GOOD
Brian Wilson
It may lack the comic appeal of the Blue Jays' Cito Gaston-inspired mustaches, but the San Francisco closer's Fear the Beard campaign is certainly having the desired effect at the business end of the season. After leading the majors with 48 saves in the regular season, Wilson has tacked on four more to lead all players in the playoffs. He even picked up the win in Wednesday's 6-5 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies for good measure, putting the Giants a whisker away from their first trip to the Fall Classic since 2002.
Percy Harvin
While his quarterback continues to get hauled over the NFL coals for allegedly flashing something other than his big-play ability, the Vikings wideout, finally migraine-free, picked up the slack in Sunday's win against the Cowboys. The former Florida speedster's 95-yard kickoff return to start the second half set Minnesota on the road to victory, leaving Dallas owner Jerry Jones with his own chronic headache over what to do with coach Wade Phillips following the one-time Super Bowl favourite's 1-4 start.
William Hesmer
Those who figured Toronto FC couldn't possibly sink any lower after missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year were unpleasantly surprised last weekend. Already the unrivalled masters of conceding late goals, it wasn't exactly a shocker to see TFC let a 2-1 lead slip in injury time against the Columbus Crew in Saturday's home finale. But while there is no shame getting scored on by the likes of Thierry Henry and David Beckham, allowing William Hesmer to become just the second goalkeeper in Major League Soccer history to find the back of the net leaves a tangible amount of egg on the face.
BAD
Mike Tyson
Memo to Mike: You're not exactly Pavel - or even Petr - Nedved. The former heavyweight champion clearly mistook Prague for the boxing hotbed it isn't recently and on Monday was forced to cancel a "charity" visit to the Czech capital due to poor ticket sales. Locals in the soccer-mad city were being asked to stump up €2,000 ($2,859) to train with the 44-year-old boxer, €1,000 ($1429) to spend an evening with him and €120,000 ($171,484) for a dinner, with Tyson receiving $1-million (U.S.) a day for his efforts, although he was generously prepared to donate a portion to a children's hospital.
Alex Rodriguez
He was only batting .214 entering Friday night's game in Texas, but things aren't all bad for the Yankees third baseman. Heck, they could have been a hell of a lot worse as a crazed fan - well, crazier than most in New York - rushed the field Monday to get at A-Rod out of jealousy over his relationship with actress Cameron Diaz. While security apprehended the perp, Rodriguez simply took it in stride, choosing to focus on getting back to the World Series. "These are life and death games, literally," he said after the Bombers stayed alive with Wednesday's Game 5 win. How right he nearly was.