Statt-us Update 4/5/22 – Today's Headlines & More
Kansas made March Madness history with epic comeback over North Carolina to win NCAA championship game
Jayhawk players danced in celebration after Kansas' 72-69 victory over North Carolina in the national championship game on Monday night. KU coach Bill Self began to explain what he said to his team at halftime. With the Jayhawks trailing 40-25, surely the coach had a dramatic speech that helped his team turn their fortunes around, right?
According to Self, that was not the case. "I really didn't say much," Self told Jim Nantz.
But Self did reference back 14 years, to his first national title as the Jayhawks' coach, to help his team realize what was possible in the second half. In that 2008 title game, KU roared back from a late deficit to beat Memphis. "I told them at halftime, 'would you rather be down 15 with 20 left or down 9 with 2 left?'" Self said. "Because that was obviously what happened in 2008."
Black Lives Matter brass secretly used $6 million in donation money to buy a 6,500-square foot mansion
The leaders of the Black Lives Matters organization allegedly laid out a whopping $6 million that was donated to the activist group to buy a 6,500-square foot Southern California mansion, according to published reports. News of the 2020 purchase was first reported by New York Magazine on Monday, as the organization allegedly hoped to keep the house's existence a secret
The news comes as the foundation continues to face federal scrutiny for the alleged misuse of donated funds – and comes on the heels of widespread criticism for BLM's co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who resigned last May in the wake of revelations she had spent millions on a slew of lavish homes.
Verizon Text Scammer Blocked
Verizon reports it "blocked" the culprit of a recent text scam targeting customers, saying so far there is "no indication of Russian involvement."
One of the messages showed up as a "Free Msg." The customer was told their bill was paid for March and then offered a gift. It was part of a scam.
If you get a spam text, Verizon encourages users not to delete right away but instead to report it by copying the message and texting to "SPAM" or 7726. You will need to include the number the spam text came from. That will help the company track and, hopefully, stop scammers.
Multiple Will Smith Projects Delayed In Wake Of The Slap, Including 'Bad Boys 4'
Will Smith films such as Bad Boys 4 and Fast and Loose have been delayed. In addition to Bad Boys For Life, the Netflix film Fast and Loose, which was also supposed to feature Smith as its star, has been put on the "back burner" following Smith's slapping of Rock.
There are other upcoming projects being shelved or canceled. Insiders say a bidding war for the actor's biopic, based on his bestselling autobiography Will, is now effectively over after Netflix and Apple pulled their bids following his bizarre Oscars meltdown.
Burger King Being Sued For Ads That Mislead customers To The Size of its Burgers by 35%
StattMan here, I worked at Burger King in highschool and loved it. I am always filled up after I eat there. But I guess the pictures are misleading. The suit, filed Monday in federal court, claims Burger King brass through a rash of recent ads deceived customers with images of mammoth-sized menu items. The marketing images are noticeably larger than their real-world counterparts. According to the 26-page filing, the fast-food firm 'overstated' several of its menu items – including the iconic Whopper – by as much as 35 percent. The suit alleges that Burger King marketing brass beefed up the marketing images of menu items with 'more than double' the meat seen in actual burgers. The suit says Burger King execs' trade practices are 'unfair and deceptive,' and calls for monetary damages 'compensating all individuals who were deceived'.
Will Tiger Woods play in Masters?
Woods, a five-time Masters champion, was the center of attention during Monday's practice rounds. The 15-time major champion hasn't played in a PGA Tour event in more than 17 months, after suffering serious injuries in a February 2021 car wreck. He told reporters in December that doctors nearly amputated his right leg. Webb Simpson, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, said Woods will be a contender to win a sixth green jacket if he plays this week. Now we wait and see.
Elon Musk Buying 9.2% Of All Twitter Shares For $3 Billion To Become Largest Shareholder
As of Monday morning, Elon Musk almost has more Twitter shares (TWTR) than followers. News broke that the world's richest man, Elon Musk, had purchased 73,486,938 Twitter shares for $3 billion. This move makes him the single largest shareholder of Twitter with nearly 5x more stock than Twitter founder and fellow billionaire Jack Dorsey. Elon Musk is currently the wealthiest man in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index which has his net worth listed as $273 billion. That puts him $88 billion ahead of Jeff Bezos. And a $3 billion purchase of Twitter shares is truly nothing to Musk who has already seen his personal fortune grow by $2.77 billion this year.