NEW YORK -- Butler's live mascot, Blue III, vomited on the court at Madison Square Garden seconds before the Bulldogs' game was supposed to tip against Xavier in the Big East quarterfinals.

I saw the hurling happen, and it was gross. Also: hilarious. Members of the Butler team eventually noticed as the puke was getting cleaned up, and some of them laughed.

Soon thereafter, the official Twitter account for Blue III made a little joke.

The spew was cleaned up quickly, and the game went on as planned.

Turns out Blue III's owner and trainer, Michael Kaltenmark, runs the account. He also sent out this cute tweet.

After speaking with Kaltenmark, I can report the following:

-- This was the first time Blue III has ralphed at a game.

-- He is not sick. He drank some water and peed outside Madison Square Garden's loading dock and was good to go.

-- He is 3 years old.

-- He eats Holistic Select dog kibble.

-- The hurling came because "it was sheer excitement. And he was pulling (on his leash) too hard."

At halftime, Blue III (who's nicknamed "Trip") was back on the hardwood. And barking. So much barking.

I can also report that dogs are the best.

UPDATE: And a final word from Blue III ...