Look, it’s a slow news day outside of Valhalla. That’s generally what happens on May 18. People think the Dog Days of Summer start in July, but that ain’t true. They start right around now. 

Thankfully, though, we have one psycho on the University of Virginia baseball team to fill the void. Now, did he fire a no-no? No. Get in a fight? Nope. Say something stupid? Not that I know of. 

What he did, though, tops all of those things. It has my brain in an absolute pretzel this afternoon. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I’m not sure if this kid’s an idiot … or possibly a genius. 

Luckily, it was all caught on camera – so we’ll let you, the fine folks of Outkick, decide:

Virginia player flips the banana game on its head

It’s just stunning, right? I’ve never, in my life, seen someone attack a banana like that. It’s like the Matrix, or Inception. I know what I’m watching, but my mind can’t really comprehend it. 

Do people eat bananas this way? I mean, you’re essentially eating it like corn on the cob, right? That’s the idea. Going the horizontal route with a banana instead of the mainstream vertical way is such a diabolical move, I don’t know whether he’s brilliant or should be immediately kicked off the team. 

Speaking of him …. my context clues and Big J digging tell me this lunatic is probably pitcher Jack O’Connor. He commented on the above video, via Instagram, “Banana on the cob.” That tells me pretty much all I need to know. 

Anyway, remember this moment from The Office? This is how I feel after watching Jack here maul that banana. 

Yeah, I just don’t get it. This kid from Virginia has me all over the place today. My toddler eats like six bananas a day. Do I get her started young and make the switch now, or will she just be mocked for the rest of her life if I do that? 

Now, I will say – most of America seems to be disgusted with this. This video has gone viral this afternoon, and 99% of the comments think he’s a lunatic. 

But then again, Twitter is normally not real life. Whenever I see something popping off on Twitter, I go the opposite direction, because 99 times out of 100, that’s the right answer. 

Anyway, I may dabble with this move at some point today and get back to y’all. Stay tuned. 

Nearly 20 million people gained health-insurance coverage between 2010 and 2016 under the Affordable Care Act. But about half of insured adults worry about affording their monthly premiums, while roughly the same number worry about affording their deductibles. At least six states don’t include dental coverage in Medicaid, and 10 still refuse to expand Medicaid to low-income adults under the ACA. Many people with addiction never get treatment.

Religious groups have stepped in to offer help—food, community support, medical and dental care—to the desperate.

Over nine months last year, the photographer Matt Eich documented the efforts of five such organizations in his home state of Virginia. These groups operate out of trailers and formerly abandoned buildings; they are led by pastors, nuns, reverends and imams. In many cases, they are the most trusted members of their communities, and they fill care gaps others can’t or won’t. —Bryce Covert

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The Health Wagon

Wise, Virginia

The Health Wagon is the oldest mobile free clinic in the country. It was founded in 1980 by Sister Bernie Kenny, a Catholic nun and nurse practitioner, who first offered care out of a Volkswagen Beetle. Today it has four mobile units that operate out of RVs, plus two buildings that offer medical and dental care. It plans to soon open the first nonprofit pharmacy in the region.

This is Appalachia—the western tip of the state, near the Kentucky border. The place has been hit hard by the opioid crisis, and residents suffer from high rates of cardiovascular disease, mental-health problems, diabetes, asthma, and cancer. “We’re the Lung Belt, we’re the Heart Belt, we’re the Kidney-Stone Belt,” Teresa Owens Tyson, who has been with the clinic since its early days and is now its CEO, told me. Most of the people the Health Wagon serves either don’t have insurance or have such high copays and deductibles that they can’t afford to use their policies. Tyson said she’s seen lines of people 1,600 deep waiting at the clinic at 6 a.m. Dental services are in particularly high demand: A 12-year-old recently came in whose teeth were so decayed, the child already needed dentures.

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The Rec

Luray, Virginia

Reverend Audre King grew up in Luray. He went away to college, got married, and was living hours away in Northern Virginia when he says God told him in a dream to go back home and begin a ministry there.

He tried to buy a long-abandoned building on his childhood block, but no bank would give him a loan. Finally, the owner agreed to sell it to him for cheap if he used it to serve the community. Digging out all of the dirt and dead animals and hooking the place up to electricity and water took months, but in 2017, the Rec was up and running.

It now serves hundreds of hot meals in area where many people live in motels without kitchens. It also provides mental-health programming, kids’ activities, a computer lab, and fitness classes. “Our goal is that anything, for whatever reason, the town or county can’t or won’t be able to fund—a resource they won’t provide—we want to be that help,” King told me.

All of its services are provided almost entirely by volunteers; the only person who gets paid is a bus driver who transports kids from their schools and homes to the Rec and back. King doesn’t take a salary for either the Rec or at the Eternal Restoration Church of God in Christ, where he serves as minister; he works for a gas company.

When he preaches at the church, he’s teaching the Gospel, he told me; but at the Rec, he’s “living the Gospel.” He pointed to Matthew 25:35–40: “For I was hungry and you gave me food … I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me.”

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CrossOver Healthcare Ministry

Richmond, Virginia

Last fiscal year, CrossOver treated more than 6,700 patients, over half of whom came from other countries as immigrants and refugees. Most undocumented immigrants can’t access Medicaid; those who can may still struggle to navigate the complex health-care system, especially if English isn’t their first language. The interdenominational group runs two free clinics offering primary care as well as cardiology and pulmonology, OB-GYN care, dental and vision care, behavioral-health services, pediatric care for children over 3, and a low-cost pharmacy. CrossOver relies on more than 400 volunteers to see patients, and still can’t open up enough appointments for everyone who comes seeking care: “We turn away about 30 to 35 people a week,” Julie Bilodeau, the group’s CEO, told me.

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Adams Compassionate Healthcare Network

Chantilly, Virginia

About 10 years ago, Yahya Alvi applied for a job at the Adams Compassionate Healthcare Network, half an hour from Washington, D.C. The organization’s president told him that his dream was to open a free clinic. “That is my passion,” Alvi responded. He started by securing empty space at a nearby mosque and taking free equipment from a clinic that was giving it away. At the beginning, he employed only one doctor and himself, and the clinic was open just one day a week.

Today, it operates six days a week and has two paid nurse practitioners in addition to the two doctors. The clinic was founded by Muslims, but it accepts anyone without insurance or the money to pay for medical care, from anywhere in the country and practicing any religion. “Our religion says that all human beings are created by God almighty,” Alvi told me. “And all deserve equal treatment.”

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Madam Russell United Methodist

Saltville, Virginia

One day in 2021, Steve Hunt was on the side of the road, trying to hitchhike to a grocery store about seven miles from his home in Saltville, Virginia. Hunt had lost his sight a few years earlier, after an infection in his leg went septic and he fell and knocked his retinas loose. Lisa Bryant saw him when she pulled up at a stop sign. She’s a pastor, and she had just finished a service at one church and had to be at another in an hour. She was in a hurry. But just the week before, she had preached about Jesus calling his followers to bring the blind and suffering to him. She gave Hunt a ride.

The interaction came at a crucial time for Hunt. “I was at bottom at that point,” he told me. His house was strewn with glass shards because he kept breaking things. He was struggling with addiction. “Everything was falling down around me, mentally and emotionally,” he said. “I was asking God to kill me that day she picked me up.”

Instead, Hunt started going to the new 12-step program Bryant had started at her main church, Madam Russell United Methodist. “They just kind of pulled around me, supported me,” he said of the congregation. He’s helped Bryant expand that program, the only one in a town where opioid use is rife but all the addiction-recovery programs are oversubscribed. Bryant has also set up community-service opportunities at her church for people convicted of drug offenses, and is working to secure transitional housing for people dealing with addiction.

Bryant doesn’t think the point of being a Christian is just to get to heaven after death, but to see the kingdom of heaven on Earth, too. She’s realized that “giving these people a new community, a healthy community, is one of the best things we can do for them,” she said. “We all need each other. That’s just how we’re created.”

Support for this story was provided by the Magnum Foundation, in partnership with the Commonwealth Fund.

STILLWATER – The No. 13 Texas A&M women’s tennis claimed its spot in the NCAA Tournament Final Four for the second time in program history after upsetting No. 5 Virginia Friday at the Greenwood Tennis Center, 4-1.
 
The Aggies (26-7) continued their trend of upsets in the NCAA Tournament with a dominant showing in singles, which was capped off by standout freshman Lucciana Perez to ensure the 4-1 victory over Virginia (25-5), as Texas A&M booked its spot in the tournament semifinals.
 
High quality back-and-forth play started off the match, as the Maroon & White and the Cavaliers each secured a court in doubles play. The decider came down to court 1, where Virginia snatched a tiebreak victory to lead heading into singles.
 
Needing to regain the momentum in the match, No. 26 Nicole Khirin did just that with a dominant display on court 3 besting No. 91 Sara Ziodato (6-4, 6-1) to tie the squads up at one.
 
The nation’s best, No. 1 Mary Stoiana, followed suit on court 1, as the junior captured her 20^th-ranked win of the season with a straight-set victory over No. 24 Hibah Shaikh (6-2, 6-1).
 
Leaving the Maroon & White one point from the win was Jeanette Mireles on court 6. She faced Melodie Collard and after a competitive 6-4 opening set, she closed out the second frame only dropping two games (6-2), to give A&M the 3-1 advantage.
 
Dealing the final blow and punching the Aggies ticket to the semifinals was the SEC Freshman of the Year Perez. She battled with No. 125 Elaine Chervinsky on court 5 through a pair of tough sets, ultimately outlasting her opponent (6-4, 6-4) to clinch the match result, 4-1.
 
Both No. 88 Carson Branstine on court 2 and No. 45 Mia Kupres on court 4 were leading in their matches before the overall results was decided.
 
COACH’S QUOTES
Head coach Mark Weaver on the team’s impressive performance …
“That was a very impressive performance by our group. It was an exciting doubles point that came down to the wire. There was a lot of nerves on both sides. Those doubles points are kind of a roll of the dice and sometimes they can go either way. Excellent composure by the girls to win all six first sets [in singles] and really set the tone there. We brought it, and you could see the confidence growing on our side of the court. It’s a big stage out there and we really handled it well, especially in singles. I’m very proud of our group.”

Mary Stoiana on the team’s confidence …
“We all knew we were capable at playing at this level. We know we can take down any team in any way. We’re really confident and excited to keep it rolling. We’re trying to do something really special here.”

Up Next
The Aggies return to the court tomorrow for the tournament semifinals, where they will take on the winner of No. 8 UCLA and No. 16 Tennessee with first serve set for 6:30 p.m.

Match Results
Singles Results
(TAMU) No. 1 Mary Stoiana Def. (UVA) No. 24 Hiba Shaikh (6-2, 6-1)
(TAMU) No. 88 Carson Branstine – (UVA) No. 67 Annabelle Xu (7-5, 2-2) unfinished
(TAMU) No. 26 Nicole Khirin Def. (UVA) No. 91 Sara Ziodato (6-4, 6-1)
(TAMU) No. 45 Mia Kupres – (UVA) Natasha Subhash (7-6(2), 2-1) unfinished
(TAMU) Lucciana Perez Def. (UVA) No. 125 Elaine Chervinsky (6-4, 6-4)
(TAMU) Jeanette Mireles Def. (UVA) Melodie Collard (6-4, 6-2)

Double Results
(UVA) No. 8 Melodie Collard/Elaine Chervinsky Def. (TAMU) No. 7 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres (7-6(5))
(TAMU) Carson Branstine/Lucciana Perez Def. (UVA) Hibah Shaikh/Natasha Subhash (7-5)
(UVA) No. 88 Sara Ziodato/Meggie Navaro Def. (TAMU) Nicole Khirin/Jeanette Mireles (6-4)

FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on X by following @AggieWTEN.