First, some business to take care of. I've been contacted by a UW grad who was laid off along with 300 others from Nielson Company in Wilton last week. I normally don't provide networking services but this is an extreme situation, as the grad's H1-B visa (working) also expires at the end of this month. The person in question has a background in market research and customer service, with an interest in business development, sales and marketing and market research. If you have any contacts that would help this grad find a new position, please e-mail me and I can share a resume or put you in contact with each other. Now back to football?Last Saturday presented another disappointing loss for the Badgers. While the team played better than they did in their loss to Michigan, there was evidence of confusion, especially on the last OSU scoring drive, and missed opportunities that you would hope would not be evident in a well-coached team. That said, there were also bright sides to the game. The Badger offense was able to put up 326 yards of total offense against the top defense in the Big Ten, and 12th best in the country. John Clay was effective in running the ball against OSU, finishing as the Badgers' leading rusher with 10 carries for 69 yards. Travis Beckum caught 6 passes for 60 yards and the defense sacked Pryor four times and accounted for two turnovers. This Saturday the Badgers take on the Nittany Lions. Once again, the game will be at night in Camp Randall. Penn State comes into the game ranked 6th in the nation in both polls, whereas the Badgers have fallen out of one poll and to 24th place in the other. Wisconsin leads the series against Penn State 8-5, one of only four teams with a winning record against Penn State in the Joe Paterno era (with at least 10 games played). Because of the evening start, the regulars once again won't be meeting up at Rookies. The game begins at 8 pm EDT and will be broadcast on ESPN. I expect that by now most of you are aware that the UW Marching Band was suspended last week for undefined hazing-related activities that occurred during the band's trip to Michigan the previous weekend. As a result, the band was not allowed to attend the OSU game. Apparently the investigation is on-going, with interviews of band members underway. No decision has been made as to whether the band will appear at this weekend's game, although the band did practice on Tuesday. Last weekend the athletic department made the seats normally occupied by the band available to seniors who lost out on football tickets during this year's ticket lottery. Did you know that Connecticut's own John Moffitt provides the players' perspective on the UWBadgers.com website blog? Go to http://www.uwbadgers.com/blogs/default.aspx?blogid=102 and scroll down to find John's latest installment. Mark your calendars!!! We're planning on having a Homecoming celebration at Rookies again this year. So keep October 25th open! The game is an early one. This year we'll be sharing in the "Bucky to the Rescue" theme by collecting canned goods and other non-perishable food items for donating to FoodShare. This is part of Bucky's All Alumni Food Drive, an effort being organized in Madison to encourage chapters throughout the country to help out in a local way. There will be Homecoming pins for the largest donations and chances to win a prize from the folks in Madison for all donators. If you plan on coming, please drop me a line so that we can be sure to set aside enough tables for everyone. Hope to see you there! Hockey News - The Badgers are taking on two New England teams this weekend. The men play at Boston College at 5 pm on Friday night and at the University of New Hampshire in Durham at 5 pm on Saturday night. This is one of the rare times this season that you will have the opportunity to follow the Badgers "locally." Edit | 
