Evel Knievel
Danger Seeker or Nut Job?
I was reading an article this morning about Evel Knievel. The author was talking about how Knievel and one of his good friends got into a fight over a woman they both had a thing for. I guess the only thing interesting about the story was that at the time Knievel was all busted up from his attempted jump over the fountain at Caesars Palace.
I remember when we were young and Evel Knievel was just a guy jumping his motorcycle over things. First it was cars, then buses and eventually the Snake River Canyon. It was fun to watch him. Exciting. He was “the man” for awhile. A daredevil, superhero and motorcycle God all wrapped into one. Often the jumps were televised on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. My Dad and I would watch most of the time, but Pat Whalen was around quite often too.
Us kids in the neighborhood built ramps every time there was an Evel Knievel jump on TV. We jumped our back down by Haack’s Bicycle Shop. We jumped them behind Kmart and we jumped them on Ellenwood or wherever Mark and Mitch McConley built a ramp. We got sucked into the hype of Evel Knievel.
I recall seeing replays of his jump over the fountain at Caesars Palace. The date of the jump was Dec 31, 1967 (I was 4 at the time) which means it is pretty unlikely that I actually watched the jump. It was a wicked jump as he seemed to land on his front wheel too hard and then his body was thrown over the front of his bike. It was a horrific crash that was shown in slow motion over and over. Him falling forward, bouncing around and his bike actually running him over.
Editor’s Note: I found out while writing this article that the jump was not actually televised live. ABC made an offer for the broadcasting rights, but were turned down. Once Knievel crashed ABC purchased the footage for almost twice the original asking price and broadcast the jump and crash a few weeks later. This is essentially when the cycling star, Evel Knievel, was born.
Eventually, Evel recovered from all the broken bones and whatnot and went on to set a Guinness Book of World Records record for the most broken bones. Crazy. I don’t believe he ever successfully jumped the fountain at Caesars, but he did all kinds of other jumps.
I didn’t see it, but his son, Robbie, successfully cleared the fountain in 1989 and another guy, Mike ‘The Godfather’ Metzger, did it in 2006 with a backflip added to the mix. I guess I was over the motorcycle jumping thing by then.
Evel Knievel’s X-2 Skycycle
My lasting memory of Evel Knievel is his attempted jump over the Snake River Canyon. I thought it was ridiculous at the time and I was probably a teenager. His “motorcycle” didn’t look like a motorcycle at all. It was some sort of rock powered thing and it just didn’t seem right. I don’t think my Dad liked it either. I think even back then he was kind of rooting for Evel to crash. It was pretty ridiculous though… more publicity stunt than anything. He never even came close to crossing the Snake River Canyon and I think both my Dad and I were happy. Yes, I think I was exhibiting some of my Dad’s behavior back then. I was mad because he wasn’t jumping with what I considered a motorcycle.
Somehow, some way, I’ve left that life behind. No more celebration of misery unless of course it’s the Packers and a heartbreaking loss. Then I’ve got one left in me. : )
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