Apology

UCLA and Steve Alford. A basketball program of unmatched pedigree led by a former prodigy who became a national champion and Olympic gold medalist before making a steady climb up the coaching ladder. On paper, a harmonic convergence. How they came together, a choreography of those themes, would make for a dazzling introduction, which UCLA held at center court in historic Pauley Pavilion last month. The aura of John Wooden, his contributions to sports and society - and those 10 national titles - was thick.

WASHINGTON - The ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for the agency's "foolish mistakes" in singling out conservative groups for intrusive and time-consuming scrutiny, but said that the effort was not driven by partisan motives. Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, whose tenure will end Wednesday after he resigned under pressure this week, said the agency staff's attempts to identify groups with political aims was not "targeting," as it was termed in an inspector general's audit.

An earthquake has rocked the Robsten world, with Kristen Stewart issuing a public apology Wednesday for a "momentary indiscretion" with Rupert Sanders, the married director of her recent film "Snow White and the Huntsman. " Rumors of a fling bubbled Tuesday night as photos surfaced via Us Weekly, showing 22-year-old Stewart -- years-long girlfriend of "Twilight Saga" costar Robert Pattinson, the other half of "Robsten" -- and Sanders in what one source called a "marathon makeout session.

Video: Suarez bites Ivanovic? Liverpool striker Luis Suarez apologized for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on Sunday during their English Premier League game. The 26-year-old from Uruguay was clearly seen grabbing and biting the arm of Ivanovic after he cleared the ball from Suarez just outside the penalty box. Ivanovic immediately complained after the two tumbled to the pitch, but referee Kevin Friend did not see the incident and no penalty was called. Suarez eventually scored seven minutes into stoppage time to help Liverpool earn a 2-2 draw.

After days of silence during which long-held resentment toward Abercrombie & Fitch Co. began to boil over, Chief Executive Michael S. Jeffries tried to stem a backlash against the teen-focused retailer. Jeffries, in a statement Thursday, discussed criticism that the company lacks women's XL and XXL sizes in favor of catering toward young, good-looking customers. "A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers," he said in the statement.

The documents Chan Share clutched as he left China were forged. It was 1939 and Asians were not allowed to immigrate to the United States. So, like many others, Share claimed he was a "paper son" and had a California-born relative whose records were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The California State Athletic Commission has faxed a letter of apology to the promoters of a mixed martial arts card on which a fighter with a positive test for hepatitis C was allowed to compete. The commission also said it had been told, but had no documentation as of Tuesday, that the test had been a false positive and the fighter did not have hepatitis C. Al Joslin and Shelly Matlock, owners of PureCombat Promotions, which held a March 7 MMA card in Tulare, said they received the letter Sunday.

Signaling a desire to return to public life, retired Gen. David H. Petraeus offered an apology Tuesday for the scandal that led to his resignation as director of the CIA and brought an illustrious career to an abrupt end. Petraeus has kept a low profile since admitting to an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, in November. The speech, at a USC dinner honoring veterans and ROTC students, is the first step in what appears to be a carefully choreographed comeback bid. Before about 600 guests in a hotel ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, a contrite Petraeus acknowledged that he is "regarded in a different light now" than he was a year ago. "I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing," he said.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny offered an emotional apology Tuesday for  government involvement in a harsh system of laundries run by Roman Catholic nuns, where women and girls labored long hours behind locked doors, unpaid and often bewildered about why they were there. “As a society, for many years we failed you,” Kenny said in a televised official apology Tuesday before the Irish Parliament. “This is a national shame.” Kenny stopped, his voice breaking, and then concluded, “Let me hope that this day and this debate heralds a new dawn for all those who feared that the dark midnight might never end.” The apology came two weeks after a report found that the Irish government had been involved in the infamous Magdalen laundries , helping to send girls and women into the workhouses, paying them through government programs and contracts, and bringing runaways back in the hands of police.

Australia will issue its first formal apology to the country's indigenous people next month, a senior minister said. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the apology for past wrongs against Australia's so-called stolen generation of Aborigines would be the first item of business for the new Labor-dominated Parliament on Feb. 13. "The apology will be made on behalf of the Australian government and does not attribute guilt to the current...

Matthew Keys, a controversy-plagued deputy social media editor at Thomson Reuters, tweeted today that he was fired by the news organization. His name has not been associated of late with best journalistic practices. Keys, 26, a one-time web producer for a Tribune Co. Sacramento TV station, was charged last month with helping folks associated with the computer group Anonymous hack into the L.A. Times and change a headline in 2010.  Last week, he was mentioned in a number of stories about social media missteps in the wake of the Boston Marathon explosions.

Reddit is apologizing for its role in fueling the social media witch hunts for the Boston bombings suspects. The social news website became one of the must-reads last week for the latest news and thoughts on the Boston Marathon bombings. But it also became a place for amateur sleuths to gather and share their conspiracy theories and other ideas on who may have committed the crimes. The online witch hunts ended up dragging in several innocent people, including Sunil Tripathi, a 22-year-old Brown University student who went missing last month.

Looks to be a double-dose of regret coming out of the Reese Witherspoon-Jim Toth camp in the wake of their couples-style arrest in Friday's wee hours in Atlanta. In case you missed it: Toth was arrested on suspicion of DUI after reportedly driving in the wrong lane and then blowing a 0.139 on a breath test. In the process, Witherspoon declared herself to be famous -- a tidbit shared with a cop who couldn't have given a flying fig and arrested her for disorderly conduct. Leading up to her arrest, Witherspoon questioned whether the trooper was a real officer, according to the police report posted by the Smoking Gun , and was told "to sit on her butt and be quiet.

In the wake of the Boston bombing, Muslims "find ourselves in that very awkward and uncomfortable place," said Mather Hathout, the senior advisor of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. In a sermon at the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, Hathout told worshipers before Friday prayers to expect questions from non-Muslims. "People will come to you … to find answers, and they have that right," he said. "Life is not fair. You will be put in that position … [of people asking]

Tom Garfinkel, president and chief executive of the San Diego Padres, has been welcomed to the world of texts, tweets, Facebook and smartphone recordings. And Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke has an apology to show for it. In a meeting with season-ticket holders at Petco Park the day after the Greinke-Carlos Quentin brawl in San Diego, Garfinkel accused the Dodgers right-hander of hitting Quentin intentionally, blamed Greinke's broken collarbone on his decision to lower his shoulder protecting himself, and appeared to mock Greinke's social anxiety disorder by implying he has autism.

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of April 21 -27, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies       SUNDAY Ask your doctor if a magic potion is right for you. Side effects may include singing, dancing and turning 30 years younger, as seen in "Lovestruck: The Musical. " Jane Seymour, Chelsea Kane and Sara Paxton star. 8 and 10 p.m. ABC Family Get a refresher course on the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, and the subsequent investigations, book and film, in "All the President's Men Revisited.

Reaction from across the golf sphere -- and elsewhere -- to Tiger Woods' apology speech: NOTAH BEGAY III, PGA Tour golfer and former Stanford teammate: "I was emotional and got a little choked up. . . . It's tough to get any man in America just to go to marriage counseling, let alone go into a 45-day rehabilitation. Plus he's going back tomorrow, and that tells me that he's trying to learn about the issues." TIM FINCHEM, PGA Tour commissioner: "There's some anger in quarters, but mainly it's a sense of sadness.

Re "Romney's opportunism," Editorial, Sept. 13 The editorial is off the mark. The Middle East has undergone a historic shift. How the United States conducts its foreign policy there is always important and often decisive. The direction that the president has steered the State Department ship counts. But rather than raising valid questions about the Obama administration's handling of a monumental international crisis, rather than exploring the root causes of why American embassies are under assault, your editorial lambasts Mitt Romney for failing to raise his hand before he spoke.

Cousin Anthony says he's sorry. The outspoken baker on TLC's "Cake Boss" - full name Anthony Bellifemine - has backed down after he posted a tweet on Monday, just after the Boston bombings, that blamed foreign-born "animals" for "attacking us. " "We even pay for them to go to school hows that!," @cousinanthony ranted. The message was quickly denounced online, including by some of Bellifemine's 25,000 followers. He attacked one critic for her "typical liberal attitude. " PHOTOS: Celebrity portraits by The Times Although President Obama has called the Boston bombs "an act of terrorism," it is unclear who's responsible and the investigation is ongoing.  By Tuesday afternoon, Bellifemine had reconsidered the situation.

Was it the public outcry that got to him, or Reebok's decision to drop him as a pitchman? In either case, rapper-mogul Rick Ross has issued an apology for lyrics contained in his guest appearance with rapper Rocko on the track "U.O.E.N.O" that seemed to condone date rape. Here's the statement Ross released Friday morning: “Before I am an artist, I am a father, a son, and a brother to some of the most cherished women in the world. So for me to suggest in any way that harm and violation be brought to a woman is one of my biggest mistakes and regrets.