The Sanfermines are special; they are Spain’s biggest festivities and are known worldwide. During these days the whole country forgets about their economic, social and political struggles, to concentrate on the famous bull running and to celebrate, dressed in red and white, in honor of  San Fermin. Who was beheaded because of his faith and is now considered a martyr of the Roman Catholic Church.

The festivities began in the Middle Ages, but have become world famous in the 20th century, thanks to a very well-known American writer called: Ernest Hemingway. These religious festivities, which honor San Fermin, take place in the city of Pamplona, capital of Navarre. In the past the festivity was celebrated on October 10, but the locals decided to move it to July because of the bad weather in fall.

San Fermin occurs 6-14 of July; the festivity starts with the famous “Chupinazo” in which rockets are launched from the balcony city hall, and end on 14 July at midnight with and astonishing candle lit ceremony and the singing of the “Pobre de Mí,” in which they sing these words: “Poor me, poor me, for the fiesta of San Fermín has come to a close.”

Bulls are one of the Sanfermines most important characters. Every morning at 8 a.m. the bulls and the runners come together for the Encierro, which starts at the Corral on Santo Domingo Street. When the clock of the nearby San Cernin church announces its 8 a.m., two rockets are launched and the bulls are released and start chasing the runners for almost a kilometer, until they arrive at the bullring.

Ernst Hemingway, writer of the Old Man and the Sea, in 1923 experienced the Sanfermines for the first time, and they seem to have made a good impression on him, because he came back several times. Hemingway also wrote a serious of articles related to the festivity, and even a novel which takes place during the Sanfermines called The  Sun Also Rises, which helped to make the Sanfermines worldwide renowned.

Fireworks are another attraction during the Sanfermines, every night of the festivity at 11 p.m. people gather around the old citadel of Pamplona, to enjoy the unique spectacle for half an hour. Since 2000 a firework competition takes place, with a jury and prizes, to see which firework firm does the best show.

The Sanfermines offer a lot of more attractions, it is a well-known fact that almost 1,000,000 people assist each year, it involves, besides the fireworks and the bulls, many traditional and folkloric events. The biggest day in the Sanfermines is 7 July, when thousands of people gather to accompany a replica of the Statue of San Fermin along the streets of the old part of the city. The statue of the saint is very well escorted by dancers and the famous Gigantes (giants). The Sanfermines are a celebration you should not miss if you have the opportunity to attend.

Image Courtesy of  Revelados.Info / Shutterstock.com

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It is Christmas, and that means the NBA starts! This is the beginning of an NBA season that we never thought was going to happen and that means power rankings. To start off this year, the defending champion Mavericks are atop the list as they look to repeat again this year. Right behind them are the Heat with their big three who should benefit from the shortened season. The Knicks and Clippers made splashes with offseason moves and should improve their standings, along with the Bulls who added Richard Hamilton to solidify an already solid team.

Rounding out the bottom is the Pistons, Kings, and Cavaliers. The Pistons made some questionable signings, which will probably hurt them in the long run. The Kings, while improving, still have a long way to go, and the Cavaliers got worse after losing Baron Davis to the Knicks. All in all, it should be an interesting season with the compressed schedule, and the power rankings will be here every week to let you know how your team stands against the rest.

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This is what we’ve been waiting for – San Fermines 2011! One of the most expected events of the year in Spain has just begun in the capital city of Navarre in the North. For those of you who are wondering what the San Fermín Festival is about – let me tell you a bit about what the festivities offers, and why this event attracts the attention of people from all parts of the world. For the ones who are already in Pamplona enjoying the party, I just wish you the best time!

The first day of San Fermines brings up a lot of excitement and anticipation. The calm city with around 200,000 habitants during the year turns up and down welcoming thousands of tourists, and increasing the population to one million of people from all parts of the world who have come to Pamplona to enjoy the San Fermines.

Every year, the San Fermines start on the 6th of July. It takes place in a city on the North of Spain, in the Province of Navarre, called Pamplona. It starts with an event called “Txupinazo” exactly at midday where all the people gather in front of the city hall, and wait for the mayor to give out a speech and start the San Fermines.

At that precise moment all the people who are dress entirely in white, tie their handkerchiefs on their necks and begin to celebrate spoiling wine, sangria, water among themselves, and spread it among the people. The white color of the clothes acquire a purplish tone, and everyone soaked and smelling like wine, head up to the streets of the city center in order to find any bar or restaurant which have adequate the locals taking all the tables and chairs to have enough space for the people to dance and enjoy.

One of the most interesting and dangerous events of San Fermines is the running of the bulls, known as “encierros”.

Tomorrow the first encierro will begin at 8:00 a.m.  Each year, the encierros begin every morning starting July 7 at 8am and eventually finish July 14.

The bulls will be released and will start running through the old town’s streets for around 3 minutes until they reach the Plaza T.

The festivity ends every 14th of July at 24 hours, where people gather again in front of the city hall and light candles and sing a good bye song known as the “Pobre de mi”.

The Txupinazo is about to start and here is the program for today’s first day:

12:00 The Txupinazo. City Hall, there will be huge screens around the city to transmit the Txupinazo directly, for all the ones who cannot make it to the City Hall.

13:30 Folkloric Festival.

Afternoon:

16.30 Riau-riau. In the Cityhall Plaza

17.00 Gigantes y Cabezudos. This is an unusual and fun parade where the figures are called “Giants and Heady” by being really large in size and dimensions. The parade goes all around the Old Town.

18.00 Attractions for kids.

20.00 Vísperas Solemnes de San Fermín. In the San Fermin Chapel. An Orquesta known as the Sinfonic Orquesta of Navarre.

20.00 Terraza Rock & Wine. Funk Fatale vs. Göo!! And Dj.

Night

20.30 Caiman Show Orchestra until 23.00 hours.

20.30 Sinfonic Orchestra of the Valencian Comunity of Navarre.

22.00 Bull of Fire at The Plaza de Santiago.

23.00 Fire Works, at the Ciudadela Park.

23.30 Concert at the Plaza de los Fueros: Def con Dos y Arima Suta.

23.30 Vervain. Plaza de la Cruz. Orchestra Camaleón

00.00 Plaza del Castillo, Concert Iguana Tango.

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Fourteen-year-old Nick Gilbert embodied it best Tuesday night after learning that the Cleveland Cavaliers had won the NBA lottery. He raised his hand and his face beamed with excitement. The tides may be beginning to turn for Clevelanders who have had notoriously bad luck with their sports teams. The ping pong balls fell their way twice, even better than in 2003, giving the Cavs the number four pick as well, and continuing a positive change in the Cleveland landscape since the departure of that lottery pick, LeBron James. While most of the country is experiencing Seattle-like weather, the sun is shining in Cleveland these days.

LeBron James left a black eye on the face of Cleveland sports fans, spurning his hometown for the glamour of south beach, but as always their hate has bred passion. The Bulls have proven they can stand toe to toe with the Heat, and the fans in Cleveland can bandwagon on to the team that decimated them many years ago. Michael Jordan and “The Shot” that has been played over and over again was 22 years ago. The loss in the Eastern Conference Finals once again to the Bulls was 19 years ago. Cavs fans will forget all about that for the time being if the Bulls can eliminate public enemy number one. With two picks that high in the draft, the Cavs should be back in the playoffs next year, where they could likely try to dethrone James themselves, a quick turnaround for a franchise that lost their king just a year ago.

Then there is baseball. A quarter way through the baseball season the Cleveland Indians are leading the American League Central and have the best record in baseball. This may come as a big surprise to most baseball fans, and although it’s early in the season the Indians could have the staying power to make a run at the playoffs.

If history says anything about how this team will perform, a glance at the minor leagues can give uneasy Clevelanders something to grab hold of. They have a lot of talent coming up, and their winning ways should continue on as they develop more talent at the minor league level. Two years ago the Indians AA team the Akron Aeros won the championship, and last year their AAA team the Columbus Clippers won the championship. Now that is no prediction for the big club to win it all this year, but the franchise is developing winners, and a winning attitude, something that has been absent from Cleveland, and perhaps an ingredient that will finally put them over the top.

The crystal ball and development of youth has not been the sheer reasons why the Indians have been so successful this year. Manny Acta’s team is doing it in every phase of the game. Their offense ranks in the top three in runs, batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. Their pitching staff ranks in the top seven in ERA, quality starts, WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), and batting average against. Josh Tomlin and Justin Masterson are both 5-1 and boast ERA’s under three. With a five game lead over the Tigers, and the Twins and White Sox underachieving, the division is there for the taking keeping Clevelanders engaged and excited throughout the summer.

All seems well in Cleveland these days, and if the NFL gets its act together, maybe it will be a good year for even the Browns.

Robert J. Daveant / Shutterstock.com

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The NBA playoffs are right around the corner, beginning April 16, and teams are preparing for the home stretch of the season. With the playoffs looming, there are several intriguing matchups in the Eastern Conference that will result in great playoff series, and must-watch TV.

No. 1 Bulls vs. No. 8 Pacers: The Bulls are neck and neck with the Celtics for the best record in the East, and as their team begins to get healthy, they have a solid starting five. Derrick Rose is unstoppable, and he is the engine that drives this team. Luol Deng, and Carlos Boozer are two nice scoring options, and Joakim Noah is a rebounding stud down low. The Pacers will have their hands full with the Bulls, but this young upstart team is fun to watch. They will enter the playoffs with a losing record, and although they boast good size inside with Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough, their guards will not be able to shut down Rose, and the Bulls just have too many offensive weapons to overwhelm the Pacers.

No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Knicks: The Celtics could be the No. 1 or 2 seed in the East depending on how they finish the season. This difference between facing the Knicks, Sixers, or Pacers in the first round is huge. The Knicks with Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and Chauncey Billups are dangerous and exude playoff experience. The Knicks like to play a high tempo game which could wear out the Celtics’ older players, namely Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal. The Celtics added Shaq to help their playoff run, but his inability to run the floor in transition could make him ineffective on defense. Billups will have trouble keeping up with Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen is always dangerous, but this could be a much more interesting series than a 2 vs. 7 matchup should be.

No. 3 Heat vs. No. 6 76ers: The Sixers have a nice young team that they have been building for several years now. Elton Brand has been healthy this year and back to his All-Star form. The team has talented young guards Jrue Holiday, and Jodie Meeks, with Evan Turner and Lou Williams coming off the bench, but Andre Iguodala is their biggest offensive threat, and the key to their potential playoff success. The Sixers are young and deep, but the big three of the Heat will be tough to shut down, especially in the playoffs. Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James will be hungry and dangerous, and with some depth now on the bench with Mike Miller, Eddie House, and Mike Bibby. The Heat should be able to handle the up and coming Sixers, trying to shut-up most of the basketball world who hates them, or at least quiet their dissenters in the first round.

No. 4 Magic vs. No. 5 Hawks: The Magic overhauled their team early in the season to try to change the dynamics, and play more to Dwight Howard’s strengths. This team looks much different than the team that competed in the playoffs last season. The additions of Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu help make the team more dangerous, and Gilbert Arenas off the bench could come in, change the tempo, and fill up the basket when the team needs a spark. Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford lead the Hawks, who seem to have a solid playoff team from year to year. They are a tough team to face, and although they are having more of a down year, they will still be a tough out for the Magic. This series could easily go seven games, but the dominance of Howard in the end will help the Magic edge out the Hawks who lack an answer to arguably the best center in the game.

This should be a year of great matchups in the East, with the wealth of stars now in the conference. Whoever ends up representing the Conference will be battle-tested, and they will be well suited to win a championship against whoever comes out of the West.

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