Batting Around is BC Sports' look back at the week's happenings in the world o' sports, presented in a lineup card format for some undisclosed reason.

The Lineup Card

1. LF Matt Holliday
2. SS Jimmy Rollins
3. SG Gilbert Arenas
4. QB Joey Harrington
5. PK Wes Byrum
6. LW Dean McAmmond
7. #16 Greg Biffle
8. FS Artis Chambers
9. SP Tom Glavine
Manager: Willie Randolph

1. LF Matt Holliday — Technically it was a "tiebreaker" game, and part of the regular season, and the expanded roster is still in play. Um, bullshit. Call it the "National League Wild Card semifinal." They earned the right to play an extra game, and it's played in October, broadcast on TBS, and they don't drag Cal Ripken from the sofa into the studio to talk about a regular season game, now do they?

In the NLWCS — yes, that's a good, solid acronym for the occasion — the Rockies' MVP candidate was in the middle of a 13th inning comeback against the San Diego Padres. Down two in the 13th, Troy Tulowitzki doubled in Kaz Matsui. Holliday tripled in Tulowitzki to tie the game 8-8, and Jamey Carroll hit a sac fly that scored Holliday ... well, maybe. The history books will mark down Holliday as scoring, and the cheering and ceremonial hats will dictate Holliday's run as capping off the win for Colorado in the NLWCS.

But replays showed that Padres catcher Michael Barrett appeared to have Holliday's hand from touching home plate. Umpire Tim McClellan — one of the finest balls-and-strikes men in the game — delayed his call of "safe" a few seconds, which one doesn't normally see.

Oh, and Holliday injured himself on the slide. So the Padres can take solace in the fact that, while Holliday may not have scored, his face really, really hurts. But he's okay — after about 10 minutes of being tended to in the clubhouse, he leaped back onto the field and joined in the super happy celebration.

(By the way, I can't say this is totally relevant, but the Rockies black home jerseys with white shoulder trim sure did resemble the umpires' uniforms.)

2. SS Jimmy Rollins — So you want the National League to have an MVP award, but you're too ashamed to vote for the Coors Field-inflated numbers of Matt Holliday? How about the Philadelphia Philles shortstop, whose lineup begins and ends with his production.

Like Curtis Granderson, he has 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases — the fourth player in major league history to do so. Unlike Curtis Granderson, Rollins has a T-shirt that says DIVISION CHAMPIONS.

3. SG Gilbert Arenas — We haven't even begun the NBA preseason and we're already talking about the cerebral heart and soul of the Washington Wizards. Agent Zero has grown weary of the summer lull and decided to launch an Internet cartoon.

No episodes are live on the site, because Arenas doens't think it's as good as Family Guy yet. Well then, try using more flashbacks and repeat the same jokes. Then have the lead character get into a 3-minute fight with a guy in a chicken costume.

4. QB Joey Harrington — You know what? Good for him. I can't think of a more awkward situation to be thrown into as a quarterback. He was asked to lead a football team because the team's original star quarterback enjoyed electrocuting dogs who lacked superior killing skills. Picture Mr. Burns' company softball team missing its All-Star players. Now picture Bobby Petrino tell Harrington, "I want you to remember some inspiring words that someone else might have told you over the course of your lives, and go out there and win!"

You almost want to will a Kurt Warner-like MVP season out of him, but you know what he's done in the past — acceptable football that has yielded more losses than wins.

On Sunday, Harrington had an amazing game (23-for-29, 223 yards, 2 touchdowns) against the surprising Houston Texans, featuring last year's backup Falcons QB, Matt Schaub. His numbers resulted in a 26-16 win for the Falcons, the first of the year.

5. PK Wes Byrum — This may be an illegal call-to-arms, but could one of my readers drive down to Auburn, Alabama, sneak into Byrum's dorm room, and check to see if his testicles are in fact made of brass?

With mere seconds left on the clock, Byrum was thrown into a situation where a 43-yard field goal would have broken the 17-17 tie and given his Auburn Tigers the victory. A miss would have likely given the momentum to the No. 4 Florida Gators in overtime. And he Byrum kicked the damn field goal twice.

The first time was nullified because UF coach Urban Meyer called timeout immediately before the snap on that field goal attempt, in hopes of rattling the freshman kicker. I think Auburn nation would have forgiven the young lad for shanking his second try, because it's a huge moment in a big game. But he did sink the field goal, meaning the football powerhouse known as Florida has fallen to Auburn in consecutive years. How's that for braggin' rights?

6. LW Dean McAmmond — Here's your quote of the week, courtesy of the Ottawa Senators center after taking a shot in an exhibition game last week that knocked him out: "Everyone is saying I have concussion problems. I don't have concussion problems. I've got a problem with someone giving me traumatic blows to the head. That's what I have a problem with."

And to think, there are people out there without head injuries that have never reached this level of poignancy.

7. #16 Greg Biffle — Normally when a racer "coasts" to victory, it means he wins by a large margin. On Sunday, Biffle literally coasted to victory. He was running out of gas, and his fuel pick-up system wasn't working properly. Even though he was the fourth person to cross the finish line as the race was red-flagged (local favorite Clint Bowyer was first), the field was frozen prior to that, and with darkness cast upon Kansas Speedway, Biffle was eventually called the winner.

Sorry I couldn't explain it better, but, well, I don't think anybody can.

8. FS Artis Chambers — Aw, just when things get good for Michigan — three straight wins! — they have to go and find out that one of their freshman was ineligible for Big Ten play. The reserve safety played in the Penn State game and made all of one assisted tackle, but that might be enough to cause a forfeit of UM's 14-9 win over Penn State. (Chambers also played in the first three games, but they were not Big Ten games and therefore didn't fall under the same set of rules.)

Nightmare season, indeed.

9. SP Tom Glavine — In all fairness? that fielder's choice he induced Dan Uggla into was masterful.

Beyond that, the 300-game winner let the other eight Florida Marlins batters he faced reach base Sunday. And contrary to popular opinion, it is difficult to come back from a 7-0 deficit in baseball, even though some teams in the NFL accomplished that very feat on the same day. But the New York Mets are not a football team, and if they were, and they had a 7-game lead with 17 games to play, then they somehow cheated, because there are only 16 weeks in a season. Did I just blow your mind?

Manager: Willie Randolph — Because we're just as bad as the New York media, we'll ask the question too: Should the Mets' manager be fired for blowing a seven-game divisional lead with 17 games left in the season? It seems the consensus is that firing isn't the way to go, but he's certainly at fault.

Personally I could go either way. On one hand, his ERA was 0.00 down the stretch, but his batting average was also .000 with runners in scoring position.