PERKS

The Nielson Company reported that 111.3 million people watched the Super Bowl Sunday night, making it the most-watched TV program in U.S. history, and the highest rated Super Bowl in 26 years.

Asked to recount their favorite moments, fans cited the commercials, the half-time show, and the final three minutes of the game.

My favorite moment happened right after Eli Manning stepped up to the podium to raise the Vince Lombardi trophy. Proudly, he praised his team for staying the course through adversity and injuries, turn-overs, and failed efforts in the red zone.

No quit.

All faith.

Sports Commentator Dan Patrick asked Eli a bunch of questions about the game, and then, with blue and red streamers floating over the stadium, Mr. Patrick put his hand on the victorious quarterback’s shoulder. “Congratulations, Eli Manning!" he called out. "You have been named the MVP of Super Bowl XLVI!”

Wait for it…. my favorite moment!

As the crowd roared its approval, onto the confetti-covered field marched:

50 heifers

100 sheep

99 llamas

10 water buffaloes

101 goats

10 camels

105 pigs

300 rabbits

200 beehives

200 flocks of chicks

150 flocks of ducks

149 flocks of geese

and 

150 red and blue wagons carting 300 saplings.

Dan Patrick gestured to the crowd. The cheers in the stadium diminished. A song beat punctuated with bleats, quacks, squawks, moos, shrieks, snorts, moans and groans rose to the tip of the dome. “This is the Super Bowl ending of your dreams, Eli?” he asked, incredulously.

Surveying the field, Manning leaned over to the microphone, and said, “I am most proud that the opportunity I had to win this great honor means that the poorest of the poor – families in the United States, entire regions of the developing world, and communities in 125 countries – will be empowered and transformed in their daily lives, and able to pass on their good fortune and training to their neighbors and offspring. Thank you to Chevrolet for this literally life-changing gift.”

Forget about 50-some seconds to score, Madonna lip-synching, or canine commercials.  Eli Manning’s VIP moment was the greatest TV moment of the young year, or any year.

Except that I was the only one who watched it. 

It played out in my imagination.

In Lucas Oil Stadium, Dan Patrick named Eli Manning the game MVP, then handed him the keys to a Chevrolet 2012 Corvette Grand Sport Convertible- Centennial Edition.

Top speed: 205 mph.

MSRP on the top of the line vehicle: $128,515.

Eli Manning’s net worth is upwards of 60 million dollars. In 2012, his salary is $10,750,000, not including bonuses or endorsements.

Well –deserved compensation.

Can’t he buy his own car?

Each year, athletes compete for their sport’s most coveted trophy. And all the extras. The Super Bowl MVP not only gets a stunning vehicle, he gets the world’s largest audience.

The subsistence farmers who live on $1 to $2 a day aren’t watching the Super Bowl.

But 111.3 million people who might spend $20 dollars on a flock of chicks are watching.

Imagine if MVP spoke for one minute about Heifer International's mission to work with communities to end hunger and poverty, while caring for the earth. Imagine if MVP talked about giving poor families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, empowering them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.

Say MVP tells those fans this story: In Nepal, a group of women to whom Heifer had supplied goats “built a community meeting room because their village had nowhere for people to gather. They started a micro-financing group through the sale of ginger and marigolds, and women were borrowing for their own projects. They earned enough money to install an electric corn grinder, which eliminated a 5-mile walk up and down the mountain on which they lived. The mothers taught their children about building chicken coops and raising chickens, and the teenagers had successfully raised 1,200 chicks to maturity and were ready to begin with another group.”

The scoreboard then flashes the image of a check - written out to MVP's favorite charity - for the dollar value of the car he just won: 128,515 dollars and 00 cents.

Somewhere in the United States, the developing world, and 125 different countries impoverished families will be given a chance and a skill, along with 50 heifers, 100 sheep, 99 llamas, 10 water buffaloes, 101 goats, 10 camels, 105 pigs, 300 rabbits, 200 beehives, 200 flocks of chicks, 150 flocks of ducks, 149 flocks of geese, and 300 trees.

A perk from the Super Bowl MVP.

What might inspired fans who are watching and listening donate to those in need?

A team of 111.3 million people.

No quit.

All faith.

Super becomes Colossal.

QUING Hereby Decrees: Some perks are for passing on.