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Show famous author ashs jbtmMiglBdmig: a spoirtf slaiBgflndcir? by liarnahy Conratl JOSE PEPE" Mala lia-a reputation as a bullfighter's bullfighter and the i true aficionados matador, although he was not a popular idol like the flamboyant El Cordobes. He was known ,.s one of a vanishing breed, one of the few toreros who would dare to go into the arena with any bull that promoters sent down the chute. Send for Pepe Mata. was a bull-bislogan whenever the animals for a corride turned out to be too big and too old (hence too wise and too dangerous) for current box office stars to risk their lives with. z Hed had bad luck for several years and the Machiavellian politics of the bull world had kept him from the big time. But he had recently put up a splendid fight in the prestigious arena of Madrid and was signed to fight again there. Life suddenly looked good. But before that fight the one Mata counted on o launch him into the upper there level of matadors came a telephone call. The town of Villanueva de los Infantes was inaugurating a new bullring and the final construction had been delayed so that one of the bullfighters scheduled to fight couldnt make it. Would Pepe fill in on such short notice? PEPE HAD hesitated and thought it over. The population of the village, three hours from Madrid, was about a third the size of the crowd that would be in the Madrid arena. And he would make only about $300, compared to $5,000 for the Madrid fight. Was it worth the risk? Suppose the bull stepped on his foot or broke a rib or gave him a minor wound that would keep hiniffrom fighting in Madrid? Yet, hed had so few fights this season, lie needed the practice. And, with a baby coming, he needed the $300. So he accepted. On the day of the fight July 23, 1971 Pepe and Marie-Franchis pretty wife, and her mother drove down the Andalucia Highway in their Seat 850 car: his team of three banderil- leros, two picadors and a sword boy had gone down earlier. After they arrived in the hot, squalid village, Marie-Franc- e and her mother went to buy bouquets of flowers to throw to Pepe in the arena and then to have lunch. Pepe went to the hotel to rest; a bullfighter seldom eats much on the day of a fight so he can be ready for surgery, if necessary. Early that evening, when dressed in a Pepe, salmon-pinand gold uniform, and two other matadors strode into the brand-nearena the crowd of 2,500, almost a third of the towns population, roared. Marie-Franc- e was in the first row and Pepe threw his dress cape up to her. Unlike most wives, she always attended her hus k (I die bands fights.but it's better than waiting back at the hotel for a telephone call. As senior matador, Pepe performed first. Ironically, just as Pepe was a substitute, so was the bull, Cascabel, five dangerous years old. - last-minu- AS CASCABEL blasted into the arena it was obvious to the crowd that the breeder had made good the boast on the posters Full grown animals with horns The untouched." crowd roared its appreciation. It was also clear that Pepe Mata was not afraid. Fighting as though he were in front of the Madrid he made every crowd, classic pass in his repertoire. Close to the end of the fight, the crowd was on its feet yelling jubilantly. Finish it off quickly., said the sword boy as he handed Pepe the special blade. Think of Madrid go off to the side. But Mata could think only of finishing off his fine performance the way it should be done. He went straight at the bull as it rushed at him, sinking the blade up to the hilt in between the black shoulders. At the same time, Cascabel slashed hard to its right and drove a horn 11 inches into Pepe's upper inner leg, ripping and destroying veins, arteries, and muscles. Then the bull lurched away to die. The other toreros ran to gather Pepe up. Blood gushed from the rip in Pepe's uniform like red wine from a faucet. Hurry. The rubber, the rubber. Pepe gasped as he grabbed his leg high and tightly with both hands, his thumbs gouging All the blood I deeply. have is coming out. THE SWORD boy quickly wrapped and tightened a hose on short rubber Pepes leg to staunch the flood of blood and that matador was rushed to the new rings infirntarj. But it was only partly equipped to handle such cases, and the old country doctor was panicky. Get him to Ma drid as soon as possible. A was tourniquet still in and applied, Pepe, his bloody and torn suit, was carried on a stretcher to an old ambulance. In it, with Marie-Francthey set off for Madrid. Then someone cried : So Valdapenas. they detoured to the closer, larger town. But when they got there they saw to their horror that it was the annual feast day, with people in thf streets laughing, and dancing parading. Marie-Francjumped out of the ambulance, grabbed several men and cried, For the love of God, where is the hospital? Where is the doctor? A nurse? A man is dying." But the men were all drunk and the ambulance could not get through the streets. So it headed for Madrid. NOT UNTIL after 10 o'clock that night was Pepe finally in the Sanat-ori- o de Toreros, the bullfighters hospital. Maximo Garcia de la Torre, probably the worlds best horn wound specialist, was waiting and ready. He was horrified to learn that the tourr.iquet had been left on tight for over three hours instead of being loosened And he every realized at once that Pepe was dying. Pepe was on the operating table for thiee hours. He rallied a bit the next day, but toward the end of the afternoon he murwith his eyes mured. closed, Doctor. Im not going to get out of this one." On the following day, his parents arrived and Peue managed a smile and said, Don't worry, papaci-to- , a little bull gave me a slight wound. Dont be frightened. Then a priest was called to administer last rites. Pepes eyes were wide and staring Father, I'm dying and I dont want to die. He tried to raise himself out of bed and fell, back dead. half-hou- r. special edition newspaper -- Ll the next day: Jose Mata, who killed so well. Is dead from having so well killed. At 31, Pepe Mata was the 52nd full matador to be killed in the ring since Jose Candido was gored in 1771 in Puerto de Santa Maria. Professional detractors of bullfighting like to say that bullfighting isnt dangerous and that there hasn't been a bullfighter killed since the day Manolete and Islero killed each other in 1947. They mean a TOP matador. Dozens of lesser bull fighters have been killed, despite penicillin and new medical techniques. BULLFIGHTING is still the most dangerous spectacle in the world, but the danger and thg threat of death in the arena makes it exciting, just as with the artists of the flying trapeze. What attracts the crowds is the grace, skill and daring of a man defying the odds against him and thumbing his nose af death. bullMore first-clas- s fights were held last year in Spain than any time in 682 of them. Part history of the enthusiasm can be attributed to the 21 000.000 tourists who poured into Soain that year. Genuine abuses do prevail in the bull world today, especially in the matter of the ages of bulls mainly because of the great demand for the animals. But aficionados have something exciting to look forward to: the Year of the Toro in 1973. Since 1969, authorities have made compulsory the branding of the year of each bull's birth in a place clearly visible to the public. Judging by the excitement that The Year of the Toro" has engendered, there are st .11 plenty of true and faithful aficionados who derive' great emotion from a big beautiful bull fought in the classic manner by a brave aud ever-prese- nt The Salt Lake 1 unday, May 21, 1972 |