Blues mascot Louie nominated for Cartoon Network Award

Hockey's pretty much nothin' doin' without the NHL around, and there's no big action to keep up with until the World Juniors begin after Christmas. This was literally the only piece of news that popped up in my Google Alert for the Blues, so I present this as evidence that the lockout is getting out of control:

Louie, the mascot of the St. Louis Blues, has been nominated for the Cartoon Network Most Awesome Mascot Award. They appeared to have chosen one out of every major sports league, so to think that our Louis beat out luminaries like Iceburgh and Bailey is impressive. If that's the sort of thing you think about. From the Blues' press release (!):

ST. LOUIS – Cartoon Network announced Tuesday that Louie, the St. Louis Blues mascot, has been nominated for the Most Awesome Mascot Award.

Louie was nominated along with KC Wolf (Kansas City Chiefs), Lou Seal (San Francisco Giants) and Rocky (Denver Nuggets).

The third annual Hall of Game sports awards show will return in February 2013.

Airing across several Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting platforms, hosts Shaquille O’Neal and Nick Cannon broke the news with a special introduction featuring a brand new Hall of Game nominee’s song. Viewers can log on to HallOfGame.com, CartoonNetwork.com, Facebook.com/CartoonNetwork, YouTube.com/user/CartoonNetwork and Blog.CartoonNetwork.com to see the announcement. The video will also be on CNN.com/showbiz and HLNTV.com.

On October 10, 2007, Louie was introduced to the fans and played "When the Blues Go Marching In" on his saxophone. Louie can be seen at all home games and throughout the community doing what he loves best — meeting fans and supporting the Blues.

Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards show will feature icons from television, film, music and sports, as kids experience an evening of humor and fun at the most raucous and biggest sports awards show ever.

Last year’s event yielded 102 million votes and voting is now open for the first 10 categories at www.HallofGame.com.

Basically, stuff the ballot box. It's not like we have any hockey to watch, right? Also, you can find Louie on Twitter at @LouieSTLBlues. I highly suggest a follow in his direction -- his feed's really pretty entertaining. It just makes me wonder how a bear can type with those big paws...

Ugh. Can the lockout end now?