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Independent trucker Michael Whitaker is getting ready for his next haul of equipment from South Carolina to Arizona. Whitaker has been an owner-operator trucker since 1998. His specialty is hauling industrial machinery like construction and farming equipment.

"The diesel prices. Thats every truck driver's main expense, it's diesel," says Whitaker of the recent rise in diesel prices.

Whitaker says at the beginning of the year it cost $600 or $700 to fill up his truck tank. Now, he's paying about $1,000.

"You notice it into your pocket, oh yes," says the Iowa-based trucker.

The price of diesel has skyrocketed since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. Diesel averages hit their highest level since 1994 in mid-March.

Whitaker says he used to charge around $5/mile on certain routes. Now he's charging between $7-9 per mile. He also uses a discount fuel card, and app which identifies the most economical stations where he can fill up on his routes.

Although the industry standard is to apply a fuel surcharge to freight costs, drivers don't always see that money passed along to them.

"We're making the assumption that they [drivers] would all be recipient of fuel surcharges. And that's not necessarily always the case." Todd Spencer, President of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told Yahoo Finance.

"Sometimes others, that would be intermediaries, or similar in trucking, they may keep some of it, they may keep all of it, and not pass it through. Now that does happen as well. It shouldn't, but it does," said Spencer.

As of last Monday, the cost of diesel was $1.94 higher than it was a year ago "which is significant," said Spencer.

"For our guys, the majority of truckers will burn between 18,000-20,000 gallons of fuel a year. So looking at those costs, you're talking about $90,000-$105,000 a year just on fuel," he added.

Michael Whitaker owns this truck which he uses to haul heavy machinery.

West Texas Intermediate (BZ=F) and Brent International (CL=F) declined on Monday and Tuesday, giving some relief to diesel futures. But both benchmarks are still above $100/barrel, and global inventories of the fuel used by truck and trains had been extremely tight recently.

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Most "goods are hauled around the country by truck and rail using diesel fuel to power their engines and diesel prices are going up more than gasoline prices," strategist Andy Lipow wrote in a recent email to investors.

"Fed Ex (FDX) UPS (UPS) and Amazon (AMZN) delivery services are all being impacted by the soaring diesel prices, and they eventually are going to have to raise their rates," he added.

One Morgan Stanley analyst raised his estimates for Amazon's transportation costs by $6 billion to account for higher diesel prices.

Owner-Operator driver Michael Whitaker's vehicle carrying industrial machinery

Whitaker says he remembers the gas crisis of the 1970s and the recession of 2009. He's afraid that some owner operators won't survive with costs so high.

"I think we're going to have a lot of bankruptcies of individual drivers, trucking companies," said Whitaker.

"If you don't manage your money, you ain't going to be in business long," he said. "When things get rough you've got to have enough money saved up to hold you up through the rough times."

Ines is a markets reporter covering stocks. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre

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Trucker on diesel prices: 'We're going to have a lot of bankruptcies' - Yahoo Finance

In the state of New York, if you want to receive public assistance you know, money from state or local authorities to help keep a roof over heads or food in refrigerators there are conditions that recipients must meet.

And not just you, but any adult who lives with you. Can't have poor people getting a free ride, you see, no matter how the system is set up to make sure the poor stay poor.

When wealthy people want public assistance, well, that's a different story.

On Monday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Terry and Kim Pegula, the multi-billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills, trumpeted a new stadium deal for the team that will see the state give the couple $600 million in taxpayer funds. As if that weren't enough, Erie County will kick in $250 million.

The $850 million is the largest amount of public monies ever given to finance a stadium for a privately owned team.

And yet, in all of the coverage of the agreement, there hasn't been a word about the conditions the Pegulas, and by extension, the Bills, will have to meet to get the public assistance funds.

Weird, right?

Shameful is more like it.

Terry and Kim Pegula are worth billions. Why do they need to stick Buffalo taxpayers with a record bill for their new stadium? (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)

Terry and Kim Pegula are reportedly worth $5.8 billion, give or take. In a hyper-exclusive club of wealthy team owners, they are among the top 10 wealthiest. They own two professional sports teams among their vast portfolio, the Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. They have more than enough to have financed a new stadium all on their own, but why pay for things yourself when you can sucker others into doing it for you?

Especially when Hochul can just propose to slash $800 million from New York's Office of Child and Family Services. Why make sure the most vulnerable citizens of the state are taken care of when there's a massive facility to build that will get used only 20 or so times a year? A building in which the tenants keep essentially all of the profits and reap all of the benefits when the value of the team increases because of the new facility?

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Keep in mind the value of the stadium itself, which the state will own, depreciates with every passing year. And very likely at the end of the 30-year agreement that's supposedly "ironclad," the Pegulas or whoever else own the Bills then will once again threaten to move the team and fleece taxpayers.

And the $850 million from the state and county is just for building the new stadium. The state will also pay almost $7 million a year for 15 years in maintenance costs and contribute $6 million a year for the full 30 years to a capital improvement fund.

Yet the $6 million a year Highmark Health pays for the Bills' current stadium to carry its name that all goes to the Pegulas.

The least the state can do, as it does with all people who ask for public assistance, is tie conditions to it.

For example: The population of Erie County is 25 percent non-white, including 14 percent Black, and New York is 45 percent non-white and 17.6 percent Black. Yet of the top 18 executives listed currently on the Bills' website, only two are ethnic minorities.

There will likely be requirements during construction for how many contractor companies must be minority- or women-owned, but the stadium construction is separate from the organization itself, and at some point the construction ends. And those in-stadium jobs on game days are not paths to riches, they're minimum wage temp jobs.

If you want The People's money, shouldn't your most senior leadership positions reflect The People?

Kim Pegula gets to tout that she's part of the diversity and inclusion groups for the NFL and NHL, whatever those are supposed to be accomplishing, but the Bills' top decision-makers are not diverse in the least, and exclusion seems more the goal than inclusion.

If you want The People's money, shouldn't you be nearer to The People?

The new facility will be built in Orchard Park, where the current stadium is, a town of fewer than 4,000 residents over 10 miles outside of Buffalo's city center. Like so many old mill cities, Buffalo would likely benefit from having the stadium built within city limits.

A new stadium will mean personal seat licenses, one of the greatest scams in modern history. You have to pay for the right to pay rent for seats. In this case, in a stadium built largely with your tax dollars. Assuming you can even afford a PSL and season tickets, which is more exclusion.

If you want The People's money, shouldn't all of The People get to see what their money helped pay for?

And what of the people who don't care about the Bills? What do they get out of this?

And how are we in 2022 still seeing these disgusting displays of state and local lawmakers allowing billionaire private business owners to fleece them out of taxpayer funds for facilities the vast majority of taxpayers won't have or don't want access to?

In what can be seen as one more concession to the Pegulas, Hochul waited to announce the deal until this week, days before the state's annual budget deadline on April 1 meaning there isn't much time for state legislators to demand changes that benefit the taxpayers who will be funding the stadium.

Public assistance always comes with conditions. It does for the alleged "little people" who are desperate to have four walls and a roof to sleep under at night.

The wealthy, in this case the Pegulas, should be no different.

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The Bills' grossly unethical stadium deal will burden the people it purports to unite - Yahoo Sports

Its always the trivial aspects that blow a story open. Thats the chatter acceptable for the surface-level dinner-table talk or quick did u c this?? share of a TikTok.

Basically, we talk about the dumbest things, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters on Tuesday in Minneapolis ahead of the Final Four. And as with most things Auriemma says, theres some truth to it if you dig between the rest. Like a realtor gushing about the cute, staged kitchen while the foundation sits cracked behind a boarded-up basement door, theres more to see beyond the surface.

Coaches of First Four teams to Final Four ones have been asked over the past two weeks if they believe the NCAA has made substantial progress toward gender equity in the mens and womens basketball tournaments. It has been the guiding conversation this season after putting the 2021 tournaments in separate bubbles forced the world to see the clear differences in plain view.

The overwhelming answers appear to be, well, no. At least not in the necessary big-picture ways that create significant impact. The issues coaches have homed in on for decades and most glaze over.

You know what we didn't take care of? said Auriemma, who is finishing his 37th year with UConn. Two teams played last night, Monday night, to go to the Final Four, and now we play Friday, and we fly out [Tuesday]. The guys finished Sunday, and they get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then they play Saturday.

Why don't you address things that actually help kids get ready to play their best basketball at the most important time of the year? But we've got the weight room squared away, and I'm sure we got other things squared away, but we don't get squared away the things that are most important.

It is the best year for Auriemma to bring this concern. UConn and N.C. State played the first double-overtime game in Elite Eight history on Monday in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that ended around 10 p.m. ET. Auriemma told NCAA digital the team didnt get home until 2 a.m. and flew to Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon. By the time they arrived in Minneapolis, thats two full days at the Target Center before tipping off Friday night.

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Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma talked about the short turnaround his team and the other Final Four teams face in the NCAA women's tournament compared to the men's tournament. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

It doesnt have to be this way. The time is here to look at everything. The NCAA, on the recommendation of the Kaplan Report, conducted a zero-based budget to start from scratch and eliminate inequities that have grown over time.

Zero-base it all, from the selection committee to regional sites to the day the season ends. Everyone should be asking why are we doing this? to every bit. And when the answer is because its always been that way, rip it down. If you assess your financials every year, theres no reason not to do the same for policies and structures.

A simple solution is to push games back to Sunday/Tuesday to allow more recovery time and for these student-athletes to enjoy the week without feeling squeezed into a short time frame. Now is the time to think bigger than simple. Because even that would still fall into the trite habit of placing an emphasis on the men as if they are the default and women should program around them.

There has been so much talk of a combined Final Four location a proposition most coaches disagree so how about combined Final Fours on TV? Do a full day of Saturday semifinals, rotating between the men and women, then back-to-back championship games on that Monday night. Every year the lead game can be switched between women and men.

That shouldnt be a problem. All womens sports fans hear in online "well actually" chatter is that TV time and channels dont, well, actuallymatter when it comes to TV viewership numbers (which is not true). And basketball fans will love another full day of action. That is the beauty of March Madness.

To do that would take buy-in from broadcasters and thats hard to come by as it is. The womens championship game was pushed back into prime time on ESPN only because the MLB lockout wiped out the first two weeks of games. Otherwise, it would have served as the companys lead-in to Sunday Night Baseball with a dinner-time tip. And none of these womens programs at the peak of their sport will receive a dime for their success as the mens programs do with units awarded to conferences for their teams tournament runs.

To really make changes, we have to have a similar unit structure, Tara VanDerveer, the Stanford head coach since 1985, said on Tuesday. I mean, I love the crowds. I love the signage. I don't really notice it. It doesn't feel like that much different.

I think really the bottom line is it's a television package and it's a unit structure. When that happens, then we'll know that it's serious.

Its unfair to hinge a lack of dramatic change on an organization that plans years in advance and cant pivot on big issues. Its one thing to call in a weight room at the last minute, a necessary change even if Auriemma quipped his players havent picked a weight up in 21 years. Its another to change the entire system in an offseason.

NCAA president Mark Emmert hedged on the issues during a news conference Wednesday, saying there are the beginning of discussions and theyre considering splitting up the sports media package. Any of that is in play only because of those trivial issues that spread on social media and third-hour morning TV shows. It forced the NCAA's hand. Now, think wider.

It is past time for everyone to stop talking about the dumbest things and start talking about issues like unit structure and zero-balanced planning at the dinner table before tipoffs this weekend.

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Take it from Geno Auriemma: The 'dumbest things' don't solve real gender inequities - Yahoo Sports

Liquidity issues would make President Joe Biden's proposed "billionaire tax" difficult to execute, Tyler Goodspeed, former acting chairman and vice chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, told Yahoo Finance Live in a recent interview.

I think my main reaction is, it strikes me as a little bit gimmicky in an election year, he said. Look, if you think that billionaires should be paying more in taxes, then I think you should be seriously considering an elimination of the step up in basis at the time that the estate tax is levied.

Bidens 2023 proposed budget would impose a mandatory minimum tax rate of 20 percent of cumulative income, including unrealized investment income that currently is untaxed, for people worth more than $100 million.

For too long, our tax code has rewarded wealth, not work, and contributed to growing income and wealth inequality in America, The White House said in a press release. Under current law, when an American worker earns a dollar of wages, that dollar is taxed as they earn it. But when a billionaire earns income because their investments increase in value, that gain is too often never taxed at all.

Goodspeed, who currently serves as a Kleinheinz Fellow at Hoover Institution at Stanford University, noted that the bills provisions to increase taxes on unrealized returns may be difficult and possibly counterproductive.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Brandenburg Premier Dietmar Woidke and Elon Musk attend the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS

There are lots of issues when you start taxing unrealized capital gains, he said. How do you value some of those assets? A lot of those assets are not perfectly liquid. And how do you handle cash flow issues that some of these folks may have to liquidate some of those assets, some of those illiquid assets, in order to pay that tax liability even if it's stretched out over several years.

Under current federal tax code, most assets are only subject to taxes after they are sold and the gains are fully appreciated. Certain exemptions apply for the sale of a house which has been occupied by the owner for two or more years and other illiquid assets.

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However, a large percentage of billionaires wealth is held in unrealized stocks and securities, which are generally not subject to federal income taxes. Back in 2019, for example, about 99% of billionaire Warren Buffetts $85 billion net worth is tied to his conglomerate holding company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B).

If dividends from capital gains are taxed, they are generally taxed at a preferred, lower rate than other income. This is part of the way that wealthy individuals can amass fortunes in the twelve-figure range while paying a comparatively small tax rate.

U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young and U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson (R-IA) speak before a U.S. House Budget Committee hearing on U.S. President Joe Biden's budget plan for the fiscal year 2023, in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2022. Roberto Schmidt/Pool via REUTERS

An analysis from OMB and CEA economists released last year estimated that the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in America paid an average of just 8.2 percent of their income in federal taxes.

I think there are more efficient ways to go about making sure that the highest income tax, highest income households are paying their fair share, Goodspeed opined.

Pundits view the budget as unlikely to pass an evenly split Senate, especially after Senator Joe Manchin came out in opposition to the bill.

I think at the end of the day, the probability of this stuff passing is pretty close to zero, Goodspeed said. And that's why I think it is, for the most part, election signaling, that this is a political document first and foremost.

Ihsaan Fanusie is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @IFanusie.

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Billionaire tax: There are more efficient ways to make the rich pay more, economist says - Yahoo Finance

Thirty-one years after the loss that ended his college career, former North Carolina forward Pete Chilcutt still isnt over it.

The most painful part isnt even that a Tar Heels team stacked with future NBA first-round draft picks went cold against an opponent with lesser talent. The dream title-game scenario they flushed away is what haunts Chilcutt most.

Had heavily favored North Carolina defeated Kansas in the 1991 national semifinals, the Tar Heels first NCAA tournament matchup with hated rival Duke would have come two nights later in the national title game. North Carolina instead went home, allowing a Blue Devils team the Tar Heels beat by 22 in the ACC tournament to overpower Kansas and capture Mike Krzyzewskis first national championship.

I have thought about that so many times, Chilcutt told Yahoo Sports. Duke won another one the next year and really took off. Thats where it started for them. I think it wouldve been one of the epic finals of all time if wed been able to get in there and perhaps change history. Who knows what wouldve happened to Duke down the road if wed have been able to knock them off and not let them get that first title?

Duke and North Carolina have combined to make 55 NCAA tournament appearances and reach 19 Final Fours since 1991, yet it has taken until now for them to finally cross paths on college basketballs biggest stage. On Saturday night, it will be Blue Devils vs. Tar Heels from New Orleans in the highest-stakes game in this iconic rivalrys history.

For North Carolina, its a chance to double down on the bragging rights attained when the Tar Heels spoiled Dukes tribute to Mike Krzyzewski in his final home game. For Duke, its an opportunity to avenge that humiliating loss and move one step closer to sending Krzyzewski into retirement with a sixth national championship.

While North Carolina and Duke have frequently produced highly ranked teams in the same year, they havent often come close to facing off in the NCAA tournament. Only four other times have they advanced to the Elite Eight in the same year. Only in 1991 did they both reach the Final Four.

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They might have played in the title game that year had Rick Fox not missed 17 of 22 shots, had Dean Smith not gotten ejected and Roy Williams not outcoached his mentor.

And, to hear the former Tar Heels tell it, had that Duke-Carolina matchup actually happened, the team that won the national championship that year might have worn a lighter shade of blue.

We thought we were the better team, former North Carolina forward George Lynch said. We had respect for them, but we knew we could beat them.

UNCs Hubert Davis celebrates on the court with teammates after the Tar Heels defeated Temple 75-72 in NCAA East regional championship game on March 24, 1991. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

In October 1990, as the new college basketball season drew near, the national pecking order could be summed up in eight words: There was UNLV, and there was everyone else.

Jerry Tarkanians Rebels returned Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon and the core of a team that won 35 games the previous year and blitzed Duke by 30 in the national title game. They opened the season No. 1 in both polls and a favorite to become college basketballs first repeat champ since John Woodens UCLA dynasty.

Duke and North Carolina began the season in the next tier of teams behind UNLV. Both had aspirations of contending for the national title even though the Blue Devils were replacing three players who started alongside Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley and the Tar Heels were coming off an underwhelming 13-loss season.

That was the standard when I went to Carolina, Lynch said. We played for Final Fours and national championships. Anything else was a bust.

As Duke and North Carolina sprinted out of the starting blocks fast and then ascended to the top of the ACC standings, both rivals kept track of the others progress. That was your measuring stick, Lynch said. Everything they did, we watched. Everything we did, they watched.

The first of two head-to-head matchups that season went to Duke. So did the second, clinching the ACC regular season title for the Blue Devils. The scoring of Laettner, playmaking of Hurley and versatility of a young Grant Hill were tough for North Carolina to handle, as was Dukes trademark pressure defense.

When the Tar Heels got a third crack at Duke a week later in the ACC title game, they came out determined not to let the Blue Devils celebrate a third time at their expense. Behind 25 points from Rick Fox and turnover-free point guard play from King Rice, North Carolina raced out to an early lead and cruised to a 96-74 win.

"I honestly thought it was the best Duke team in modern days, legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith told reporters that day. "That's what makes it so satisfying."

Carolina Tar Heels joke after their 96-74 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament victory over Duke on March 10, 1991. Holding plaques are, from left: Pete Chilcutt (32); Rick Fox (44), tournament MVP; King Rice (21), and Hubert Davis (40). (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Smith surely assumed he didnt have to worry about that Duke team anymore after that game, but that turned out not to be the case. The Blue Devils ripped through the NCAA tournaments Midwest region, winning all four games by at least 14 points. North Carolina followed a similar path of destruction in the East region, overwhelming its first three opponents before surviving a close call against Temple in the Elite Eight.

With unbeaten UNLV also blowtorching its way to Indianapolis, the Final Four featured three of the top six teams in the 1991 seasons final AP poll. On one side of the bracket were UNLV and Duke, the two teams that met in the previous years national title game. On the other were North Carolina and Kansas, who emerged from the Southeast region by upsetting higher-seeded Indiana and Arkansas.

Who did the Tar Heels expect to meet in the title game if they had managed to defeat Kansas?

UNLV was so intimidating that year, Chilcutt said. So I dont think we anticipated a Duke rematch.

And yet

If you had taken a poll asking us who we wanted to play, Lynch said, wed have said we wanted Duke.

Ask North Carolina players from that team what happened against Kansas, and to a man they insist they didnt overlook the Jayhawks. They swear that the Roy Williams-coached team had their respect, that they werent caught day-dreaming about a title-game showdown with Duke or a chance to take down mighty UNLV.

We spent no time thinking about the possible matchup, Hubert Davis said Tuesday. Our focus and our attention was on Kansas.

What derailed the Tar Heels was an off night from their three senior starters. Fox needed 22 shots to score 13 points. Chilcutt shot 2-for-8 from the field and Rice finished with more turnovers (three) than baskets (one).

A series of defensive stops fueled a North Carolina second-half surge that trimmed a 10-point deficit to one, but the Tar Heels never regained the lead. On one end of the floor, Fox left the potential go-ahead mid-range jumper short. On the other, Sean Tunstall buried a 3-pointer to ignite a quick 7-0 Kansas spurt that left North Carolina playing from behind again.

Davis 25 points in a losing effort was the lone bright spot for North Carolina. Mark Randall had 16 points and 11 rebounds against Chilcutt for Kansas, prompting a running joke from Davis over the years.

He always tells me, You got Mark Randall into the NBA! Chilcutt said with a laugh. They had some good players, but we just didnt perform. We kind of laid an egg.

To add to North Carolinas misery, Smith was ejected in the final minute for just the third time in his storied career. With Kansas already up five and heading to the foul line for four free throws, Smith shook hands with Roy Williams and congratulated Kansas players on his way off the floor.

As Kansas finished off a 79-73 victory, Grant Hill recalled that Duke was in the RCA Dome Hallway, getting ready to run out for our warmup. Hill said that Krzyzewski brought the Blue Devils back to their locker room, concerned that the Tar Heels loss could diminish the hunger of his players.

I dont remember exactly what he said, but it was basically that he didnt want us to have a built-in excuse to lose, Hill said. What I mean by that is the rivalry was so competitive you almost had a built-in out. They lost. Now its OK for us to lose.

1991: Duke players Grant Hill and Christian Laettner high-five each other in celebration during the NCAA championship game against Kansas in 1991. Duke defeated Kansas 72-65. (Photo by Focus on Sport via Getty Images)

Of course, Duke didnt lose. In fact, the Blue Devils went on to secure one of Krzyzewskis most iconic victories. Christian Laettner exploded for 28 points to help the Blue Devils halt the Runnin Rebels 45-game win streak and pull off a stunning upset. Two nights later, Duke brushed aside Kansas to capture the programs first national title.

Once we won and beat Vegas, we didnt care who we played, Hill recalled. We were so fired up and excited. That was a huge confidence boost and validator.

Though the Laettner-Hurley-Hill core led Duke to back-to-back national titles in 1991 and 1992, there was a silver lining for North Carolina. Lynchs class channeled its frustration into leading a title run of North Carolinas own in 1993.

That it has taken so long for North Carolina and Duke to be part of the same Final Four again is a painful reminder to the 1991 Tar Heels of what might have been.

As celebrated and successful as both programs have been, Davis said, for us to not have met in the Final Four is very surprising.

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The one that got away: How North Carolina blew its shot at Duke in the 1991 title game - Yahoo Sports

The first time she glanced at an NCAA men's tournament bracket earlier this month, Kelly Sullivan realized she overlooked one detail when choosing a wedding date.

Hey, she warned fianc Zach Boehmer, the Final Four is on the same day as our wedding.

College basketball has been a lifelong passion for Sullivan and Boehmer, but the Des Moines couple doesnt support the same team.

Sullivan fell in love with Duke in second grade watching J.J. Redick bombing threes in a cutoff T-shirt. Ever since, she has been the type of diehard fan who makes certain shes in front of a TV whenever Duke plays, who lies awake the night before big Duke games and who buys Duke jerseys for her college roommates to sway them to root for her team.

Boehmer is as fiercely devoted to North Carolinabasketball as his fiance is to Duke. While his twin cousins introduced him to rooting for the Tar Heels as a young boy, it was watching the Ty Lawson-Danny Green-Tyler Hansbrough teams mow through college basketball en route to the 2009 national title that made his blood run Carolina blue for life.

Zach Boehmer and Kelly Sullivan are getting married Saturday, when Duke faces Carolina in the Final Four. Things could get awkward for the couple during the wedding reception. (Special to Yahoo Sports)

When Boehmer took Sullivan to dinner for their first date in 2018, the conversation between the recent University of Northern Iowa grads soon shifted to basketball. Boehmer gritted his teeth and stayed quiet when Sullivan revealed that she was a big Duke fan because he wanted the date to go well. Then he pulled out a Tar Heels-themed wallet to pay for dinner, and Sullivans face went pale.

I really never thought Id end up with a Carolina fan, Sullivan said. Like ever. It was a worst-case scenario for me, but I liked him and I liked that he knew about sports. Plus, I thought that Id eventually convert him

Thats never going to happen, Boehmer countered.

Im still working on it, Sullivan replied.

At first, Sullivans realization that they were getting married on Final Four Saturday seemed like it could affect only her favorite team. Whereas talent-laden Duke beat Gonzaga and Kentucky in non-league play and won the outright ACC regular-season title, North Carolina required a late-season surge just to make the NCAA tournament.

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Then the Tar Heels annihilated Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And upset reigning national champion Baylor two days later. And surged late to defeat UCLA in the Sweet 16. Pretty soon Duke and North Carolina were on the precipice of their first NCAA tournament clash, an epic Final Four matchup with rivalry bragging rights, Mike Krzyzewskis coaching future and a spot in the national title game all hanging in the balance.

Every game we were like, Uh-oh, Boehmer said. Theres a chance that this is going to happen.

Saturdays looming showdown between Duke and North Carolina might be the most anticipated Final Four game in years, but for many couples getting married on Saturday night, its also a major headache. Overtaxed brides and grooms in the Raleigh-Durham area and beyond are having to figure out how to allow guests to watch the game without detracting from a day thats supposed to be all about them.

Emily Izakowitz is a Durham-based event planner hired months ago to organize a wedding for Saturday evening. Since the bride, groom and members of both families are North Carolina alums and avid Tar Heels fans, Izakowitz is still sorting through how to handle the game coinciding with the wedding reception.

I expect it will make things more interesting than normal, Izakowitz said. Basically, it's really not ideal!

Its also difficult for 40-year-old Matthew Horsnell, who has literally rooted for North Carolina since he was in diapers. His dad watched the 1982 national championship game between North Carolina and Georgetown with Horsnell on his lap.

Theres a brick outside the Dean Smith Center bearing the name of Horsnell, his brother and their father. The trio also have matching Tar Heels tattoos on each of their ankles. Horsnell sheepishly admits he cried when the Jerry Stackhouse-Rasheed Wallace Tar Heels lost to Arkansas in the 1995 Final Four and again when the Vince Carter-Antawn Jamison team fell to underdog Utah in 1998.

When Horsnell told his dad over the phone last year that he was getting married outside Nashville on April 2, he remembers hearing the clicking of keyboard keys in the background. When the noise stopped, Horsnells dad told him, You know thats Final Four weekend, right?

At the time, Horsnell dismissed the possibility that North Carolina could make it that far with a thin roster and Hubert Davis in his first year as head coach. A year later, being wrong has left him in the stressful position of trying to figure out how to follow the biggest Duke-North Carolina game in history without taking away from his wedding day.

In the end, Horsnell has chosen starting his marriage off happily over the thrill of watching North Carolina try to send Krzyzewski into retirement with a heartbreaking loss.

Its arguably the biggest game in the history of the rivalry, but its also the biggest day of my life, Horsnell said. While I would love to be watching the game and Im not going to lie, Ill probably be keeping track of the score Im not going to bring a tablet or phone into the reception. Im going to sit and enjoy that moment with my friends and family and the love of my life.

While Horsnell has given his dad and a groomsman whos a diehard Duke fan a pass to leave a little bit early, he has assigned one member of his wedding party to stay until the end.

Thats my brother, Horsnell said. Hes going to be whispering score updates in my ear.

Whereas Horsnells bride-to-be doesnt share his love for basketball, Trent Brown isnt in quite so difficult a predicament. Brown and his fiance, Grace Smith, are both North Carolina alums whose relationship blossomed because of their mutual love of the Tar Heels.

Brown and Smith met in August 2015 as North Carolina freshmen living on the seventh floor of Hinton James residence hall. Nearly two years later, they began dating during the 2017 NCAA tournament and stormed Franklin Street together after the Tar Heels captured the national title.

Over the past five years, theyve sat side-by-side at North Carolina games together. Brown asked Smith to be his girlfriend while walking across North Carolinas soccer field and proposed overlooking that very same spot just over three years later.

Its a really cheesy UNC story, Brown said with a chuckle.

North Carolina's matchup against rival Duke will be on at the wedding reception of Grace Smith (right) and Trent Brown this weekend. "By the time it starts, the ceremony, speeches and toasts will be over. After that, man, were going to be drinking beer, dancing and hopefully watching us win, Brown said.

When North Carolina rallied to beat UCLA in the Sweet 16 last Friday night, Smith recognized that the possibility of the Tar Heels facing Duke during their wedding was no longer far-fetched.

Do we need to start figuring this out? she asked Brown.

Fearful of jinxing North Carolina ahead of its Elite Eight matchup with Saint Peters, Brown responded, Were going to figure this out on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Their salvation it turns out will be a friends projector and Browns mobile hotspot. Their venue in downtown Raleigh doesnt have WiFi, so Brown and Smith are hopeful that setup will work.

We care so much that it wasnt even a question, Brown said. It was obvious we were going to be watching the game. By the time it starts, the ceremony, speeches and toasts will be over. After that, man, were going to be drinking beer, dancing and hopefully watching us win.

Thats the solution that Zach Boehmer and Kelly Sullivan also chose, even if the game inevitably will leave one of them dejected on their wedding night. Theyve acquired a projector and intend to watch the game alongside their friends and family during their reception.

Weve promised each other well be civil, Sullivan said. It will definitely be our first test as husband and wife.

Since Sunday afternoon, Boehmers and Sullivans phones have been buzzing nonstop with friends and family razzing them about the game, asking if theyre nervous or if theyre still on speaking terms. Boehmer laughs right along with them, admitting it almost seems like destiny that North Carolina and Duke would meet for the first time in the NCAA tournament on their wedding day.

As a North Carolina fan of more than 15 years, Boehmer wants to see his Tar Heels win, but he admits that this week hes more torn than usual.

There would be nothing greater than Coach K losing his last game to North Carolina, Boehmer said. But at the same time, its our wedding day, I want my wife to have the best day and to not end the day upset.

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Wedding day blues: Duke, Carolina fans getting married this weekend face incredible predicament - Yahoo Sports

Billy Eppler, the New York Mets general manager of 4 1/2 months, thinks Im trying to bait him into tabloid fodder.

Were sitting behind home plate, along with a smattering of front office staff and beat writers, watching an intrasquad game at the Mets Port St. Lucie, Florida, complex. Carlos Carrasco, who was acquired in a trade alongside Francisco Lindor ahead of the 2021 season, versus Chris Bassitt, picked up in the As fire sale this offseason.

I tell him that a week ago I was on the other side of Florida to see the New York Yankees, where reporters pressed chairman Hal Steinbrenner on whether he felt pressure to spend more on payroll to keep up with the Mets.

To Hal? Eppler clarifies with some incredulity.

Thats right; because people say the Mets are setting the pace for sports in New York City these days.

Im not starting that, Eppler says with a laugh. Im not even biting on that.

OK, maybe he was smart to sidestep any explicit rivalry-making so soon into his career with the Mets, but it wasnt intended as a trap. Eppler spent years in the Yankees front office, rising to assistant GM during a time when they assured themselves playoff berths by simply outspending the competition year in and year out. For 15 straight seasons from 1999-2013, the Yankees fielded the highest payroll, winning three World Series, losing two more and missing the postseason only twice.

In 2015, Epplers last season in the Bronx, Hals Yankees outspent the Mets by more than $100 million. But now, Eppler returns to a New York sports landscape that has a new titan at the ownership level. The 2022 Mets, if all goes according to plan, are trying to be the New Yankees.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen attends a news conference at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Citi Field, the home of the Mets, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

First off, it starts with Steve Cohen.

Thats Max Scherzer bonafide ace, World Series champion, and the kind of guy who makes a whole clubhouse more competitive. And for as much as he knows about how baseball looks from atop the mound, he also has one of the best 30,000-foot views of the game of any player after taking on a central role in collective bargaining this offseason. Ask him what he likes about this team, and he knows to go right to the top.

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In 2020, the Mets ranked 12th in payroll. Behind the Cincinnati Reds. They hadnt won a postseason game since 2015. But that fall, hedge-fund billionaire Cohen bought the team from the Wilpon family that had long since become a punchline and a punching bag for frustrated fans.

By opening day, theyd added 27-year-old superstar shortstop Lindor and signed him to a $341 million,10-year extension. Their payroll was third in baseball, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Yankees. But inking that deal on the eve of the season marked the highpoint of a summer that unraveled from there for Lindor and the Mets. After spending 114 days in first place, the team plummeted, eventually missing the postseason entirely.

But if 2021 proved that you cant guarantee success by spending money, this offseason proved that wont stop Cohen from trying.

A GM search that initially looked like the latest episode in the long-running errors of occasionally comedic nature emanating from Queens led them to the eminently reasonable and respectable choice of Eppler, coming off a short stint with a talent agency after five ineffective years with the Angels. He then hired the beloved Buck Showalter, who was managing the Yankees before many of the leagues players were even alive.

And while some big-market teams seemed content to wait out the pre-lockout free-agent frenzy, the Mets splurged. In a matter of days, Cohen committed a combined $254.5 million to Starling Marte, Mark Canha, Eduardo Esocbar and Scherzer whose $43.3 million per year in a three-year deal is the highest average annual value in MLB history.

The rest of the owners responded by adding the so-called Cohen Tax to the new CBA a fourth luxury threshold with higher-than-ever penalties in an effort to curb the Mets' spending. On the first day that spring training camps were officially open, Cohen nonchalantly told reporters that the tax mattered to him only in so much as he enjoyed the honorific "It's better than a bridge being named after you, he joked and that the Mets eventual payroll would probably surpass it.

When I had a meeting with him, I immediately got the grasp from him that he wants to win, Scherzer said. On the teams where Ive been in Detroit with Michael Ilitch, in D.C. with Ted Lerner [its] the same type of atmosphere. Those guys are going to do whatever it takes to win. And so the whole organization functions much differently when we feel the presence of the ownership.

In Detroit, Scherzer and the Tigers made it all the way to the World Series in 2012, coming up just short on the strength of an aggressive push by the late Ilitch patriarch. A few years later, the Lerners made him the second-highest paid pitcher ever, and in 2019, Scherzer helped bring D.C. its first championship.

So I got that same type of vibe from Steve. He wants to win. He wants to win now.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 25: New York Mets infielder Francisco Lindor signs autographs for fans before an MLB spring training game between the New York Mets and the Houston Astros at The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches on March 25, 2022 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A 2.7 WAR season is nothing to scoff at, but theyll do it anyway in New York if youre the $341 million man whose winning smile was supposed to be emblematic of the Mets future. Last year, Lindor learned how hard it can be to live up to the expectations created by a record-setting contract, and how little patience is left in a borough that has been waiting 35 years for another title while their proverbial big brother racks up rings.

My expectations were to be in the playoffs, to win in the playoffs, Lindor said recently. I thought we had a good team last year. We and then he corrected himself I just didn't perform.

Lindor stops short of ascribing an inverse causal relationship between expectations and performance. How heightening the former could impede the latter. Maybe he worries thatll sound like an excuse to an unforgiving fan base that didnt much care for his production or his attitude in the worst moments of last season. But just in case, he demurs on even acknowledging that the hope is only heightened this year.

Weve got better players than we had last year, but still the goal is to be in the playoffs no matter what.

Youll hear a lot of that around spring training camps self-serious accountability toward greatness. It costs nothing to project optimism ahead of opening day. Maybe itll even sell a few more tickets.

What, do you go into the season expecting to get your butt handed to you? Showalter says, echoing and lightly mocking the platitude. You always think about the best-case scenario.

That was while were out on the field, watching batting practice. But back in his office, just before a game against the Houston Astros, he cops to the cliche.

Its not true, is it, that all teams start the season with the same expectations?

Of course not, Showalter smiles. Its just a good thing to say.

Hired after the lockout began, the 65-year-old manager with meticulous attention to detail and a curious mind has had only a condensed spring training to get to know his team. He says you cant force that kind of thing. So far its been a lot of listening, asking players how they handled certain in-game situations on other teams, or here before him. When he does talk, its about the details not missing signs, showing up on time, the minutiae of rundown rules and remembering to always pick up your teammate.

Soon, hell invite the three players with the most service time into his office, set out a blank notebook and ask them how they want the clubhouse to function this season so they can police themselves.

Which is not to say he doesnt come with wisdom. Something he heard Yankees pitcher David Cone say to the media several decades ago stuck with him. New York fans live and die by their baseball teams. And what Cone recognized was that, even at their most jaded and judgmental, they cant wait to cheer for you.

Theyre waiting to embrace you, Showalter told Lindor recently. You got to give them something to embrace.

New York, he tells players, is all about survival.

Pressure is a privilege, Eppler says.

Play better, is Showalters universal solution.

Were just big kids playing baseball, Scherzer says of letting it all get to you. If you think about it more than that, you start frying your brain.

But just because something is simple doesnt mean its easy.

The thing that I have the most respect for, Showalter says, is teams and coaches that win when theyre expected to.

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 21: Manager Buck Showalter #11 of the New York Mets looks on from the dugout in the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins in the Spring Training game at Roger Dean Stadium on March 21, 2022 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

The manager considers his career for a moment, and how he got so comfortable with the ruthless New York media.

Maybe its cause I know Im not getting out of this alive, he jokes, but of course its not really. But while Im here, I know how lucky I am.

I dont realize until later that Im not sure if he means in the skippers seat for the New York Mets, or, like, life in general. Before I can think to ask, Showalter, who has managed for 30 years and never won a championship, is saying something else.

My goal is to win the last game that we play in the World Series, then come into my office, shut the door and listen to them celebrate, he says. Thats the best-case scenario for me.

Ten years after Showalter last managed the Yankees, but long before today, Eppler was flying back to the city from visiting his family in Southern California for the holidays. He was new to working in the Yankees front office and could hardly call himself a New Yorker yet. But as his plane descended, he looked out at the gloomy, gray city below him.

Early January in New York is not a pretty time. Sunsets before 5 p.m., muddied snow lining the streets.

Its that moment that comes back to Eppler when thinking about why he ended up back here. Leadership has always been appealing to him, the chance to foster the careers of players and personnel, setting them up for success. He calls it the long game, doing his best to benefit the younger generation, so he can look back someday, and feel like people were better because I got to be around them and help them.

But here here with the Mets? Maybe its obvious: all the talent; all the money; the fact that it can feel good, if you let it, to know people expect you to win. And that moment, looking out the plane window at the city some 17 years ago.

It just looked tough, for lack of a better word, Eppler says. And it inspired me as somewhat of a challenge and somewhat of like, I belong here.

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Big budget, big talent: Can the Mets take ownership of New York from the Yankees? - Yahoo Sports

Yahoo Sports Senior NFL Writer Charles Robinson and Yahoo Sports Columnist Shalise Manza Young discuss the quarterback situation for San Francisco. All signs point to Trey Lance being the starter in 2022. Does it make any sense to hang on to a $24 million dollar backup quarterback? Hear the full conversation on the You Pod to Win the Game podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

CHARLES ROBINSON: San Francisco. It's just like the Baker conversation west. San Francisco says-- and again, I think it's gamesmanship. It's just like what Cleveland's doing. Just sort of a different way to present it. San Francisco is saying, eh, maybe Jimmy will be back. Maybe Jimmy Garoppolo is not gone. We don't want to just get rid of him to get rid of him. He's got value. And right now, he's recovering from a shoulder surgery on his throwing shoulder. And teams are reticent to offer us anything, so we're going to just play it out. And maybe Jimmy will be on our roster. It's not really-- Cleveland realistically, functionally can't have Baker back in that-- I don't think you can really have him back in that quarterback room next season. Jimmy could, though, for San Francisco. He totally could be back there. I wrote today that I think they're bluffing. I think they're playing the game. They're playing that chess move, the Jimmy Garoppolo chess move right now to try and draw out a trade. However, I do think that if this advances far enough down the road, and there really isn't anything out there, and they really, truly go, hmm, maybe we will just bring him back and we'll figure out the $24 million we owe them in base salary, which, God, just seems completely unlikely. But I'm just going to play it out. I don't know, man. I just don't. To me, you bring him back, even if you're like Trey Lance is our starter. And to me, I feel like they're indicating Trey Lance is definitely going to be the guy. He's going to be the starter for us. They're not coming out and just straight up saying it. But there's a reason why they're ready to move on from Jimmy, and that's because they're ready to go with Trey. I just don't know about bringing somebody back in the organization that we can say whatever we want about him, they still had a little playoff run in them. They still had some success with him. SHALISE MANZA YOUNG: He brought them to the NFC Championship game. He got them-- CHARLES ROBINSON: Shalise, you can't tell me-- you covered the Niners. And Trey Lance goes out there. Let's say they bring Jimmy back. Whatever the circumstances are, figure it out. Forget the money or whatever. For whatever reason, he's still there. You can't tell me that you or I covering the team wouldn't sit there and, say, Trey Lance gets off to a rough start-- SHALISE MANZA YOUNG: Yeah. CHARLES ROBINSON: --and they go 1 and 2 out of the gate, you and I are going to be sitting in the press box next to each other, and we're gonna be going, yeah-- SHALISE MANZA YOUNG: Which one of us is writing it's time for Jimmy to come back? CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, right. That's exactly it. That is exactly right. That's the conversation. One of us has got the binoculars. And I'm like, is he putting his helmet on? Is he warming up? What's going on on the sidelines? Is he talking to the coaches right now? What's Jimmy doing? SHALISE MANZA YOUNG: And then behind the scenes, what are the teammates saying? CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah. SHALISE MANZA YOUNG: Guys who were on the team from last year to the coming year, and they were part of seeing Jimmy get them to the NFC Championship game. If they do get off to a 1 and 2 start, or whatever the case may be, are they chirping behind the scenes and saying this is ridiculous? Jimmy got us to where we got to last year with Jimmy, so what are we doing with Trey? He's not ready, or whatever the case may be. It's a really complicated situation. But the 49ers spent so much to get Trey Lance. He had his redshirt year, so to speak. So in a way, you kind of have to go with him. But having a $24 million backup is a hard pill to swallow. But then like we just said, the minute Trey stumbles, the fans are going to be screaming for Garoppolo. CHARLES ROBINSON: Which is why-- SHALISE MANZA YOUNG: The media might scream for Garoppolo. CHARLES ROBINSON: Which is why-- don't you agree that, fine, play the chess game. Play it out. Do what you got to do. But at the end of the day, you do have a luxury that Cleveland doesn't. You can cut the guy, and you get all that money. You get all the base money. If Cleveland cuts Baker, they lose the 18-- that's gone. They've got to pay that no matter what. They're screwed. Now San Francisco, what you get is a big old hole in your cap that then you can use for a contract extension for Deebo Samuel. You can use that money to extend guys. I'm just like, there's just no way. You can't do this. You have to get that guy off the roster.

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Could Jimmy Garoppolo still be on the 49ers next season? | You Pod to Win the Game - Yahoo Sports

Imagine gliding into space in a pressurized capsule via a huge balloon the size of a football stadium. That's how one startup plans to take tourists on suborbital journeys 100,000 feet above Earth.

Passengers will be able to observe stunning views during a six hour journey. They will also be able to sip on cocktails from a bar aboard the vessel. (Yes, there's a bathroom.)

The voyage will happen "very gently and smoothly" and provide passengers "the quintessential astronaut experience," Jane Poytner, co-founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective, told Yahoo Finance Live.

"It's a completely different experience," she added, noting the panoramic views from the capsule are life-changing.

"You will have that incredibly black sky. When we take you up predawn, you'll get the most outrageous star gaze you've every seen," said Poytner. "It is profoundly moving."

Space Perspective

"It really changes the way you see the world forever, and that will actually have a trickle effect across society as an increasing number of people go," she added.

Seats cost $125,000 each, including a $1,000 refundable deposit. The cost is comparatively less expensive than Virgin Galactic's (SPCE) $450,000 voyages 262,000 feet above the earth, which are expected to commercially launch late this year.

"Remember we're at the very beginning of the industry. Every industry that has changed the world, like aviation, like computers, when they start out, it was very difficult to imagine a vast number of people using computers or airplanes," said Poytner. "The same is going to be true for space travel. It's just going to take a little bit of time for the price to come down as it scales."

Space Perspective is planning its first piloted test flight in 2023 and initial commercial voyages in 2024.

Ines is a markets reporter covering stocks from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre

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Space tourism: Huge balloon with a bar to take tourists to space for $125,000 a ticket - Yahoo Finance

Step aside Apple and Google, Nvidia may be the new king of tech, one analyst contends.

"Nvidia may be the most important technology company today," said Evercore ISI analyst C.J. Muse in a new note on Monday. The analyst reiterated an Outperform rating on Nvidia with a $375 price target.

Shares of Nvidia rose slightly in afternoon trading Monday to $277.

Muse's upbeat take on Nvidia comes hot on the heels of the company's closely watched GTC conference, where it held nearly 1,000 sessions that included more than 1,600 speakers.

"Beyond having best-in class hardware accelerator solutions with its GPUs, Nvidia is broadening its portfolio and deepening its expertise across DPUs and CPUs, along with other areas such as connectivity and interconnects to put all of the pieces together. Then to ensure these complex solutions run seamlessly, Nvidia is continuing to pioneer software both at the foundational level and application specific level which is key to the companys TAM [total addressable market] expansion and the overall democratization of AI. Events like GTC hammer these point home, with various customers and ecosystem partners highlighting the advancements they are driving along with NVDA, and clear roadmaps for continued growth for the next decade plus," Muse explained.

One area Nvidia is doubling down on is its autonomous driving platform.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 08: Cameras are visible on the exterior of an Nvidia self-driving car inside the Nvidia booth during CES 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 8, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 11 and features about 4,500 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 180,000 attendees. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

At Nvidia's conference last week, CEO Jensen Huang touted the companys $11 billion vehicle-tech order pipeline over the next six years.

Automotive will surely be our next multibillion-dollar business, Huang told Julie Hyman and Dan Howley in a Yahoo Finance Presents interview. The $11 billion is going to be quite a significant business for us just in the car. But if you look at the totality of AV, I think this is going to be one of the largest AI industries in the world.

During the conference, Nvidia put the potential market for auto-related software, hardware and data-center services at $300 billion.

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Points out Evercore ISI's Muse, "Advancements across in vehicle technologies, data center capabilities, connectivity, and AI/simulation (Omniverse) are enabling a transformation in the automotive industry today, leading to an estimated $2 trillion opportunity from the monetization of car services over the coming decade (largely led by Autonomous Driving and/or Mobility-as-a-Service)."

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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Nvidia is the most important tech company on planet: analyst - Yahoo Finance