Graphic by Dorothy Lakshmanamurthy.
CALEB DENORME | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | cdenorme@butler.edu
SAWYER GOLDWEIN | MANAGING EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu
Overtime, or “OT,” is an opinion column series where the Collegian takes national sports headlines or polarizing topics and gives them a Butler-centric angle.
Recently, Outkick pundit Dan Dakich took a break from his regular analysis of Indiana University men’s basketball and his infatuation with “the great American penis”, instead taking aim at the Butler men’s basketball program and Hinkle Fieldhouse.
In a tirade of posts on X, Dakich laid out an outlandish and inflammatory proposal on how to “fix Butler Basketball”. His obtuse plan of action began with the demolition of Hinkle — one of the most well-known arenas in all of college basketball — which also happens to be a U.S National Historic Landmark and a state historic site.
Dakich went on to criticize Butler’s status in the Big East, advocate for the retirement of the school’s live mascot and even call for the firing of an athletic department staff member.
After the men’s basketball team fell to a lowly 13-11 on the season due to a 70-55 drubbing by Big East bottomfeeder Marquette, criticism is warranted. The level of scrutiny that Dakich leveled on the program, though, is up for debate.
Butler graduate Kyle McClintock — known on X as “Kyle the Butler Fan” — has his own fair share of opinions on how the Dawgs can improve, but saw Dakich’s comments as clickbait and ill-informed.
“Dakich kind of knows that [the posts are] gonna get him interactions and people to see more of what he says,” McClintock said. “He’s clearly trying to take advantage of what he can there.”
In the age of personal podcasts and money-for-clicks, timely posts capturing the swell of a fanbase’s emotions can vault personalities into a different stratosphere of reach. In his attempt to garner views and followers to his ever-controversial X account, Dakich insulted two core pillars of Butler University: Hinkle Fieldhouse and Butler Blue.
Hinkle speaks for itself. Once the largest basketball arena in the nation, it has stood tall as a cathedral of college basketball for 98 years.
Senior health sciences major Kyle Butka has experienced “Hinkle Magic” his entire life and strongly opposes Dakich’s idea.
“Hinkle is a great place to go and watch a basketball game, especially if you’ve been going there for most of your life,” Butka said. “I’ve been going there since I was like five or six to watch games because my mom went here and she wanted to put us in the culture that she grew up with. So it really ticked me off a little bit, what he said.”
The iconic building is a bucket-list stop for every hoops head and the crown jewel of Butler’s athletic programs. Tearing it down would be a disgrace to the university, the fans and the sport of college basketball, not to mention the late Gene Hackman’s ragtag team that won a state championship at Hinkle in the movie, “Hoosiers”.
Blue, Butler’s bloated, but beloved bulldog mascot, has become a staple at basketball games and a marketing superstar for the university. The Bulldogs have a long history of being represented by a live mascot, with the first one appearing over a century ago in 1919.
However, the modern iteration of the live mascot program commenced in 2000, with four “Butler Blue” dogs carrying the torch since then. Blue II enjoyed the most fame during his reign as mascot, starring as “America’s Dog” during the men’s basketball team’s back-to-back Final Four runs, and meeting countless celebrities along the way.
Today, Blue IV continues the tradition, attending sports and events around campus, amassing 121,000 Instagram followers in the process. Blue is a key marketing tool for the school and its athletic teams alike, and is far from the “cheap and high school esque” symbol that Dakich claims he is.
Jack Barry, a junior sports media and Spanish double major, does not understand the thought process behind criticizing a dog.
“I feel like the one thing that people can associate with a positive image at Butler seems to be Blue,” Barry said. “So [it’s] interesting that that’s where Dakich goes [for] a criticism of the basketball program.”
While Dakich has always been keen to comment on all things Indiana — whether it is basketball or the general politics of the area — his recent fixation on Butler basketball capitalizes on the upswing in fan disapproval around head coach Thad Matta’s fourth attempt at bringing the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament.
Butka believes the time has come to move on from Matta.
“I think we need to head in a different direction with coaching,” Butka said. “Maybe find a different coach from a mid-major school like Saint Louis or Miami [University].”
As Butka points out, there is still some truth to be found in Dakich’s criticism, regardless of the absurdity of his comments. The men’s basketball team has been in a coma since the 2020 COVID-cancelled season denied the 22-9 Dawgs a trip to March Madness. Since then, the Dawgs have penciled in an 84-98 record in six years to date.
The stadium atmosphere and the inclusion of a live mascot do not protect the paint or shoot jumpers on the court. The Bulldogs’ problems lie between the lines and on the bench, not with all the fanfare around it. If Butler wants to truly get back to winning, it needs to prioritize and invest in on-court performance.
