Austin, TX
Dribbling into the Record Books – This Austin Man Set an Unusual World Record
The world is full of some very weird world records, some of those set in Texas. Stuff like longest fingernails, biggest mustache or largest book ever published have plaques for the records they set. There are some unusual world records out there like biggest video game collection, largest collection of Funko Pop! or largest pair of cowboy boots. There is almost a world record for anything. Over the weekend, an unusual world record was set in Austin during a marathon that involved an Austin man and a basketball.
Ben Duong
Ben Duong attended McNeil High School just outside of Austin where he ran track and cross country. While attending Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, he also ran track and cross country while pursuing his bachelor’s degree. His is also a huge fan of the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs. The team decided to sponsor Duong during his run in the Austin Marathon on Sunday as he attempted to break a Guinness World Record.
It doesn’t feel real. I’m honestly in disbelief. I’m shaking. We’re here. We made it here. I couldn’t have done it without all my family, all my friends. Everyone who’s supported me. – Ben Duong to the Statesman
1 Hour, 21 Minutes, 38 Seconds
Duong wanted to break the world record for fastest person to finish a marathon while dribbling a basketball. Sounds simple, right? Okay. Go outside and dribble a basketball. Yeah, it’s not as easy as you might think. The San Antonio Spurs, his favorite basketball team, decided to sponsor him as he attempted this world record run. The previous record was 1 hour, 25 minutes. Duong finished the Austin Marathon in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 38 seconds, shattering the old record.
To Break the Record
To successfully break the world record, Duong had to dribble the basketball without picking it up for the entire 13.1 miles of the half marathon. If he lost control of the basketball, he had to retrieve the ball then go back to the spot he lost it and start dribbling it again.
The Coyote was Waiting
Since the San Antonio Spurs sponsored Duong with this world record attempt, the Spurs mascot The Coyote was waiting at the finish line to congratulate Duong. No word on if Duong will be attending a Spurs game anytime soon to either meet the players or be recognized on the court, or both.
Congratulations Ben Duong on breaking this world record.
Paris and Grand Saline Hold 2 Unique Guinness Book World Records in Texas
Texas is known for a lot of things including many different Guinness Book World Records. East Texas has a claim to two of those unique world records that still stand today.
Gallery Credit: Guinness World Records, Object History, Wayne W, World Record Academy, Texas Country Reporter, DallasObserver, CNN Business, Bike N’ Bird all via YouTube, Guinness World Records via Twitter, unsplash.com
WARNING: Texans Should Never Carry These 11 Items in Their Wallets
We have those required items to carry around in our wallet or purse. We have to be vigilant with the extra stuff that’s in there because it could make us a bigger target for thieves.
Gallery Credit: Getty Images, unsplash.com
There’s Some Big Jackpots That Could Still Be Won With These 26 Texas Lottery Scratch Offs (Accurate as of February 15, 2024)
Texas Lottery scratch offs are fun to play and 26 of these tickets could still pay out a huge jackpot to a lucky scratcher.
Gallery Credit: Texas Lottery
Austin, TX
New Boba Cucue Franchise Locations Coming Soon to Austin, Texas | RestaurantNews.com
The boba-centric brand will soon bring two new stores to Texas thanks to an agreement signed this month.
Austin, TX (RestaurantNews.com) Fast casual boba brand Boba Cucue, known for its fantasy-like atmosphere, cute custom merch, fresh fruit cold brew teas, sweet treats, and more, will soon be available in Austin, Texas thanks to a multi-unit franchise agreement signed this month by a new group of franchise partners.
The deal comes on the heels of a second franchise location added to the Las Vegas area in February, bringing the total to nearly 20 locations for the brand. Cottonwood, Tucson, and Marana, Arizona, as well as Birmingham, Alabama also have had new locations added in recent months.
“Our momentum is evident as we have seen interest build consistently over the course of the past year,” stated co-owner Gary Lo, who owns the fast-casual boba cafe with Vivien Chung. “This group of franchise partners is a great group of people to represent Boba Cucue and to bring our brand to Texas for the first time.”
Boba Cucue is a standout in the boba tea franchise space thanks to its eye-catching branding, Instagrammable-menu items, and custom-created gifts and goodies. The company has worked to create an ambiance unlike anything in the market today.
“When our customers walk in, we want them to have an unforgettable experience, no matter their age or how many times they have been in before,” stated Lo. “We’ve worked hard on the overall feel of each store, with special attention to the details that make us different.”
Boba Cucue is continuing to vet potential franchisees. Franchise buyers will find a complete training program, ongoing support, all recipes, branding elements, and marketing guidance. Learn more about Boba Cucue at www.BobaCutea.com or BobaCuteaFranchise.com.
About Boba Cucue
Boba Cucue is a unique, modern boba tea house that is a dreamland of tasty drinks, mouth- watering snacks, and ridiculously cute Boba Cucue gadgets and merchandise. The brand carries fresh fruit cold-brew teas, 2-in-1 ice cream boba frappes, and galaxy boba drinks, which are all hand-crafted with high-quality ingredients, chewy boba pearls, and fresh fruit or milk, as well as Japanese homemade waffle pop and fresh steamed Dim Sum. Franchise opportunities are now available nationwide. Help spread the joy with Boba Cucue — visit BobaCuteaFranchise.com to learn more.
Media Contact:
Boba Cucue
Devin.bobacutea@gmail.com
Austin, TX
Texas DEI shutdown: UT Austin faculty members push back
AUSTIN, Texas – In this edition of Texas: The Issue Is, the issue is the DEI purge pushback.
Since January, when SB 17 took effect, college administrators all across Texas have been shutting down diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In response to that, members of a faculty labor union rallied at the University of Texas here in Austin, calling on school leaders to stop the rollback.
FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski spoke to two members about why they believe some form of DEI should remain on every campus.
PAULINE STRONG: I would like the university to restore the programs that were lost. I believe they were lost to please political forces in the state.
KARMA CHAVEZ: I never understood what people were saying about what was wrong with it, because all we’re trying to do is make a better campus for more students.
RUDY KOSKI: There are some programs that are viewed to be divisive, where we start breaking people up into compartments. You’re in this tribe, you’re in this tribe, you’re in this tribe. Do you feel that we can move away from that?
KARMA CHAVEZ: Well, it’s not a either or. So, there’s got to be space for people who come from marginalized backgrounds to have their own space to represent their cultures, to just feel comfortable. A campus like this, it can be really hard if you’re a student of color, for example. And so it’s nice to have spaces that are meant for you.
RUDY KOSKI: DEI has become a four-letter word. Can the concept be rebooted and do you think it could be less divisive?
PAULINE STRONG: We are a diverse group of people, so diversity is already here. Equity and inclusion are not. We need to keep working at equity and inclusion, and we need to acknowledge how many different kinds of people we have in Texas, how many different kinds of students we have. And we need to work to support each other. And we need staff who help us do that as well.
RUDY KOSKI: There are people who will say, Texas already is doing that. We recognize we’re diverse, and we recognize people should be treated fairly. Why do we need DEI?
PAULINE STRONG: I don’t see that happening outside of DEI. I see the purge of staff who had decades of experience, many of them, working with students to help them succeed. I think that purge shows that we’re not doing what we need to be doing.
RUDY KOSKI: But at the expense of another race, because that was the argument against DEI was that we’re lifting up one group, pushing down another.
PAULINE STRONG: I don’t think anything about DEI pushes down another group. It is lifting up people who have been marginalized, people whose parents and grandparents did not have the chance to go to college. It is uplifting us all.
MORE COVERAGE
RUDY KOSKI: Don’t we already have these protections in place? Affirmative action, discrimination laws?
KARMA CHAVEZ: I mean, well, we don’t really have affirmative action anymore. That’s pretty much been thrown out the window. You know, discrimination is about a very kind of particular legal definition. And it doesn’t get at, for example, microaggressions and the kind of little things that happen to students on the day to day, that make being on a campus like this really hard, and all DEI was, was a Band-Aid to try to make life a little bit better for folks.
RUDY KOSKI: So how do we reboot this? How do we come together, especially during these times?
KARMA CHAVEZ: Yeah. I mean, I think we need people to come together in earnestness. So not, just to prove that my point is right, for you to prove that your point is right, but really, to hear each other.
Austin, TX
Campus protests continue in Austin
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