Blotter

Hired
? Butch Davis, formerly of the University of Miami, to coach the Browns. Davis, in a Nov. 30 AP story: "I'm not going to any other job." In a Jan. 4 AP story, on negotiations to extend his contract with the Hurricanes: "I'd like to really get it done as soon as possible." In the Jan. 18 Palm Beach Post "I fully intend to be at Miami next year." In the Jan. 21 edition of The Miami Herald: "Ifs going to get done. I will have a new contract, and I'll be the coach at Miami next year."

Lifted
?By the Nevada Gaming Commission, the ban on betting on college games involving Nevada, UNLV and the state's other schools. Commission chairman Brian Sandoval says lifting the prohibition will "help maintain the integrity of college athletics." According to the commission, sports books are the first to notice unusual betting action that could indicate a fixed game.

Altered
?The villains in the upcoming film The Sum of All Fears, about a threat to detonate a nuclear weapon at the Super Bowl. In the Tom Clancy novel it's based on, the terrorists are Islamic militants, but director Phil Alden Robinson told the Council on American-Islamic Relations that the movie's baddies will be neo-Nazis.

Filed
?By Saul Shechter, 76, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., a lawsuit against the Marlins. He seeks in excess of $15,000, claiming he suffered permanent damage to his left eye when he was struck in the head by a balled-up T-shirt shot by Billy the Marlin out of a "gas-compressed bazookalike weapon" during a between-innings promotion.

Named
?Gibson, as the official guitar of the Nashville Predators.