When the news broke that Butler University head coach Brad Stevens was departing Indianapolis for the Boston Celtics' head coaching job, there were two tweets that stood alone in the flurry of activity.
?You?re welcome, Bill Simmons,? tweeted Butler Blue II, the mascot emeritus of Stevens? former university.
Moments later:
?You owe me one, Leprechaun.? -- this from the current furry face of the university, Butler Blue III, otherwise known as Trip.
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PHOTO GALLERY: See some of the best images of Blue II and Blue III
They technically can't speak, but they have spoken.
They?ve spoken during two Final Four appearances, on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," and about joining two new conferences in two years.
Somehow, without opposable thumbs or a grasp of the English language, Blue II and Trip lead the conversation about Butler University in a way no else has.
And it?s all because Michael Kaltenmark, Butler's director of web marketing, has given them a voice.
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Kaltennmark was an undergraduate student at Butler when the university adopted its first official live mascot in 2000?an English bulldog named Blue that was cared for by a Butler staffer and alumna, Keili Walker.
But Butler Blue I?s reign was a trial run of sorts for the university, and while most people on campus knew of the dog, her appearances were few and far between.
When Walker moved to Washington State in 2004, Blue I made the trip with her owner, leaving Butler to figure out its next move.
Enter Kaltenmark, who stayed on staff following his graduation and was then working as the assistant director of annual giving. With a bare-bones plan in mind, Kaltenmark approached the university about getting another live mascot and was soon given the green light to proceed.
?It was sort of a handshake agreement and that was it,? he said. ?There was no contract, no guidelines?it was very ?figure it out.? ?
Kaltenmark returned to Butler with a 7-week-old bulldog puppy, no guarantees of success, limited expectations and no idea on what he was about to embark.
But he had a plan brewing in the crevices of his marketing mind.
He wanted the dog, named Butler Blue II or Blue for short, to be the face of the university.
?In my mind, I?m thinking that this dog needs to be very visible and present all the time. We need to run with it. This is something that most universities don?t have," he said.
?I didn?t really ask anybody. I just ran with it.?
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Kaltenmark did a lot of running in those first few months?to puppy classes, to hospitals, to bar mitzvahs, to block parties, to pretty much anywhere Blue II?s presence was requested.
As he quickly learned, having a bulldog puppy was exhausting by itself, let alone having one whose presence was so widely requested all over the Indianapolis metropolitan area.
He documented every aspect of their adventures and interactions on Flickr, which allowed Blue II?s growing fan base to follow the pup as he snuffed and snorted his way around the Butler community.
There are 13,000 photos of Blue II to date, ranging from him snuggling with Kaltenmark?s son, whom the dog refers to as ?Master Everett,? to him brushing paws with Georgetown Jack in the nation?s capital.
With the evolution of social media, so, too, came Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for both Blue II and little brother Trip.
Blue II Social Media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Blue III Social Media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Every picture is a moment?a vignette in a life of the nation?s most famous bulldogs?but also a glimpse into the culture of the university itself.
?It gives Butler more of a warm, fuzzy kind of feel,? Kaltenmark said. ?When people think about Butler, they don?t just think about a place with buildings and professors in Indianapolis."
They can?t speak, but they?re the face of the university, wrinkly snouts and all.
Just ask Brad Stevens.
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One afternoon, as he was leaving behind his office in Hinkle Fieldhouse, Stevens noticed a mother and a daughter wandering the empty venue.
They approached Stevens, flagging him down.
As the sunlight filtering through the vaulted windows of Hinkle illuminated Stevens, a brief look of recognition crossed the mother?s face.
?You look familiar,? the woman told Stevens. ?Anyway, do you know where I can find Blue??
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It?s not hard to find a Blue?whether it?s II or III?in Indianapolis.
Wherever Kaltenmark goes, the two are sure to follow, tongues wagging, from sun up to sun down.
?It never ends because they?re with me all the time,? Kaltenmark said of his job as full-time pup-wrangler. ?We?re rarely apart.?
They tool around every day in the Blue Mobile, a custom-outfitted van bearing their faces that was gifted to Kaltenmark by a local Ford dealer.
They have their own parking spot on campus.
Kaltenmark?s office also is Blue II and Trip?s office, complete with dog toys and blankets and various canine paraphernalia strewn everywhere marking their shared domain.
Students filter in and out, offering the dogs belly rubs or treats.
At his desk, Kaltenmark filters through appearance requests in addition to his normal duties while the centerpieces of those requests snore on the floor next to him.
He might occasionally stop to snap a picture of Blue II or Trip doing something silly to share with the dogs? thousands of Twitter followers.
?The dogs are successful online because we typically respond to people and are conversational,? he explained. ?Having character and personality that shines though?that?s one of the best parts about it.?
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On March 9, 2013, Blue II officially handed over the mascot duties to Trip by way of a halftime ?Changing of the Collar? ceremony.
It was the final home game of Butler?s 2013 season?Blue II?s ninth season with the team.
Blue II received a standing ovation by the sold-out crowd at Hinkle, but the well wishes were echoed nationwide on Twitter as the two dogs amassed a total of 2,000 mentions from March 9-10.
It didn?t take long for Trip to catapult into Internet stardom.
Four months later, he starred in a Rocky-esque montage chronicling his and the rest of Butler?s athletic teams' training for their admittance into the Big East Conference.
Within hours, the video of the stout bulldog?s exploits chasing balls and traipsing around campus went viral and was mentioned by virtually every big-name sports outlet in the United States.
What most people don?t know was that the video almost didn?t make it past the cutting room floor.
The student producer in charge of filming and editing the video, sophomore Tim Valentine, had originally set the two-minute video to the ?Rocky? theme song.
Unfortunately for Butler, the song is protected by copyright laws.
The unanimous decision was that the second version featuring the rights-free music paled in comparison, but would be released anyway.
?We?re kinda down on it, but we still put it out there anyway because it?s cute and we worked hard on it,? Kaltenmark explained. ?So to watch it go viral in spite of that really opened our eyes.?
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For as long as there has been Brad Stevens behind the bench, there has been Blue II on the sidelines.
One is in Boston, embarking on a new journey. The other grudgingly accepts the terms of retirement, hanging his head in sadness as his protege leaves for an appearance.
But they will always share that moment in the hallways of Hinkle.
Stevens returned from New Orleans in the dead of night after his team knocked off No. 2 seed Florida.
As the coach gathered his luggage from the undercarriage of the bus, Blue II sat waiting.
Despite his exhaustion and the media circus awaiting comment, Stevens leaned down to pet Blue II.
?I got you another road trip,? he told the dog.
Now it?s Trip?s turn to experience these moments. And as long as Kaltenmark is there to document his travels, it?ll be our turn, too.
Source: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2013-07-24/butler-bulldogs-blue-2-blue-3-blue-ii-blue-iii-trip-brad-stevens
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