The trouble with most opera is that they aren't the Magic Flute. Like the trouble with most music is that it's not Mozart.

But having overcome that hurdle, there's a lot of good stuff to enjoy. Drawing imaginary lines and saying "I don't like that stuff" is a bad mistake. (Saying "I didn't like that there" is different. And noone ever liked the first cup of coffee they drank either.) Sir Thomas Beecham said you should try everything except incest and Morris Dancing. (Though he was wrong about the dancing.)

The image of Pavarotti playing football is a haunting one. Perhaps Rugby or its American variant might be a bit more feasable. Anyway, Nessum Dorma for the World Cup must have gone a long way to make him feel he'd really fulfilled that ambition.