According to your template name, it seems there is a mismatch between your template name and its content. You are using a template named views-view--blog-page.tpl.php
but with the content of a views-view-fields.tpl.php
file.
According to your Views template suggestions, here is how your templates shall be organised (from the most global one to the most accurate):
views-view--blog--page.tpl.php
should override Views module views-view.tpl.php
file. This is the global template of your View. In it, you can find $rows variable, which is the global result of your view. But you don't have access to each row details.
views-view-unformatted--blog--page.tpl.php
should override views-view-unformatted.tpl.php
. Here, you can alter your output at row level (e.g. Add a element around each row). Still no access to the details of each row.
views-view-fields--blog--page.tpl.php
should override views-view-fields.tpl.php
. It is the template used to output a row content (fields-level). This is the one to use if you wish to alter the output of your rows content.
views-view-field--blog--page.tpl.php
should override views-view-field.tpl.php
. Most accurate level. It is the output of each field inside each row.
Now, you just need to pick the Views template suiting your needs, override it with the right name and you should be fine. :-)