Rivera backs Pettitte while finalizing deal

Mariano Rivera is supporting Andy Pettitte.

After completing his $45-million, three-year contract with the New York Yankees on Monday, Rivera said he was impressed with Pettitte for admitting that he used human growth hormone after his name was included in the Mitchell Report.

“The thing that I admire is that he came out and said he did it,” Rivera said in a conference call.

Rivera was surprised to hear Pettitte was included last week in the report with Roger Clemens and several others who played on some or all of the Yankees teams that won four World Series titles from 1996-2000.

“It was definitely the wrong thing to do,” Rivera said.

Rivera said he spoke with Pettitte after the report was released and understood why the left-hander chose to try HGH. Pettitte said he was trying to hurry his recovery from an elbow injury and help his team.

“I might have done the same thing. Who knows?” Rivera said.

Rivera, 38, insisted that the Yankees’ legacy was safe even though 11 players from their championship run were included in the Mitchell Report.

“I don’t think that we have to defend anything,” Rivera said. “Those years were hard work and a lot of dedication. The whole team was involved, not just two guys.”

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The Texas High School Baseball Coaches Assn. is having second thoughts about inviting Clemens to its annual session in January following allegations in the Mitchell Report that the seven-time Cy Young Award winner used performance enhancers.

Jim Long, president of the association, said his group will hold an executive meeting today to decide if Clemens will remain as one of the presenters.

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Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd met with baseball officials in New York to discuss his use of human growth hormone.

Byrd, 37, says he took HGH for a medical condition and did so only under a doctor’s supervision.

Last month, the Indians picked up Byrd’s $7.5-million option for 2008. He was 15-8 with a 4.59 earned-run average last season, his most wins since 2002.

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Catcher Javy Lopez is trying a comeback with his old team, agreeing to a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves.

Lopez, 37, was out of the majors last season after being released by Colorado in spring training. A Brave from 1992-2003, Lopez will compete to back up Brian McCann.

SOCCER

As expected, Kaka wins FIFA’s top player award

Brazilian midfielder Kaka completed a virtual sweep of annual awards by winning FIFA’s world player-of-the-year award in Zurich, Switzerland.

He received 1,047 points, ahead of Messi with 504 and Cristiano Ronaldo with 426 in a vote by national team captains and managers.

On the women’s side, Marta of Brazil won the award with 988 points, ahead of Birgit Prinz of Germany with 507 and Cristiane of Brazil with 150.

Kaka also won European soccer’s Golden Ball and World Soccer magazine’s top player award.

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Houston Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear, who led his team to consecutive Major League Soccer championships, received a contract extension through 2010.

Kinnear, who had one season left on his previous deal, has a 53-30-41 record, including a 15-8-7 mark last season, since taking over the team in 2004.

WINTER SPORTS

Grange wins slalom; Ligety finishes third

Jean-Baptiste Grange won a slalom race for his first World Cup victory, with Ted Ligety finishing third in Alta Badia, Italy.

The Frenchman was fastest in both legs and had a combined time of 1 minute 36.12 seconds in moving to the top of the slalom standings. Felix Neureuther of Germany was second, 0.74 of a second behind, and Ligety was 1.40 seconds out.

MISCELLANY

Two suspects arrested in Williams’ carjacking

Two suspects were arrested in Atlanta and will be charged with the Saturday carjacking of Atlanta Hawks forward Shelden Williams at gunpoint.

The suspects were identified as Bernard Moss and Darius Mathis, each 18 with an Atlanta address. They appeared in court.

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Left wing Chris Simon took a paid leave from the New York Islanders, agreeing with the team that he needed time away from hockey after his latest penalty for trying to injure an opponent.

Simon sat out the first five games of this season while finishing a 25-game ban -- his sixth NHL suspension -- meted out in March. He could get another long ban after he took down and stepped on Pittsburgh’s Jarkko Ruutu last weekend.

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Bede Durbidge won the Billabong Pipeline Masters at Oahu, Hawaii, and with the victory clinched the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing championship. The 24-year-old Australian scored 16.67 points out of a possible 20 to defeat runner-up Dean Morrison of Australia and third-place Pancho Sullivan of Hawaii and Joel Parkinson of Australia in the finals of the Banzai Pipeline event.