By Mark La Monica
This week's short list of sports figures who, if we operated in a meritocracy, would be forced to return a portion of their game checks for sub-par performances.
1) Matt Stover
Stover, the second most accurate kicker in NFL history entering this season, missed a 44-yard field goal attempt in overtime that would have given the Ravens the win. Rather, it led to the Ravens losing to Miami, which, oh yeah, hadn't won a game the entire season.
2) WNBC.com
WNBC "leaked" the list of players named in the Mitchell Report about half an hour before the report was distributed to the masses. A nice scoop for them . . . had they been right. Their list included Albert Pujols, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, the Boone brothers and more. MLB disputed their list, yet WNBC.com published it anyway with a pargraph that said they were looking into MLB's objections. Oopsies, don't let a pesky thing like accuracy get in the way of publishing a story.
3) Eric Mangini and Brian Schottenheimer
The head coach and offensive coordinator of the Jets continue to line up Brad Smith at quarterback. They appear to be the only people in football America that don't realize that means a running play is about to happen. Why not just tell the opposing coach your game plan the night before? Maybe then the Jets won't be the most predictable offense in the league.
Paybacks, which appears every Tuesday afternoon, will return Jan. 8, 2008. (Hey, I'm on vacation.)