Evel memories
I saw Knievel perform three decades ago. I'm not sure of the year, but it was likely 1975 or 1976. I was attending Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., and Evel came to town on the day after Thanksgiving.
Having nothing better to do, I left my dorm room and headed down the hill to the football stadium, where Evel and his motorcycle were revving up for the afternoon performance.
For some reason it sticks in my head that the ticket was $13 -- the equivalent of two Deep Purple albums, which for me was a lot of money then. (Actually, 13 bucks is still a lot of money for me today, but I digress.)
Evel put on a pretty good show. Fitton Field at Holy Cross is a far cry from the Snake River canyon, but Evel kept us entertained with a series of stunt jumps. The big finale was a long pass over what must have been 20 commercial vans.
Evel also had his kid -- Robbie, I reckon -- do some jumps. In between stunts, Evel chatted up the crowd with inspiring maxims along the lines of: "Hey, kids. Don't do drugs."
I guess he figured it was a lot safer to launch a motorcycle into space at a 45 degree angle.
Evel was an unusual figure in American entertainment, and he was at the peak of his popularity in the 70s. That decade seemed to bring out the daredevils, like the Flying Wallendas. Patriarch Karl Wallenda tumbled to his death from a tightrope in 1978.
Now, most Americans seem to get their kicks watching people crash and fall on reality TV shows and video games.
I tip my hat to Evel Knievel. All those bruises and broken bones he sustained in the name of entertainment were painfully real.
Dan Day, managing editor
- Editors_Desk's blog
- Login or register to post comments
As...
a kid, Evel was beyond cool. Anytime we would jump our bikes over anything we would claim to be Evel. He was the X Games before any body even thought about extreme sports! He paved the way for the extreme sports genre.
May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
- General George Patton Jr
Jumping Jehosephat
I never ventured into Evel-like endeavors after attempting to make my 24" Murray bicycle go airborne over the ground up stump of an elm tree on Mrs. Fleming's front lawn. Let's just say it's a miracle I had one child, let alone three.
Still wincing all these years later,
Dan
Ya, Dan we to were Evel-like......destruction derbys on our
bicycles, roller derby (with the old metal skates w/key) and even used to take the exhaust pipe, air cleaner, and chain off our lawn mowers and race them in the backyard around the "oval". Even rolled the lawn mower a few times. Cool. We'd have maybe 8 or 9 mowers over for the neighborhood races when the parents were gone. Had heat races, trophy dash and main event.
And the bumps and bruises never slowed us down either Jh. We were all not to smart at times.
But I always thought Evil was a pretty good guy when I listened to him in interviews. His stunts got very sophisticated and he was an entertainer, for sure. Athletic too.
Wasn't Fond Of Evel...
but I caught all his jumps on WW of Sports. I saw a biography of Evel on The History Channel, recently. He was an American original.
Evel can now Rest In Peace.
Evel
once beat the crap out of a guy who wrote a piece on him he did not like. Gotta love it, my type of guy.
May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
- General George Patton Jr
Wow! What Evel Did To The Guy Was An Extreme Act Of Cowardice
The "Guy" you refer to was beaten by Evel for writing a book about Evel, that Evel didn't like. Evel claimed, the "Guy" wrote that Evel hated his mother.
The "Guy" worked for a Hollywood studio. Evel tracked him down on the studio lot. While Evel's accomplice held the "Guy" steady, Evel beat the "Guy" nearly to death, with a baseball bat.
I must ask Jheaton, given the facts, do you still feel Evel is your type of "Guy" and do you "Gotta Love Him"?
Yeah...
But he should have done it more on his own. He should have waited until he was healed from his injuries. I liked the idea that Evel showed the guy there are consequences when one attacks your family. I myself would have done it sans baseball bat. So yes, he is ok in my book
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/11/30/motorcycle-legend-evel-knievel-dead-at-69/
While Knievel was healing from his latest round of injuries, the book Evel Knievel on Tour was released. Authored by Knievel's promoter for the Snake River Canyon jump, Sheldon Saltman, the book painted a less than perfect picture of Knievel's character and alleged that he abused his wife and kids and that he used drugs. Knievel, with both arms still in casts, flew to California to confront Saltman, a VP at Twentieth Century Fox. Outside the studio commissary, one of Knievel's friends grabbed Shelly and held him, while Knievel attacked him with an aluminum baseball bat, declaring, "I'm going to kill you!" According to a witness to the attack, Knievel struck repeated blows at Saltman's head, with Saltman blocking the blows with his left arm.....Saltman later produced documents in both criminal and civil court that proved that, although Knievel claimed to have been insulted by statements in Saltman's book, he and his lawyers had actually been given editorial access to the book and had approved and signed off on every word prior to its publication.
May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
- General George Patton Jr