The world has lost a legend. RIP Evel Knievel
The 70's were a fun, strange, weird, crazy decade. A big reason why passed away today.
Whenever you were home on a Saturday afternoon on the 70's, you watched ABC's Wide World of Sports. A staple of WWoS were the off beat sports and events. The sort that daredevil types would take part. Barrel jumping, cliff diving, demolition derby, rodeo, surfing, ski jumping, to name just a few.
But one daredevil who often appeared on WWoS stood above the rest. He was the Babe Ruth of daredevils.
Evel Knievel.
He always wore the red, white, and blue, did everything bigger and more dangerously, became an American icon in the process, and was the greatest daredevil of them all.
Evel Knievel was everywhere in the 70's. Movies, TV, commercials, action figures, toys, you name it, you saw Evel on it. And where you saw him him the most, was jumping his Harley on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
I still remember the famous Snake River Canyon and Wembley Stadium jumps like it was yesterday. The fact that he crashed on both of them didn't matter. Not to me, anyway. In fact, the more memorable jumps were the ones the didn't clear, such as the infamous Caesar's Palace fountain jump. They just added to the legend.
The world became that much less cool with the death of Evel Knievel. This child of the 70's will miss him.
God I wanted to be Evel! Except on a bicycle. But we didn't know how to ride bikes like maniacs back then, which might have been a good thing.
ReplyDeleteRemember the TV movie about him? The big thing I recall is him sitting in his car with a babe, and then giving her the keys, so he couldn't take off with her. Suddenly, he starts fiddling around under the dashboard. Girl asks what he's doing, and he says "hotwiring the car. You'll never know when a trick like this will come in handy", and then they take off.
I think the babe later became his wife.
RIP, the incomparable Bobby K.
Great stuff lately Big Al!
ReplyDeleteI MUST warn you to check out the Freep today and Drew Sharp's article about Santana/Bonderman..
has this man lost his mind?
GTWm I think anyone who's over the age of 35 wanted to be Evel when they were kids.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I remember the movies, the one that he starred in that yoiu mention, and the bio-pic that starred George Hamilton. All I can say is, George Hamilton?
With the death of one of my childhood heroes, I feel that much older today.
Thanks Jon! I just read the Sharp column, I may have thoughts on it later. But I have no idea what he's thinking...
Lost his mind? Indeed...