Seven Days...

One Week...

Seven Days...

One Hundred & Sixty Eight Hours...

Ten Thousand & Eighty Minutes...

Six Hundred & Four Thousand Eight Hundred Seconds...

I Think you all know what this post is about, Big Blue is only ONE WEEK away from being the Capital One Mascot of the Year! After the EPIC journey through the SemiFINALs against the Oregon Duck and as I write this post, Big Blue is up against Paydirt Pete in the FINALS. 

It has been one heck of a journey for Big Blue in the past 14 weeks, and this week is the most important. Just seven days separate this fierce lion from being THE best mascot in the country. Last week was the most nerve racking yet; yes we had over 200,000 votes when we went up against Monte and that was WITH the Text-to-Vote option; but last week Big Blue fans put up over 750,000 votes! Each night as I was sending in my last votes for the day, Big Blue would have a reasonable lead of about five thousand votes, but each morning the Duck would have the lead once again. The first morning was 3K, second 13K, and the third, forth, and fifth Monarch fans had to make up over twenty thousand votes. Each morning we were able to make up the deficit within three or four hours, but on the sixth day of the round, Monarch nation was not able to regain the lead, holding at a 13K deficit for most of the day. Some may have given up hope, but later in the afternoon, Big Blue fans took advantage of the Oregon/Oregon State game, coming back from a 13K deficit within just a few hours, Big Blue was up more than 20K by nightfall. This left 24 hours until voting ended. Voters woke up to a 28K lead, and it only went up from there. On the eve of competition end, the votes were crawling because of the traffic on the Capital One site, but Monarch fans kept at it, coming out victorious on Monday morning defeating the Duck by almost sixty thousand votes!

Take a break from reading & VOTE!

Looking at my earlier post, we all know that the Capital One site was super slow, and sometimes we even thought that it was down for just Big Blue voters. According to Capital One it happened to all of the schools due to sheer traffic on the voting site. I am very appreciative of Capital One when handling this situation, with each email, sent in reply to a complaint, they assured that the site was dysfunctional for everyone and not just ODU. Frustrating I know, but the Monarchs were able to "SURVIVE the 404" and pull out a win despite the difficulties in voting. GO MONARCHS!

Big Blue could not have pulled out the win against the Duck without the help from his fans, Old Dominion University, radio stations, and the local media. On more than one occasion this past week, Big Blue fans crowded into the Webb Center of ODU to have a vote mob in order to rally votes for the Monarch Mascot. Each of the three major news stations was there to cover all of the action; two of those have footage posted online of Vote Mobs & Big Blue in the studio pushing for votes.  Big Blue & his fans could not thank them enough for getting him the exposure that helped him to pull off the win. Below are links to each of the videos:

WVEC Channel 13: Big Blue needs YOUR vote!, Vote Big Blue!

Wavy TV 10: Semi-Finals Video , Finals Video

Need another break from reading? VOTE HERE

This is it, the last week, the final time you are able to make a difference in the voting, the ONLY thing between Big Blue and the title. Voting has commenced for the Finals of the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge and Big Blue is in the finals against THE only other mascot who was able to remain undefeated, Paydirt Pete of UTEP.  We were never against Pete in the regular season, so this is a battle of the UNDEFEATED mascots (which is how the finals should be). There are similarities in the final mascots, the same undefeated record & both are from schools that not every recognizes, but one clear difference is the number of votes for each mascot during the challenge thus far. Paydirt Pete has just over one million votes (1,070,000) to Big Blue’s almost two million (1,830,000). This is a key difference, but do NOT let that fool you, because there is no ticker on the voting site for the finals. Just because you cannot see the vote totals, does NOT mean that Big Blue is winning, we have no idea of the totals. Our strategy this week is to vote as if Big Blue is losing!

So this week I ask that you vote as if Big Blue is in a deficit (as he was many times last week), so that we can guarantee as many votes for Big Blue as possible. VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! GO BIG BLUE, BEET PEET, BEAT PEAT, BETE PETE, BEAT PETE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vote for Big Blue in the Finals

Big Blue Security Footage at Old Dominion University

404 Page Not Found

Alright Monarchs, we all know that the Capital One Site is giving YOU and only you the 404 Page Not Found screen when you try to vote, but what should you do about it? Well, here is a list...

• email capitalone @ mascots@capitalone.com (they know that we are having issues, but we need them to see how much Monarch nation is upset)
• write on the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge Facebook Page (perhaps a captcha, and they can count each of our posts as a vote??)
• KEEP TRYING TO VOTE...capitalonebowl.com

That's all we can do for now, and hope that they see how much of a fan base Big Blue has, and that we truly want him to be the CAPITAL ONE MASCOT OF THE YEAR!!!


PS. I am in no way bashing Capital One or the Challenge, I just want the voters who have been trying to vote all day to get their votes counted toward Big Blue. :)

And then there were 4…

VOTE BLUE

It’s on to week 2 of the finals for Big Blue, defeating Western Kentucky’s Big Red by just about 7,000 votes. The voting was closer than ever last week because of the NO text voting. Four more mascots were eliminated this morning as voting came to a close in the QuarterFINALS. Big Red, Brutus, Joe Vandal, and Monte were all benched after an exciting first round of the finals. >>vote<< In the final hours of the first round, Bearcat of Cincinnati came from about three thousand votes behind to defeat Monte and with a tight battle between Paydirt Pete and Joe Vandal, no one knew who was going to come out on top. >>vote<< Luckily Big Blue was able to come out strong and gain a lead within the first hours of the competition, not giving Big Red a chance to catch up.

SemiFINAL matchups:

(1) Big Blue vs. (5) The Duck

(2) Paydirt Pete vs. (6) Bearcat

BEAT THE DUCK!!!

This week in the SemiFINALS, Big Blue is once again up against ESPN’s favorite mascot, “Puddles” the Duck of Oregon. >>vote<< The last time Big Blue went against this bird he came out victorious by over 17,000 votes, but without the text vote option, could Puddles knock Big Blue out of the competition, and ruin his hopes to be the Capital One Mascot of the Year? You better hope not, otherwise you are going to have ONE ANGRY LION. 

GO BIG BLUE!

If you know what’s good for you, get to a computer and VOTE VOTE VOTE. Big Blue needs EVERY vote he can get this week in order to make it to the FINALS and can take on either Paydirt Pete or Bearcat. VOTE VOTE VOTE

Elimination Monday

Its official, Big Blue is #1! Well, in the regular season of the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge anyway. Big Blue received the number one seed for the playoffs in the contest with over ONE MILLION votes during the 12 weeks of the regular season! (that is an average of over 80,000 vote per week) Go MONARCHS!

Eight mascots were officially eliminated from the contest today as well. The Capital One Bowl website refers to these mascots as benched. The following mascots were “benched” and are no longer in the running to be the Mascot of the Year, Goldy of Minnesota (5-7), The Bird of USAFA (5-7), Smokey of Tennessee (4-8), Mike of LSU (4-8), Mr. C of Vanderbilt (4-8), Testudo of Maryland (2-10), Joe Bruin of UCLA (2-10), and Sebastian of Miami (1-11).

There are still eight mascots left in the running to be the Mascot of the Year. The quarterfinal matchups are as follows:

#1 Big Blue (12-0) vs. #8 Big Red (6-6)

#2 Paydirt Pete (12-0) vs. #7 Joe Vandal (6-6)

#3 Monte (9-3) vs. #6 Bearcat (7-5)

#4 Brutus (9-3) vs. #5 The Duck (8-4)

The playoffs for the Capital One Mascot of the Year only last three weeks and are single elimination, so anything can happen. There will be NO MORE TEXT VOTES during this time, so the only way to show your support for Big Blue is to VOTE early and VOTE often at capitalonebowl.com!

Week 12:

In the last week of regular season voting Big Blue was the Matchup of the Week against Mr. C of Vanderbilt.  Big Blue was able to sweep by Mr. C by over 45,000 votes. The 56,807 votes took Big Blue’s vote total OVER MILLION! Way to go Monarch fans, this is just what Big Blue needed to boost him into the finals.

QuarterFINALS:

Big Blue ALSO does pushups...
...like another mascot we all know.

Big Blue is up against Big Red of Western Kentucky once again. This past foe posed little threat to Big Blue in week 11 only putting up 21,000 votes to Big Blue’s 59,000. Without text voting in the finals, Big Red could give Big Blue his first loss of the competition and a crush his dreams of being the Mascot of the Year. As a Monarch, I WILL NOT let that happen, and NIETHER SHOULD YOU!

When voting online this week you should take into consideration which mascot Big Blue could be up against in the semifinals if he wins this week. There are several POWERHOUSE mascots still in the running to be Mascot of the Year. When you vote this week, you should also vote for Joe Vandal of Idaho and Bearcat of Cincinnati. This could make an easier trip to the Capital One Bowl for Big Blue if Paydirt Pete (the only other undefeated mascot) and Monte (the second place vote total mascot) are no longer in the running…just a thought.

And as always vote for Big Blue at capitalonebowl.com

Almost there...

Big Blue now has the same record as Auburn, the number 2 football team in the country, 11-0. Just one more week stands between Old Dominion and the playoffs. It looks as though Big Blue could go 12-0 through the regular season of the Capital One Bowl Mascot Challenge. 

As you can see Big Blue will have some FIERCE competition on his hands going into the playoffs, even more so because there will no longer be text voting. EVERYONE needs to set their homepage (kudos if you have already done that) to capitalonebowl.com in order to be a self reminder to vote anytime you log onto the internet.

Remember the goal of a million votes? Well, Big Blue fans surpassed the goal of 56,000 votes last week by getting just under 60,000. This means Big Blue only needs 52,600 votes this week in order to reach ONE MILLION! I know we can do it, so get your phones out and make this last week of regular season voting count!

Week 11:

Big Red lost out to Big Blue last week in the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge. This whimsical mascot tried his hardest to defeat the Monarch, but came up short with only 21,196 votes to Big Blue’s 59,797. This left Big Red with a record of 5-6 and still at the number 8 spot. Chances are that Big Blue will see this mascot again next week in the first round of the playoffs.

Week 12:

Big Blue’s second Matchup of the Week!!!! Though Mr. C is sitting at the #11 spot, he still posses a threat to Big Blue’s untarnished resume. With a record of 4-7, Mr. C does not have a winning record on his side, but with a HUGE win over #7 Joe Vandal in week 4 by ONLY 428 votes, Mr. C could sneak in a win over Big Blue. Let’s not let that happen, get to voting!!!

And as always, text 'bigblue' to 69866 or vote @ Capital One Bowl Mascot of the Year Challenge

New Goal: One Million Votes by FINALS!

Only two more weeks of regular season left for our furry friend, and as of now he is STILL undefeated. That is not the only goal that Big Blue has for his fans, he wants to get to one million votes by finals. One would think that a million is a LARGE number, but in all reality Big Blue is just 112,384 votes shy of his goal. With two weeks left he needs just over 56,000 each week, and I think that we can get him there! Keep the votes coming in for the Monarch, text ‘bigblue’ to 69866 or you can vote online at CapitalOneBowl.com.

In other Monarch news, the football team at Old Dominion guaranteed themselves another winning season in its short two year history. With a blowout over Savannah State, 57-9, the Monarchs will finish with at least six in the W column.

Week 10:

Well, as many can see, Big Blue earned his tenth matchup win last week verse Joe Bruin of UCLA. Joe Bruin did not have a chance against Big Blue’s voters even in day one. An hour after voting began Big Blue had over a thousand votes while Joe Bruin barely made it to one hundred. This was the story for the rest of the week, Monarch domination. The week ended with Big Blue on TOP once again with 52,047 votes to Joe Bruin’s 14,898.

Week 11:

This weeks Big Blue goes up against a foe with a similar name, Big Red of Western Kentucky. Though Big Red is not a Lion, Tiger, or Bear, he still has potential to put up a good fight against our proud Monarch. Big Red stands close to the playoffs with a 5-5 record and is the number 8 seed thus far in the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge. Big Red will be trying all he can to give Big Blue his first loss in order to make it to the playoffs. HELP Big Blue stay on TOP!

And as always, text 'bigblue' to 69866 or vote @ Capital One Bowl Mascot of the Year Challenge

Why I LOVE the M-O-N-A-R-C-H-S!!!

All I have to say this week is I LOVE MONARCH fans. This is what Big Blue had to say this morning after the polls closed against the Duck. “They can have the #1 football ranking, they can have the constant publicity, they can have the pretty uniforms....but they cannot have my fans. THANK YOU Monarch Nation for a victory over the Oregon Duck!!” That pretty much says it all; Big Blue was able to defeat the Duck in the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge. The Lion now stands 9-0 with over 800,000 votes. How many more weeks will it take to get to ONE MILLION?!

Big Blue can hurdle with his eyes closed!
Thanks to Pam Wilder for the photo!

The football Monarchs also won this past weekend bringing their record to 5-3. The battle of the HRBT was started this season, ODU going up against cross-tunnel rival Hampton University. The 15 mile trek to the Peninsula was well worth it for the Monarch special teams who had multiple blocked punts. Big Blue was trying to steal the show from the football Monarchs by doing some hurdles (pictured) as he said “the Duck may do push-ups, but does he do hurdles?” The final score of 28-14 gave something else for the Monarch nation to be proud of.

In other news, as of November 22, you will no longer be able to text in your vote for Big Blue. This will help to even the playing field for all mascots. Monarch fans should start now with the online voting in order to get enough practice in when you are no longer allowed to text. This is easy for me, because on Sunday while furiously texting in my votes for Big Blue, my phone shut off and had yet to turn back on. I will now be voting online in order to get myself prepared for playoffs.

Week 9:

Big Blue had his paws full last week as the Duck of Oregon tried to threaten the untarnished, undefeated record of the Monarch. Little doubt remained in the minds of Big Blue voters when the mascot was up by over 10,000 by Tuesday. This gave comfort to the ODU community. Oregon was only able to get within six thousand of Old Dominion this week and each time the voting was closer than ten thousand, the Monarch nation would have none of it. Voters were able to stop Oregon in its tracks each time they attempted a run. Big blue ended the week with over 170,000 votes defeating the Duck by 13,000.  Go BIG BLUE!

Look who I found at work!

Week 10:

UCLA is Old Dominion’s next opponent in the Capital One Mascot of the Year Challenge. Joe Bruin has not been the brightest star during the challenge this year with a record of 2-7, but as Monarch fans, we cannot count anyone as a win until 9am next Monday, so go and get your VOTE ON!

I’m taking strategy suggestions for the playoffs since they are online vote only!! Comment the blog with any ideas!

And as always, text 'bigblue' to 69866 or vote @ Capital One Bowl Mascot of the Year Challenge