HOT | NOT

NOT: BRIT KICKERS

Great Britain's dual women's/men's Olympic soccer exits on the home stage last Friday/Saturday were painfully familiar, especially after Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge (below) and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey—England's stars of the future—each missed a crucial PK against South Korea.

HOT: LYOTO PROTOCOL

Former MMA light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida (below) wowed UFC prez Dana White last Saturday, knocking out Ryan Bader in the second round to earn a shot at the 205-pound title. The 34-year-old Brazilian will face the winner of Jon Jones--Dan Henderson (Sept. 1) later this year.

NOT: BIGGEST LOSERS

After Olympic badminton pairs from China, Indonesia and South Korea were axed for purposely losing games (page 74), British cyclist Philip Hindes (below) admitted—before recanting—to intentionally crashing in the team sprint in order to get a restart, saying, "It was all planned, really."

HOT: A.J. C'S: ALL A'S

White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski hit five HRs in five days last week to reach 21—a career high and the most by a Chicago catcher since Carlton Fisk's 23 in 1987. And Dodgers backstop A.J. Ellis (below) hit .429 in seven games with three HRs, keeping L.A. within half a game of the Giants in the NL West.

NOT: OHIO PLAYERS

The Indians, just four games back in the wild card on July 26, have since lost nine straight to fall eight behind. More bad Buckeye State news: The Browns, on the heels of a 4--12 season, just lost starting LB Chris Gocong (145 tackles in two years) for the season to an Achilles injury.

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ERIC P. MULL/US PRESSWIRE (INDIANS PLAYER)

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JOSH HEDGES/GETTY IMAGES (ELLIS)

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MIKE POWELL (HINDES)

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GARY A. VASQUEZ/US PRESSWIRE (MACHIDA)

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JAKE BADGER/CAL SPORT MEDIA (STURRIDGE)