User705459 posts: "Whatever happened to Jim Mataya?"
I saw Jimmy and his brother John at the DCC, a few weeks ago.
Jimmy was generally quiet when in the bar or in the restaurant. He did put on
a show from what I understand in the tournament room. The rail howled in
laughter, as it was told to me, when Pretty Boy went through his act.
Some tournament players, however, were not amused. A friend of mine, Tom-Tom,
is a serious one-hole player, traveled to the DCC from Florida only for the
one-pocket event, and the next day, Tom-Tom was bitterly complaining that he
could not concentrate on his match because of all the commotion surrounding
Jimmy's table.
What isn't known, though, is a TD staffperson actually requested Jimmy to just
be Jimmy and entertain the crowd this one evening. They actually "reserved" a
table right next to Jimmy's for Keith McCready, hoping to get a double dose of
these two cutting up. The same request occurred with KM at the '03 Open when
he was scheduled to play on the TV table for the first time with Buddy Hall.
Thank God, KM was sound asleep in bed, sick as a dog, when Jimmy Mataya was
doing his thing at the DCC. That morning, the TD told KM that he would not be
shooting until the next day, which was wonderful news because KM could then
stay in the hotel room and recover from the flu. Because of a "new" software
glitch, KM's name mistakenly appeared on the tournament schedule twice.
John Mataya told me the story of how he got shot six times and lives to tell
it. He was robbed, and after he was shot, he drug his body to several houses
to get help. Nobody answered the door at the first house, as he lay there
bleeding from gunshot wounds, but he did manage to drag himself to another
house, whose occupants immediately got medical help which ultimately saved
John's life.
John Mataya enjoys life to the fullest now, and I couldn't help but notice that
his nails were perfectly polished and manicured. He was wearing a couple of
beautiful rings encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and saphires. John recently
won a million dollars hitting the pick-6 at a racetrack.
He and Jimmy grew up playing bumper pool, which was quite popular in their
younger years. John said nobody could beat him in bumper pool back then.
Jimmy wore a different hat each day at the DCC. I absolutely adored his black
Italian Fedora, and he always dresses to the nines.
JAM