With senior co-captain Ben Street sidelined for several months with an injury, head coach Mike Eaves named junior Jamie McBain and sophomore Ryan McDonagh as assistant captains. Junior forward Blake Geoffrion currently serves as the captain for the UW men’s hockey team, a position he shared with Street for the first two series of the year. He’ll now have help from the blueliners McBain and McDonagh. “We chose Jamie and Ryan because they are both good people and good players,” Eaves said in a statement. The Badgers hit the ice tonight at 7 p.m. against Minnesota. Tune into 91.7 FM or WSUM.org to hear all the game action.

As if an 0-4 start wasn’t bad enough for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team, they got a bit more bad news Monday, as it was learned that senior forward Ben Street will be out at least three months with what head coach Mike Eaves described as a “lower body injury,” the Capital Times is reporting. Street, one of the Badgers’ two captains along with Blake Geoffrion, suffered the injury in Saturday night’s 7-4 loss to the Denver Pioneers. He hit the boards awkwardly in the first period after being hit by DU’s John Ryder and did not return to the game. Street has been an example of consistency for Wisconsin in his collegiate career, playing in 128 straight games. He was tied for the team lead with 13 goals a season ago.

Former Wisconsin kicker Taylor Mehlhaff made his NFL debut today with the New Orleans Saints, converting on all four of his extra points and making two of three field goal tries—including a 44-yarder. The Saints topped the Oakland Raiders 34-3 at the Superdome to move to 3-3 on the season. Mehlhaff was signed earlier this week after kicker Martin Gramatica was placed on the injured reserve list. The Saints drafted Mehlhaff in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, but cut him in training camp.

9:19: Kelly adds a 30-yard field goal. Penn State 41, Wisconsin 7 9:07: Clark completes a 44-yard touchdown pass to Deon Butler. PAT good. Penn State 38, Wisconsin 7 8:51: On their first drive of the third quarter, the Nittany Lions marched for 76 yards capped by a 4-yard Clark rushing touchdown. Kelly's PAT is good. Penn State 31, Wisconsin 7 8:14: Following an Evridge fumble, Daryll Clark rushses for 2-yard touchdown. Kelly's PAT is good. Penn State 24, Wisconsin 7 8:03: Evridge runs for a 5-yard touchdown run and the Badgers are on the board. Philip Welch's PAT is good. Penn State 17, Wisconsin 7 7:51: Derrick Williams returns a Brad Nortman punt for a 63-yard touchdown. Kelly's PAT is good. Penn State 17, Wisconsin 0 7:45: Evan Royster scores on a 2-yard touchdown for the Nittany Lions. Kelly's PAT is good. Penn State 10, Wisconsin 0 7:37: Allan Evridge completed zero passes in only one attempt in the first quarter. After one: Penn State 3, Wisconsin 0 7:18: Kevin Kelly hits a 50-yard field goal for the first score of the game. Penn State 3, Wisconsin 0 7:00: The Badgers will receive the kick... and we're underway... We're live from Camp Randall Stadium tonight for the matchup between No. 6 Penn State vs. Wisconsin. Kickoff is just around the corner...

Since not everything Esera told me during our conversation could make it to print, here are some other highlights: On John Amaechi, former NBA player who came out in 2007: > “He’s a really good guy. We’ve talked about our experiences together as far as what we went through in the NFL [and NBA]. There were some similarities, but then there’s a lot that’s not (the same).” “He was stuck in the closet like myself. Any like a lot of athletes that are in the closet in the NFL or wherever, some of them have reached out and some of them haven’t. It’s one of those things where it’s a secrecy thing.” On who he roots for today in the NFL: > “I cheer for the Pack and I cheer for the Vikings. (What about when they play each other?) Then I’ll go take a vacation. I don’t answer my phone.” On his visit to the UW campus: > “I have been contacted by athletes at the University of Wisconsin, a wide range of them. There’s maybe over 10 of them that have contacted me, wanting me to contact the athletic department to see if they could make this thing mandatory for to come to because they don’t want to put themselves out there and out themselves. … I did contact the athletic department. They told me this thing that I guess all athletes have to go through twice a year where they have to go to some type diversity lecture, they’re including this one as one of those.” On raising his twin 7-year-olds: > “Going to schools and talking with the principals and teachers and making sure it’s a safe place for my kids, and all the parents knowing my kids have two daddies. To tell you the truth, there is not a single problem with any of them. Children are the products of your parents. You teach them to respect people and to honor people, that’s the way they’ll be raised. Now these parents, what they see in the world today with the war going on and all the hatred, I don’t think a lot of them want to raise their kids in hate.” In general on gay athletes in sports: > “To ruin somebody’s career in the NFL, start a rumor about them that they’re gay or out them, that is probably the worst thing you could ever do to a player. You have guys in the NFL that beat their wives, that do drugs, that shoot people. And yet it’s almost like they’re accepted back, and they’re accepted in society because there’s that bad boy mentality. … Look at Piazza, who spent a whole summer telling people and doing press conferences that tried to tell people and defend himself that he wasn’t gay. It’s crazy.”

Badger head coach Bret Bielema made the long expected announcement Tuesday that Aaron Henry will not suit up for the team this season due to an injury. “Aaron Henry will redshirt,” Bielema said in the Big Ten teleconference Tuesday. Henry, a cornerback, started two games for the Badgers as a freshman last season and was named first-team freshman All-Big Ten.

After Saturday night’s 20-17 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall, the Wisconsin football team dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 rankings. OSU jumped two spots to No. 12 after the win. At 6-0, Penn State remained at No. 6 with a big win over Purdue. The Nittany Lions travel to Madison this Saturday for the second straight night game at Camp Randall. The Michigan State Spartans (5—1) are the only other Big Ten team to be ranked by the AP, as they sit at No. 23 after being unranked the week before. Wisconsin is the top team of the “others receiving votes” with 96 votes. They managed to stay in the Top 25 of the USA Today poll at No. 24. Oklahoma and Alabama maintained their holds on the top two spot, while Missouri jumped to No. 3, ahead of LSU and Texas.

11:06 - Badgers drop a heartbreaker 20-17. Read more about it in Monday's BH.

10:00 - Pryor takes it in from the 11...OSU takes the lead...

9:50 - That last Badger score was set up by John Clay who carried the Badgers down the field during that drive.

9:47 - PJ barrels his way in from the 1 on third down and the Badgers take the lead.

Ohio State 13, Wisconsin 17....6:31 left.

9:39 - OSU kicks a field goal to go up 13-10 with 10:52 left.

9:30 - End of third quarter all tied up, this one's coming down to the wire...

9:28 - Evridge is sacked on third down and the Badgers will punt again.

9:23: Ohio State back to punt after going three and out. Not a lot of offense going for either team right now.

9:20 - Badgers can't do much...punt with 5:00 left in the quarter.

9:12 - The Badgers hold their ground at the goal line and the Buckeyes settle for a field goal.

Ohio State 10, Wisconsin 10...7:43 left in the half.

9:01 - Beanie breaks loose for 54 yards and the Buckeyes are facing a third down deep in Wisconsin territory.

8:58 - Two big drops and the Badgers have to punt on their first drive of the second half.

8:31 - Evridge marches the Badgers down the field and Welch hits a field goal to end the half to put the Badgers ahead.

Ohio State 7, Wisconsin 10...end of first half.

8:24 - UW forces a three and out with 1:02 left and will have one more shot to score before the half.

8:21 - Badger offense can't do anything with the turnover and will punt with 1:35 left in the half.

8:19 - Ohio State WR Dane Sanzenbacher coughs it up after a long catch and the Badgers recover.

8:12 - Evridge finds Mickey Turner for a 9-yard touchdown pass...that was a 16 play drive for the Badgers and the score is now tied.

Ohio State 7, Wisconsin 7...4:35 left in the half.

8:04 - After a couple of third down conversions the Badgers have crossed midfield with 8:20 to go in the half...Gabe Carimi is out for the game with a knee injury though...

7:56 - Badgers start inside the 10, Pressley is back on the field...Carimi is down after a first down run though.

7:52 - Pryor is stopped on third down and the Buckeyes will punt.

7:49 - Evridge fumbles scrambling up the middle, Buckeyes recover.

7:47 - Quarter ends with OSU up 7-0. Badges face 3rd and 9 at their own 42 to start the second quarter.

7:42 - On 3rd and 9, Levy gets Pryror for a 16-yard loss. Buckeyes punt and the Badgers take over the their 29. 1:06 left in the quarter.

7:35 - Evridge misses on third down again. Badgers punt. Ohio State ball at their own 45. 5:02 left in the quarter.

7:31 - After two more long runs from Pryor, Allan Langford picks off the quarterback and the Badgers start at their four yard line.

7:25 - Badgers just welcomed US Ryder Cup team member Steve Stricker. No word on whether he has any ideas on how to stop Terrelle Pryor though.

7:24 - Evridge fires wide on third and three. Badgers will have to punt.

7:23 - Fullback Chris Pressley hurt himself on the kickoff return, he hasn't played yet on this first series.

7:17 - Ohio State receives...and strikes first. After Terrelle Pryor picked up a first down running and then one throwing, running back Beanie Wells scored on a 33-yard TD run.�

Ohio State 7, Wisconsin 0.

7:06 - The Badgers just came out without the band playing, it actually looked pretty strange. Student section not quite filled. No surprise there.�

6:44 - Quick update. Elsewhere in the Big Ten today Penn State got past Purdue which that means when the Nittany Lions come to Madison next week they will still be undefeated and perhaps ranked inside the nation's top five. Something to keep in mind.

6:37 - The BH is back and blogging live from Camp Randall Stadium tonight where the Badgers will be taking on the No. 14 Buckeyes. Half an hour before the game and the student section is already starting to fill up. Also of note is that the UW Marching Band will not be performing tonight, but if you're reading this blog it probably doesn't matter, because you wouldn't be here to hear them anyway.