National Briefs: Longhorns guard Brown says he didn’t post offending tweet

? Texas point guard J’Covan Brown said Friday that he didn’t write profane Twitter posts under his account that complained about getting pulled from the No. 3 Longhorns’ win over Oklahoma.

Brown said a cousin he declined to identify posted the offending tweets after the game and said he has apologized to his teammates. The Twitter account has been deactivated.

“I’ve got to take responsibility for all the negative things that he put,” on the account, Brown said. “I’m sorry for everything. I learned my lesson. It was a tough lesson to learn … the Twitter page is gone. He was making me look like a negative person.”

College Athletics

Cal reinstates 3 sports

Berkeley, Calif. — California reinstated three teams Friday that were slated to be eliminated in a cost-cutting move after an aggressive fundraising campaign to keep the programs, while going ahead with plans to get rid of the baseball and men’s gymnastics teams.

Chancellor Robert Birgeneau partially reversed a decision announced in September when he said that enough money has been raised to keep the men’s rugby, women’s lacrosse and women’s gymnastics teams. The two women’s teams had been slated for elimination, while men’s rugby was going to be reclassified as a “varsity club sport.”

Donor lets UConn keep $3 million

Storrs, Conn. — A donor who demanded the return of $3 million from the University of Connecticut because he was unhappy with the hiring of its new football coach has agreed to let the school keep the money, university officials said Friday.

Robert Burton and the university agreed to move past their differences after UConn Board of Trustees Chairman Larry McHugh met with him and his family, McHugh said in a news release.

NFL

Cowboys waited months on permit

Arlington, Texas — Records show a Cowboys Stadium official didn’t seek a permit for construction of temporary Super Bowl seating until the game was less than a month away, even though the city hosting the game asked for plans five months earlier.

The records released Friday by the city of Arlington show that city and stadium officials scrambled to prepare temporary seating for the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. About 1,250 seats were ultimately deemed unsafe, and 400 fans ended up without a seat.

Packers extend GM’s contract

Green Bay, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers have signed general manager Ted Thompson to a multiyear extension.

The 58-year-old Thompson took over as general manager in 2005. The Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25, on Sunday to win the Super Bowl, just the second time a No. 6 seed has accomplished the feat.

Patriots name QBs coach as O.C.

Foxborough, Mass. — The New England Patriots have named quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien as their offensive coordinator.

The move Friday came after the team spent the past two seasons without an offensive coordinator, although O’Brien, who retains the quarterbacks coach title, called plays and performed many of the coordinator’s functions. The team’s last offensive coordinator was Josh McDaniels, who left after the 2008 season to become head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Auto Racing

Speeds top 203 mph at Daytona

Daytona Beach, Fla. — The recently repaved surface at Daytona International Speedway is fast. Really fast. Maybe too fast.

In the most significant test on the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway, cars topped 203 mph Friday during practice for the Budweiser Shootout.

Joey Logano turned the fast lap with an average speed of 203.087 mph in the second of two practice sessions. Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch also topped 203 mph. Several others were close behind. In all, 10 cars hit 200 mph, creating some concern at NASCAR’s most famous track.

Baseball

Ex-Pirates manager Tanner dies

Pittsburgh — For Chuck Tanner, it was all about family, in so many ways.

There was was the 1979 World Series when the Pittsburgh Pirates — energized by the thumping anthem “We Are Family” — soared to a title that ended with the players’ wives dancing on the dugout roof.

And there was Game 5 of that Series, when the great comeback started for a Pirates team facing elimination by Baltimore. Tanner learned his mother had died that morning, but he insisted on managing because he knew she would have wanted him to do the job.

On Friday, Tanner, one of baseball’s relentlessly upbeat figures, died at 82 in his hometown of New Castle, Pa. He died of a long illness at his home after spending time in hospice care.

Bonds to enter third plea

San Francisco — Barry Bonds’ perjury trial is fast approaching and the lawyers and judge are still scrambling to set limits and rules for the month-long proceedings scheduled to start March 21.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered Bonds to enter a plea for the third time since he was initially charged in 2007 with lying to a grand jury about his steroids use. The new plea was needed because prosecutors the day before filed a revised indictment, cutting the number of charges Bonds faces from 11 to five.

Golf

Daly adds a TV to bag for ads

Pebble Beach, Calif. — John Daly is going multimedia. He now has a TV built into his golf bag. Daly has signed up with ProBagAds.com, a new company that installs flat-screen monitors on a golf bag to display advertisements, much like an electronic billboard. The screen rotates with Daly’s various sponsors.

He says it only weighs about three pounds, so it’s not a big strain on his caddie.

NBA

Malone: Sloan wouldn’t quit

Salt Lake City — An agitated Karl Malone says the Jerry Sloan he knows would never quit anything and suggested the only thing his longtime Utah Jazz coach tired of was the garbage that came with the job.

Malone, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and one of greatest power forwards in league history, also vowed to honor Sloan’s legacy by becoming a coach himself someday.

Pistons to retire Rodman’s No. 10

Auburn Hills, Mich. — The Detroit Pistons plan to retire Dennis Rodman’s No. 10 during a halftime ceremony in April.

The eccentric rebounding specialist helped the Pistons win NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.

Hornets guard Paul fined

New York — New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul has been fined $15,000 by the NBA for verbal abuse of a game official following a loss to the New Jersey Nets.

Pistons in sale talks

Auburn Hills, Mich. — The owner of the Detroit Pistons on Friday confirmed she is in negotiations with a California billionaire interested in buying the struggling NBA franchise.