be sure to follow me all day today as I "tweet" updates regarding the games from my spot on campus. And for the upteenth time, no, I am not at the games because the NCAA does not allow live mascots at their tournament sites. Their loss.

For some additional coverage of Butler hoops besides the usual suspects:

• http://www.butlersports.com/

• www.indystar.com/butler

Also check out http://horizonleaguenetwork.blogspot.com/ for some great behind the scenes coverage!

Eventhough today is all about Butler hoops, I did want to leave you with a couple of other blogs that I've been following that highlight some of the amazing talents, efforts and abilities of Butler students and faculty.

The first blog revolves around some of Butler's Media Arts students and their creative work. The blog is designed to showcase the student's work that they complete for class assignments. Just have a look and checkout some of their stuff. It's some pretty impressionable work!

• http://www.butlercreative.blogspot.com/

The second blog is written by Butler College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences professor, Mike Roscoe and revolves around his life as a medic with the US Military while stationed in Iraq and his attempt at serving his country and his students all at the same time. It's a humbling story of courage, discipline, honor and pride. Keep up the great work, Mike!

• http://www.buprofessor.blogspot.com/

Whether you went to Butler, sent kids to Butler, had relatives attend Butler, work at Butler, once worked at Butler, just like bulldogs, the color blue, or whatever, it doesn't matter. We're all Butler Family today, so lets pull together and get ourselves a couple of victories in post-season play this afternoon!

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

A New Friend, Sparky the Dragon, HL Tournament, and Bath Time

Well, how did my web cameras (read Blue2TV) affect your productivity on the job this past week? Add that to March Madness and by May you’ll be on the streets looking for work.

In addition to staring on my own lifecasting network this week, I also got to meet a new friend on Thursday. Her name is Reese, as in “Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups,” and she’s a 12-week old Daschund. She belongs to Jason and Betsy Weatherly of Nashville, Tenn.

I don’t think Reese knew what to think of me at first. After all, she’s so small that she was even scared of my toys, because like me, they are all bigger than her too!

When I first saw her, I thought she might be a new toy, but then I realized it was a real dog. I didn’t know they made them so small! I think I was bigger than her before I even had my eyes open as a newborn pup. (See pictures below.)


After a while she warmed up pretty well and we had a great time. While I like being the sole dog at home, it was kind of fun to have playmate around too.

I ended up having too much fun on Thursday night with Reese and staying up way past my bed time, so if you logged on to Blue2TV on Friday morning, you probably just saw me sleeping. I know, I know, that’s nothing new, but I was REALLY sleeping on Friday morning.

Once I woke up, it was time to head over to the West Gym in Hinkle Fieldhouse to setup the Bulldog Club/OBS hospitality area for Saturday’s Horizon League Men’s Basketball Tournament games.

Actually, I don’t do any setting up, I let my dad and his colleagues handle that. I just run around the wide-open space of the West Gym and wear myself out.

On Saturday, I got to sleep-in and then went to the HRC while my dad worked out. After that, it was a quick trip back home and then back to campus for the HL Tournament to watch the Bulldogs take on the UIC Flames for an opportunity to play in the finals on Tuesday.

That’s right, I said UIC Flames. When teams started picking the Earth’s natural elements as mascots, I’m not sure. Just think, instead of an English Bulldog writing this blog right now, maybe it could be the “wind,” “air,” or “water.” Seriously, “flames,” that’s the best you could do? I feel bad for the mascot costume maker that got that work order. No matter what you construct, you can’t win on that deal.

Oh well, I’m going to make fun of it anyway. Just look at this thing, they call “Sparky the Dragon.” It looks like said mascot costume maker scraped the whole flame idea and just went for a cartoonish pre-historic dinosaur that appears to be a reject from the Barney show. I get that a dragon breathes “flames,” but that’s stretching it, ya’ think?



Perhaps it’s just a left over costume from the Jim Henson’s HBO show, Fraggle Rock, sans the crazy hair.


Anyway, back on point, the Bulldogs braved the heat of the Flames to win convincingly by a score of 66-50. (That sentence was so cliché, but that’s what you get when your mascot is the “Flames.” You will always be written about in cliché fashion.)

A.J. Graves did not pet me before this match-up and went for 14 points in the game. It’s interesting…for his entire career, people have pleading for him to pet the dog during the announcement of starting lineups. He finally did on Senior Day and only scored two points. Now before games people are coming up to me and saying, “Don’t let Graves touch you!” Whatever people…just be careful what you wish for.

Up next are the Vikings of Cleveland State for the HL Tournament title which will air live on ESPN, Tuesday, March 11th at 9 p.m. from Hinkle Fieldhouse. The winner will not only take the title, but receive an automatic berth into the men’s NCAA tournament. I already can’t wait to have one last game at home this season.

Also, a special thanks to Joel Barnhill of the Horizon League for ordering promotional shirts to be thrown out during the games. I didn’t get a shirt, but I did get to destroy one of the boxes the shirts came in after the game over at the south Dawg Pound. The box was addressed to Joel so I figured he was the appropriate person to thank.

A congratulations is in order for the Lady Bulldogs of the women’s basketball program on getting their 20th win on the season Saturday as they took down Valparaiso. They will now prepare for their own Horizon League Tournament and a chance for post-season play. Well done!

Today, Sunday, I again got to sleep-in, followed by another trip to the HRC. After that it was more skateboard practice and some sun-bathing on the deck.

I then took a nap during the NASCAR race (because that’s what you do during those things) and after that it was bath time. I don’t dislike baths, but I don’t really get all pumped up for them either. I do enjoy that fresh clean feeling once it’s all over. Here is some video of the event:

I forgot to mention this last week, but when the Bulldogs took on the Wright State Raiders a couple Thursday’s ago, I had the opportunity to meet Indianapolis Colts’ Pro-Bowl center, Jeff Saturday who was in attendance at the game.

That really has no significance, other than Jeff is semi-famous and the fact that I wanted to record the event. Plus, he's a cool dude. End of story.

Finally, it’s spring break week at Butler University and while many members of the student body are somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line, yours truly is staying put. That’s right, no spring break for me, so be sure to check out Blue2TV all week long to check in on my ever-exciting office life.