Kaban ni D_BystandeR: KINSA SI MICHAEL MARTINEZ???

Michael Martinez nailed the bow at the end.  Four bows, to be exact, though no one could blame him. He didn't seem to want to  leave the ice Thursday night, and no one was going to blame him for that, either.

This wan't the shopping mall in the Philippines, where he learned his jumps and spins while trying to avoid parents and their kids skating by on family outings. This was the Iceberg Skating Palace and this was the Olympics, where the teenager was desperate for the skate of his young life.  He had less than three minutes to prove himself in the short program and make it to the men's free skate final.  If he didn't, he might have to be thinking about the next step, perhaps working for his family raising vegetables to sell to Japan.  The expenses had become too much. The mall had contributed some money, but in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan there wasn't much the government could do for a figure skater, the nation's only competitor in Sochi.  The family home had already been mortgaged to pay for his skating. There was no more to give.  "We're hoping he makes it and some companies support him," his mother, Maria Teresa Martinez, said. "Otherwise he will just have to stop. We cannot afford it anymore. It's just so expensive and we can't do another four years." 

In a sequined and braided black and white outfit donated by a designer in New York who saw his Facebook plea for proper Olympic attire, Martinez took the biggest stage of his life, skating just two spots before the great Evgeni Plushenko was supposed to go in front of a capacity crowd at the Olympic arena. He acknowledged the polite applause, gliding to the center of the ice. He paused, struck a pose, and then began the most important skate of his career.  "I was so nervous," he said. "This was such a big event."

 He had reason to be. At 17, he is the youngest skater in the program and the only Filipino figure skater ever in the Olympics.  Still, Martinez was sure he would prevail. The gangly kid with the mop of black hair had to, because this has been his life ever since he walked by the rink in the Manila mall at the age of 9, saw the skaters, and declared to his mother that this was something he wanted to do.  He fell on his behind that day, but that didn't stop him from coming back the next. Neither the asthma that put him in the hospital many times and kept him from playing sports outdoors.  "I will make the free skate," he declared after practice the night before, "Because I am prepared."  Preparation, though, only counts so much. So in his Facebook page, Martinez asked his friends to "Please pray for me."  He began his skate by hitting a nice triple axel, drawing applause from the crowd. But on second jump he didn't finish the rotation on a triple lutz and triple toe loop, lowering his marks from the judges. But his spins were good, the

rest of the program nicely skated. More importantly, he didn't look like a 17-year-old making his Olympic debut.  In 2 minutes and 39 seconds, Martinez showed he belonged. And now all there was to do was to wait.  "I'm very happy and proud," he said. "I missed just one jump but the rest of the program was good."  In the kiss-and-cry area, Martinez waved his jacket with "Philippines" on the back to the crowd, drawing cheers. He sat with the Russian coach his  mother - who learned skating along with her son so she could save money by coaching him herself - had hired for him, flashing a thumbs-up sign as his score was posted.

 It was 64.81, his best ever. But Martinez would have to wait again to find out whether it would be good enough to be one of the top 24 skaters who make it to the free skate.  "I think so, maybe half and half," he said. "I'm a little confident, but then I'm not."  Nearby, though, some of the other early skaters were struggling. Some fell trying jumps, others made mistakes that lowered their scores.  Plushenko himself felt on a triple axel in warm-ups, hurting his back and ending his bid to add another medal on home ice to the four he already won.  Suddenly, the math was starting to look good. It wasn't official yet, but Martinez had made it in.  "I feel like a real champion," he said. For one night at the Olympics, that's exactly what the kid from the mall was. 

(Bug-os ang  pasalamat sa KAHAYAG ngadto sa magtatampo  nga si JOHNNY LOVE nga nagkutlo sa paambit gikan sa pahayagan, Community Builder. Nagtakuban siya sa pangalan, "D_BystandeR".  Natawo siya sa Sugbo apan anaa na karon manimuyo sa Illinois sa tinipong nasod sa Amerika. Ang kusog nga koneksyon sa kasayuran pinaagi sa internet kanunayng naghaling sa iyang kadasig  pagtuki sa mga nagbukalbukal nga hisgutanan dinhi sa atong nataran. Usa siya ka magsusulat nga gradwado sa kursong komersiyo padulong sa pagka accountant sa University of San Carlos kaniadtong tuig 1961.  Nahimo siyang miyembro sa usa ka hugpong sa mga batan-ong magsusulat nga gitawag ug STUDENT PRESS.  Nahimo usab siyang   Associate Editor sa basahon  USC-JPIAN sa tuig 1962-63. Magtatampo usab siya isip magsusulat sa nasudnong magasin,  "Philippines Free Press" ug sa mga nag-unang peryodiko dinhi sa dakbayan sa Sugbo sa lunhaw pa ang iyang pangedaron. Nahimo siyang mamumuo sa usa ka pribadong kompaniya sa dakbayan sa Sugbo, ESCAÑO LINES, sulod sa napulo ug duha (12) ka tuig  dayon niyang tapon  ngadto sa NAPOCOR  ug nahimong kawani sa kagamhanan  sulod sa bayente dos (22) ka tuig. Niadtong tunga-tungang bahin sa tuig 2000, nilalin siya ngadto sa tinipong nasod sa Amerika ug sulod sa napulo (10) ka tuig, nagtrabaho siya sa  buhatan sa kagamhanan sa nasod sama  sa  UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (USPS).  Karon sa pangedaron nga 69,   gihuptan gihapon niya ang walay pagkutat nga kadasig ug walay busganan nga kaikag sa pagpaambit sa iyang nahuptang abilidad  ug kabatid sa panulat.  Dili niya mapugngan ang kaugalingon sa pagpaambit sa iyang mga hunahuna labi na kon molambigit kini ug hisgotanan nga makadani sa iyang mga mata. Makadawat siya sa inyong mga hunahuna mahitungod sa iyang sinulat sa johnnylobedica@yahoo.com)