Morning Hot Reads: General Interest

The GLOBE & MAIL notes in the NHL's "salary-cap era, now in its 10th season, the one person" who can make the "difference between good and great" is the GM. Team-building "while finding market efficiencies has become paramount."

SHREVEPORT TIMES: "Thanks to nearly $1.5 million in losses over the past two years and a dubious title sponsorship experiment, the Independence Bowl, an event that may have already exercised its nine lives, is on a hot tin roof once again."

The Charleston POST & COURIER notes when it comes to cost-of-attendance stipends, smaller schools face "pressure to keep up with the big boys." Also, USA TODAY examines how new NCAA regulations have changed how athletic departments provide food to student-athletes.

Also:

• NFL Draft was vastly different when last held in Chicago in '64.
• In Shaka Smart, VCU loses man who built its athletic brand.
• A hypothetical report from the '44 Olympics in Port-au-Prince.
• Longtime Crew fans stick with team through economic turmoil.
• A look at ESPN NBA analyst Marc Stein's Western New York roots.
• Former Vikings Owner Red McCombs on why he sold franchise.
• How Seahawks GM John Schneider, coach Pete Carroll work together.
• Q&A with Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson.