- published: 04 Feb 2015
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An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing for maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators.
The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a stadium, especially if it does not have a roof. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association, rugby, or gridiron) is typically played in a stadium while basketball and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University basketball team would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the gridiron-based game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse and futsal/indoor soccer, also exist.
Betrayed by fate
We emerge with burning eyes
And empty hands
It is too late
We cannot save
All we held so close
It has slipped through our hands
Desperate and lost
We fall to our knees
Struck by the loss
Of warmth and precious dreams
Your world is like mine
I find solace in your eyes’ caress
Drown my tears in wine
You bring beauty to my emptiness
Here I find you
You kill the pain in me
Hide my heart inside you
Here you set me free
Our worlds collide
We're pulled into this loneliness
Tears blur my sight
I long for your tenderness
Here I find you
You kill the pain in me
Hide my heart inside you
Here you set me free
Our hearts lie bare
We were beaten
And left alone
Caught in the despair
Of not knowing how to go on
When the love for life is gone
It is too late
We cannot save
All we held so close
It has slipped through our hands
Desperate and lost
We fall to our knees
Struck by the loss
Of warmth and precious dreams
Here I find you
You kill the pain in me
I hide my heart inside you
Here you set me free
Here I find you
Hold on to me
Leave the pain behind you