Filipinos Love Pool & Efren "Bata" Reyes

It's a little hard to convey exactly how much Filipinos love pool. It's sort of a national obsession. In the States most people can name the top baseball, football or basketball players. Here just as much passion is invested in pool and boxing. No one doesn't know who Efren Reyes is (and many other top international players as well). Do your own random poll and ask people on the street who Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen or Efren is. Take a look at this short video. You may not understand Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) but you don't need to understand to hear the enthusiasm. In particular at the end when Efren sinks a crowd pleaser. 

Efren has rock star status all over the Philippines, literally. Sort of like the screaming fans at an Elvis Presely concert. He's done numerous TV commercials for San Miguel Lite (a fine beer for sure). The gist of this crowd's cheering at the end are things like: we love you and you're my idol. Can you imagine such uninhibited adoration for any pro pool player in the States?