In honor of my retirement this year, my friends at the Butler University Bookstore decided to hold an academic contest, of sorts, with submissions coming in the form of a haiku. The Blue II Haiku Contest stood as an invitation for people of all ages to pen some prose about yours truly with a 5-7-5 syllable structure and potentially win some swag.

I’m pleased to report that haiku submissions have been read and my trusty panel of haiku experts have made their selections. The following people have won best haiku for their respective category and Butler fan, Linda Engle, is the “Best in Show” or overall winner.

For their efforts, the category winners will receive a $20 gift certificate to the Butler University Bookstore and our overall winner gets a brand new 16 MP Nikon CoolPix digital camera, complete with a 16 GB memory card pre-loaded with hi-res photos of me! Not bad for a little tickle of the keyboard, right? It pays to enter my contests.

My congratulations to the winners, listed below, and my thanks the more than 100 people who submitted an entry. I was impressed with your creativity, cleverness and wit. Now feast your eyes on these great works:

Category: k12 – Samantha Guadagnino

Dribble down the court
Run eat play sleep then repeat
always in our heart!

Category: Butler Student – Kim Van Wyk

America’s dog
Stolen hearts, broken brackets
Nine years of greatness

Category: Butler Faculty – Kathleen Hood

Devoted mascot,
Representing Butler U,
Blue II will be missed!

Category: Butler Alumni – Matthew Tapp

You came a puppy
And through the years we have shared
We all became Dawgs

Category: Butler Fan/Overall Winner – Linda Engle

Not my first Big Dance
Nine winters – still I bleed blue
It’s the Butler Way

Category: Special Mascot Submission – Butler Blue III

I look up to Blue
America’s Dog so true
Big Paws to fill soon