More sports

I think I've finally figured out how to fill the void between the Super Bowl and the beginning of baseball season: Rugby! I watched my first two rugby matches this week (on the telly, not live) and I found it quite enjoyable. I don't really get the finer points, but it's pretty hardcore. American football has more pauses (commercials) but the actual game moves much faster than rugby. Another thing I noticed is that in rugby each guy kind of has to do a lot of different things: kick, run, tackle, throw. In American football each guy is a specialist in his position and has to know a huge number of plays corresponding to his position. This means that the players are built accordingly; i.e. a running back is smaller and faster than an offensive tackle. The multi-tasking involved in rugby means that there is a more standard "rugby-build", so they all kind of look like slow running backs. I just wonder why they don't get really fast big American football-style running backs who can cut and break tackles. Guess I have to learn more about rugby so I don't sound like a moron talking about it...

On a musical note, since this is purportedly a music blog, I heard a very interesting program on Radio 3 yesterday that discussed the role of visual images related to classical music performance. It was enlightening to hear Tallis Scholars' master Peter Philips talk about his impressions of choral music performances on TV. Although I wish music were always enough to fill the seats, I think that a tasteful, well-designed visual presentation does make more people interested in concert-going. It's just another way to break down the boundaries between the "performance" and the person receiving it.