Canseco regrets he named names

Jose Canseco, whose book "Juiced" focused on the use of steroids in baseball and led to congressional hearings, now says he never should have written the book and named names of alleged steroid users. During the A&E Network's one-hour documentary, the onetime Red Sox said he "regrets mentioning players [as steroid users]. I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people." He said he just "wanted revenge" on Major League Baseball because he believed he had been forced out of the game. Among the players he named were Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Rafael Palmeiro, damaging their prospects for reaching the Hall of Fame. "If I could meet with Mark McGwire and these players, I definitely would apologize to them. They were my friends. I admired them. I respected them," said Canseco, according to a New York Daily News report . . . The Cardinals intend to cut ties with often-injured lefthander Mark Mulder, paying a $1.5 million buyout rather than exercising an $11 million option on his contract . . . Pete Van Wieren, the radio voice of the Braves for 33 years, has retired at age 64.

Kobe Bryant hyperextended his right knee in the second quarter of the Lakers' exhibition game against the Bobcats in San Diego. Bryant did not come out with the team for the second half. The Lakers announced he will be examined today. Bryant injured the knee jumping for a rebound with 3:08 left in the first half. The reigning MVP limped off the court favoring his right leg . . . Harvard's women's team, the two-time defending Ivy League champions, has been picked to make it three in a row in a preseason media poll. The Crimson garnered 10 of 17 first-place votes, with Dartmouth receiving four and Cornell three. On the men's side, Harvard has been picked to finish fourth, with Cornell No. 1 . . . Clemson's 7-foot-2-inch freshman center Catalin Baciu has been suspended by the NCAA for the season's first five games because he played on a pro team in his native Romania five years ago. The 20-year-old Baciu was a teenager when he played for Mobitelco, a club team that competes in Romania's top division . . . Basketball Hall of Fame coaches Pat Summitt, Lou Carnesecca, and Dean Smith will receive the inaugural Joe Lapchick Character Award. The award was established to recognize coaches who have shown the character and coaching ability of Hall of Famer Joe Lapchick, who coached St. John's and the Knicks. The awards will be presented Nov. 20 at Madison Square Garden.

Connecticut is switching kickers after missing three of four field goal attempts in a 12-10 loss to Rutgers Saturday. Redshirt freshman David Teggart will replace senior Tony Ciaravino, who is 9 for 15 this season. The two have been competing in practice all season. Teggart might have a slightly stronger leg, UConn coach Randy Edsall said. "It would be no different than any other position," Edsall said. "If somebody's not performing and we felt there was somebody that was as capable or more than capable to go in and replace that person, we would do that at the other positions." The Huskies had a chance to beat Rutgers with 1:09 remaining, but Ciaravino's 42-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright . . . Rodney Allison will not return as Chattanooga's coach next season. Allison, whose contract was not extended, is 17-47 in his sixth season at the school.

Andy Roddick had 18 aces and didn't face a break point in beating Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, in the first round of the Lyon (France) Grand Prix . The top-seeded Roddick, who won the Lyon title in 2005, had the only break of the match in the second set. Mahut, who also had 18 aces, saved three break points in the first set . . . Roger Federer capitalized on his strong serve to beat 86th-ranked Bobby Reynolds, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, in the first round of the Swiss Indoors. The top-seeded Swiss had a match point in the second-set tiebreaker despite trailing, 5-1.

Lance Armstrong still could race in the 2009 Tour de France, as long as race organizers make him feel welcome, Astana team director Johan Bruyneel said. "For the moment, we are going to determine his program based on where he is really welcome and invited. And we will see about the rest," said Bruyneel. "So the main thing is that he is definitely not excluding riding in the Tour, but it would have to be in an atmosphere that is serene and respectful." The seven-time Tour champion expressed doubts last week over whether he would try for another Tour title because of the problems he might encounter with "the organizers, journalists and fans." . . . A judge in San Francisco has sentenced disgraced track coach Trevor Graham to one year of home confinement for lying to federal sports doping investigators in the BALCO case. Graham once coached Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, and several other elite athletes who later were banned for taking performance-enhancing drugs . . . ProElite, the parent company of the EliteXC mixed martial arts circuit, told its employees and fighters Monday that it was shutting down, effective immediately. The shutdown follows an EliteXC card televised by CBS Oct. 4, in which the circuit's biggest star, Kimbo Slice, suffered a 14-second TKO at the hands of a last-minute replacement, Seth Petruzelli. That bout is under investigation by the Florida State Athletic Commission. EliteXC existed for just two years . . . Red Wings defenseman Andreas Lilja has undergone an appendectomy and could return to the lineup as soon as Friday . . . Russian state police have taken over the investigation into the death of 19-year-old Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov during a Continental Hockey League game near Moscow Oct. 13, according to a report on ESPN.com.