Good week; bad week

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GOOD

Atlanta Braves

Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats don't like Mondays, but they're hardly alone. Take the Atlanta Braves, who were riding an 0-16 streak on the first day of the week, running back to last August. That came to a crashing end with an 8-2 win over the Marlins, and third baseman Chipper Jones was asked if victory was down to the high socks that the superstitious Braves have been sporting of late. "I think it was eight runs and 13 hits," he said like the sensible chap he is.

Ryan Lochte

Olympians aren't in London for a long time, so they might as well have a good time. The American swimmer is certainly subscribing to the latter, and has put himself in a good position to succeed. "My last Olympics, I had a girlfriend – big mistake," he told ESPN The Magazine. "Now I'm single, so London should be really good." And while he claimed 70 to 75 per cent of the athletes will have sex with fellow competitors, it fell to his mum to warn off any women entertaining the notion of becoming the next Mrs. Lochte. "He goes on one-night stands," she told NBC on Thursday.

Philip Hindes

So much for the premise of the British gentleman. The 19-year-old cyclist, who helped Team GB to a team sprint gold Thursday, almost saw his chances disappear in qualifying when he got off to a bad start, but took advantage of a rules loophole to stay on track for gold. "So I crashed, I did it on purpose just to get the restart, just to have the fastest ride. It was all planned really," he said. Good to see that badminton isn't alone in the unsportsmanlike stakes.

BAD

Allen Iverson

How the mighty have fallen.

Having worked out that his NBA playing days might actually be over for good, the former most valuable player – in dire straits financially – has decided to pimp himself out to the highest bidder for corporate appearances and autograph signings. However, he had best be aware that signing one's name isn't as easy as it looks, and for the sort of money people will be paying they'll expect a polished John Hancock, and that requires … practice.

Bruce Bochy

The Giants manager needs to choose his words more carefully. When a San Jose Mercury reporter asked Bochy Thursday about moving portly third baseman Pablo Sandoval to first base a couple of weeks ago, Bochy responded: "It's usually where like in Little League, you put the fat guy over there and you didn't worry about injuries." Of course, Sandoval had already spent more time on the disabled list than the active roster this season, so it was no surprise when he hurt himself once again, but at least he now knows what his boss really thinks of him.