Weekend Hot Reads....

The N.Y. TIMES' Barry Bearak examines the Ricketts family's ownership of the Cubs, writing they have "encountered all sorts of earthly bedevilments both on the field and off: aging, overpaid players; a 100-year-old ballpark with a beauty only skin deep; hardball Windy City politics; critics who say plans to install a mammoth outfield video board will change Wrigley Field forever, despoiling the understated charm of baseball’s loveliest oasis."

The BOSTON GLOBE's Kevin Paul Dupont looks back at former NFL Commissioner Bert Bell's handling of a '46 betting scandal involving two players, which "could have been the league’s grand undoing." But "without need of video or witnesses or lawyers, the NFL essentially wiped its hands clean of both players." Roger Goodell's modern-day NFL is "far more complex," but he must "up his game" quickly.

Elsewhere:

• CBS' Ian Eagle "finds the right mix of humor and pop culture."
• MLB teams' "covert science experiment" regarding brain training. 
• Are microchips the "next big thing" in sports technology?
• Does a university "lose any luster" with an official grocery store?
• Why Bob Ryan is "troubled by the essential mentality" of football.
• A "peek into Tom Renney's start as Hockey Canada's CEO."
• Greg Hardy case casting light on the "silent evil" of domestic violence.