YES, the National Football League championship game last Sunday, February 2, made us all want to snooze as early as the first quarter. The Seattle Seahawks, after all, “butchered” the Denver Broncos, 43-8!
But thankfully, some side stories made Superbowl 48 especially memorable for us, Filipinos who watched the game!
First and second headliners — two Fil-Ams who made us truly proud: Seahawk’s Doug Baldwin and singer-songwriter Bruno Mars.
I am not talking about the false sense of “Pinoy Pride” which makes some kababayans think victories of a few like these affirm that all Filipinos are superior in football and music.
No, I am talking about Fil-Ams who, by their hard work, persistence, and the passion for excellence in what they do, were able to triumphantly hurdle all obstacles there might have been between them and their goal.
The likes of Doug Baldwin and Bruno Mars are shining examples and inspirations for Filipinos, of how they use their God-given talent to be able to give back to their family and the bigger global community.
Doug Baldwin
As Balitang America’s New York Correspondent Don Tagala reported, Doug Baldwin is the first known professional football player of Filipino descent to catch a touchdown in Super Bowl history. His grandmother is from Tacloban, Leyte. His mother is half-Filipino.
Baldwin scored a touchdown during the fourth quarter, that gave the Seattle Seahawks a 43-8 lead over the Denver Broncos. This sealed their victory at the XLVIII Super Bowl Championship in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday.
But what endeared Baldwin to Pinoys all over the world is his love and compassion for Filipinos which he demonstrated to the world in the football field.
Images of Baldwin waving the Filipino flag to show his love for the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda before a game at the Century Link Field last November would never be forgotten.
Bruno Mars
Meantime, Bruno Mars scored a touchdown in his much talked-about electrifying half time performance in Superbowl XLVIII, which showcased Bruno Mars’ talent as singer, songwriter, and stage performer!
As Billboard.com reported : Bruno Mars, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ performance recorded “the largest audience in the history of Super Bowls, attracting 115.3 million viewers”!
Despite being young and newer in the highly competitive music industry, this historic rating surpassed the prior record of 114 million, set by Madonna two years ago and the 110.8 million, who tuned in to see Beyonce last year.
Consequently, Bruno Mars’ Jukebox sales jumped 164 percent after the Super Bowl halftime performance. Billboard.com reports that Bruno Mars is set to return to the top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart.
But what really touched the hearts of many people worldwide is Bruno Mars’ public display of love, respect, and honor for his Filipino mother Bernadette Bayot Hernandez, who passed away unexpectedly last year at the young age of 55 due to aneurysm.
As Balitang America reported, “Bruno Mars has always said that his Filipino mother would often tell him to be proud of his Pinoy roots.”
After dedicating his Grammy in to his mom, Bruno Mars paid tribute to Bernadette, through the artwork painted on the drums, which he used at the Super Bowl halftime show.
The artwork duplicated Bruno Mars’ “Bernadette” tattoo on his arm.
Peter Gene Hernandez in real life, was very close to his mom. When he was just four years old, he recorded a tune he penned himself titled I Love You Mom. It was reportedly an eighties-style synth ballad in which he repeats the title, and calls her ‘my favorite girl’.
America, The Beautiful
The third victory for Filipinos was the Coca-Cola Superbowl commercial titled “It’s Beautiful”.
This ad showed heartwarming scenes from American life of families of different ethnicities, reportedly including that of a homosexual couple. It played the patriotic song America the Beautiful in the background, sang by people in different languages (among them was Tagalog).
Many people, especially immigrants, appreciated how the commercial celebrated the diversity of America in a very “inclusive” treatment.
The commercial tells the true story of America, of how this great nation has been, and is still being built by immigrants from different parts of the world — all united by the love for America, the beautiful.
Surprisingly, not everyone loved the Coke ad. In fact, there are Americans who publicly expressed their hatred and disgust. For them, America the Beautiful should be sung in English only.
They allege that the Coca-Cola ad was un-American and threatened to boycott Coke because of this.
What can you say about this controversy? Did you like the Coke commercial? Do you think it was un-American?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
