Brandon Valenzuela hit a grand slam and Joey Loperfido added a no-doubt home run of his own as the Herd closed out a series split with the Mets with a 10-6 victory, Sunday afternoon from Sahlen Field.
To read the full game recap: https://www.milb.com/buffalo/news/buffalo-bisons-brandon-valenzuela-slam-syracuse-mets
The Bisons are down to 12 games left this season as they will leave for a six-game series in Rochester after Monday’s off day. The final homestand of the season will begin Tuesday, September 16 at Sahlen Field against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks had the rug pulled out from under him after a military award ceremony previously scheduled to honor the actor as an “outstanding citizen” was cancelled, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
The alumni association at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point had planned to present Hanks with the Sylvanus Thayer Award, which has been presented by West Point alumni to non-West Point graduates since 1958, and is awarded to those who “exemplify” a devotion to West Point’s motto of “Duty, Honor, Country.”
On Friday, however, Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger sent out an email notifying West Point faculty that the ceremony would no longer be held, according to the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the email.
“This decision allows the Academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army,” Bieger wrote in the email.
Hanks was first announced as a would-be recipient of the award in June, with the alumni group citing his work on films such as “Saving Private Ryan” and “Greyhound,” as well as his involvement in producing the war drama miniseries “Band of Brothers.”
Hanks expressed excitement at the announcement, calling it an “honor” to be recognized by an institution he held dear.
“To have my first ever visit to the Academy be to accept such an honor as the Thayer Award is simply astounding,” Hanks said back in June. “West Point’s legacy of leadership, character, and service to the nation is a powerful example for all Americans.”
With the Department of Defense now being under the leadership of Secretary Pete Hegseth, a devout supporter of President Donald Trump, and, with Hanks having criticized Trump and campaigned for former President Joe Biden’s presidential bid, the cancellation of the ceremony may raise questions as to whether it was politically motivated.
Former Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera told CNN's Kate Bolduan on Friday he doesn't think President Donald Trump's push to bury the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking files controversy, most recently calling it a "hoax" manufactured by Democrats, is going to move the needle much.
"It's a valid question to be asked as to why the Democrats didn't push more for any of this during President Biden's term or after, after Epstein's death," said Bolduan. "That being said, the president continues to try to tamp this down. Do you think that this sort of thing, calling it a hoax by the Democrats, is enough to tamp down the calls for transparency from within his own party on this issue?"
"Well, there is no doubt that Trump is done with Epstein; the question is whether Epstein is done with Trump," said Rivera. The issue for Trump, he continued, is "there is an intransigence among certain members of Congress, particularly Republican women, where they say, 'Hey, listen, we need to have justice for these victims, we need to find out all that happened.'"
"President Trump is right when he when, he says — I love the quote, 'Democrats did nothing while he was alive except befriend him' — that is, Epstein — 'socialized with him, traveled to his island and take his money,'" said Rivera. "So I think they have, you know, the Democrats are relishing this moment. It's setting the president off his agenda. You know, it's — it's hard to get rid of. It's kind of a sticky thing you can't get off your fingers."
"It's ... one of those impasses where I think the conspiracy theory industry will keep this alive," Rivera continued, likening it to the theories around the Kennedy assassination. "It's one of those things that will be enduring. It will stay forever. It will, the conspiracy theorists will bring it up a century from now, it seems to me. Epstein's island, who took his money, what did they do, who were the victims, what did, you know, people in power do to these poor young girls? You know, it's one of those things where as long as there is a driver in the House of Representatives, like Nancy Mace, for instance, of South Carolina, you're going to have this issue around."
"I think it's going to haunt Republicans," he added. "It's something that the president will be increasingly frustrated by, not that he can get much more frustrated than he is already. But it's, it's an issue that, you know — he calls it a hoax, the women in Congress say, 'Hey, yeah, let's — let's see who's involved, if anyone.'"
