NOOOO!

DAMNIT!!!!

One of America's greatest daredevils made his final leap -- into Heaven.

He's been living on borrowed time since I've been alive. And it's usually something mundane that does guys like this in, despite their cheating the law of averages for so many years. General Patton comes to mind as another example.
Like most school boys my age at the time, I even had a very, very cool Evel Knievel lunch box.
RIP

R.I.P. to a fellow Montanan. Hope you make the jump over that big canyon in the sky.

Evil Knievels' 1974 Snake River Canyon (failed) attempt to jump over the river in his Skycycle was cool.

Godspeed, evil.

Hey Christmastime....we see you waited until he was dead to say something like that. If he was still alive he'd of kicked your ass. Ya chickenshit piece of crap.

"Like most school boys my age at the time, I even had a very, very cool Evel Knievel lunch box."

I loved this guy when I was a kid. I didn't have the lunchbox but I had an Evil Knievel motorcycle toy.

I work 1/4 from where he lived in his Feathersound condo and we saw him occasionally. He had the Evel Knivil flames on the side of his truck and would wave to everyone. Seemed like a cool guy. He liked to pass out tips wherever he went. My Sister in law was a teller at the bank he used and he always was trying to give her tips, even though she wasn't allowed to take them.

So now he is taking his biggest leap ever. Have a nice flight.

"""I had an Evil Knievel motorcycle toy."""


Think I had the same, with the caped action figure. With all due respect, I thought this dude was already dead.

Lots of us have a sense of humor CT....your stuff just needs to be funny first.

He's gone to join Awful Knoffel, I guess.

Damn that bites. What a cool dude. Such a shame. RIP

Larry Mohr

Wow! I was just thinking about him the other day so I googled him and read his biography.
He was quite a hell raiser...
As broken up as his body was I'm sure he has been in a lot of pain for years.
I'm not saying he is better off being dead, I am saying he's not in pain anymore.

I loved this guy when I was a kid. I didn't have the lunchbox but I had an Evil Knievel motorcycle toy.

Posted by Sully
* * * *

I got into trouble when I brought mine to school, and was using it to jump over the other desks in my 'pod'--(don't ask--I went to a New Age elementary school before the term was even invented--and they looked dimly upon Evel Knievel action motorbikes, at least during Math Enrichment class. And yes, our classes were really called "pods", and arithmetic was really called "Math Enrichment". Which, naturally, made people like Dr. Evel all the more appealing.)

I know one of the guys that helped design the snake river rocket bike. From when I was a kid. He also built race boats and they used to race them at Negro bar on the American river. They stopped racing there in the mid seventies after they had a bunch of accidents.

Guess you can only cheat death fer so long, eh?

First thing Spud does when someone of note dies is go check Wiki to see if they are on top of it. Spud finds they usually are and in this case they certainly are.

Knievel dropped out of high school after his sophomore year and got a job with the Anaconda Mining Company as a diamond drill operator in the copper mines. He was promoted to surface duty where his job was driving a large earth mover. Knievel was fired when he made the earth mover pop a motorcycle-type wheelie and drove it into Butte's main power line, leaving the city without electricity for several hours. With a lot of time on his hands, Knievel began to get into more and more trouble around Butte. After one particular police chase in 1956 in which he crashed his motorcycle, Knievel was taken to jail on a charge of reckless driving. When the night jailer came around to check the roll, he noted Robert Knievel in one cell and William Knofel in the other. Knofel was well known as "Awful Knofel," so Knievel began to be referred to as Evel Knievel. The nickname stuck.

I had the lunch box. The action figure w/stuntcycle. He was an icon. My Saturday mornings would stop when he was on Wide World of Sports. When he jumped Snake Canyon, it was like the Super Bowl. We couldn't wait. I was 11.

Give 'em hell, Evel.

Thanks Spud,
You damn near brought a tear to this fur-clad mountain beast's eye.

Good on yer.

Good eye Cap'n.

Wide World of Sports"?

Here's a factoid fer yas...

Knievel's nationally televised motorcycle jumps, including his 1974 attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho, represent four of the top 20 most-watched ABC's Wide World of Sports events of all time.

Not bad fer a troublemaker from Butte Montana, eh?

Be Well.

The Nixon years were domestic hell for me, but the Snake River Canyon jump WAS a high point, that's for sure.

I remember at school we always used to think of really tough things for Evel to do next. One kid suggested jumping over a pit of sulphuric acid. Too easy we thought. Another thought that he could ride his bike down a fuselage of a in-flight 747, hit a ramp, and jump to the fuselage of another. One kid suggested canoeing down a lava flow in a titanium canoe. I always like that one.

I even had a very, very cool Evel Knievel lunch box.


I had a poster from SPencer's gifts of him on my bedroom wall.

He was one of my childhood heroes! Being brave was being like Evel Knievel. He made being a kid interesting. We'll miss ya!!!

BOUGHT? Sure you did.

Okay, Spud bought it offa some shady looking leprecauns from the back of a truck but it still counts.

You actually can buy Guiness in the "widget" containers. Also some nice Boddington's.

Christmas Time?

Long time listener/ First time caller?

Would you care to share any of yer previous handles or shall we just guess?

Now quit pissing around on an RIP thread.

Ya really don't want to piss off an already emotional/ nicotine deprived Spud.

Laws NO!

Deth is a "HO HO HO Taming" Spud.

Believe.

Be Well.

PS: How old is Robbie Kneivel now? Anybody?

One of my favorite toys growing up was the Evel Knievel Daredevil motorcycle - it was very cool --

RIP daredevil. And thank you.

I never understood how Evel was able to sit on his motorcycle given the size of his balls.

RIP Evel, you were an icon.

What a showman!
Brass balls that were the envy of every garden monkey!
Next time I see a shooting star, I'll think of ol' Evel's contour trail blasting across the sky.


Spud -
Robbie be 45

Brass balls that were the envy of every garden monkey!

Agreed! Titanium Cojones he had!

Spud -
Robbie be 45

Ta Doc. Spud'll be 45 in January. Spud can relate.

Spud never envied Robbie trying to live up to his old man's name. Still, he musta been proud of his dad. Spud remembers watching Evel on the WWo'S shows wif me brothers and Dad. Spud's mom would walk in and ask wot we were watching and we'd tell her. Then she'd just roll her eyes and mutter sommat under her breath about boys and men being essentially crazy. After she'd leave the room we'd all kind of grin at each other. Somehow it made the event even more enjoyable!

Funny ...the things you remember ^_^

Be Well.

PS: Ta fer the kind words Cap'n and glad ya started this thread. A worthy topic if ever there were such a thing!

"I even had a very, very cool Evel Knievel lunch box.
RIP

Posted by rightisright at 2007-11-30 04:46 PM"

I had you all beat. I had the action figure, the motorcycle AND the motorhome!

(What year did you graduate high school, RightIs? Was it in SoCal? I went to an elementary school with "pods" too.)

I am supprised he made it past 25

Difference between Evel Knievel and Chuck Norris, Spud: Evel was the real deal. He really did place his ass (and the rest of his physical self) where his mouth was. And even when it didn't work out, hell, least he tried.

Now, personally, I'm not inclined in that direction. But you might glom onto this one: I talked with a rodeo clown once. He'd just gotten out of the hospital after a few months of laid-up time, thanks to an ornery bull. He was all het up to get back in the ring. "Why do you do it?" I asked. "Well, hell," he drawled, "so's I can see how close I can get before he busts me up again."

I had a student once he became a matador. Same kind of thing. Those guys have a different cast to their eye. They've been place we'll never go.

For them, it's not making a living; it's a way of living.

I am surprised he made it past 25

POSTED BY SNIPER

I'm sure he would have agreed..

I went to an elementary school with "pods" too

Holy moley Carpenteria Santa's Village: Are you talking about "pods" as in Jack Finney's novel?

Cool!

(What year did you graduate high school, RightIs? Was it in SoCal? I went to an elementary school with "pods" too.)

Posted by mOntecOre
* * * *

High school class of 1985. Garden Elementary School, Venice Florida.

Right now he is revving up his bike to jump the river Styx. If he makes it, Charon won't be happy.

Cheers

"One kid suggested canoeing down a lava flow in a titanium canoe. I always like that one.

Posted by k_g_beekeeper at 2007-11-30 05:37 PM"

Titanium? In the 70's? You kids were advanced. I was still marveling at urethane skateboard wheels and German precision bearings back then.

Grendel, it'll be enough to make Cerberus howl.

"Holy moley Carpenteria Santa's Village: Are you talking about "pods" as in Jack Finney's novel?

Cool!

Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2007-11-30 07:34 PM"

Carpenteria? That's where our class took its beach trip each year.

"High school class of 1985. Garden Elementary School, Venice Florida.

Posted by rightisright at 2007-11-30 07:34 PM"

I am two years your elder, assuming you didn't skip any grades or flunk.

I remember watching Evel crash at Caesar's Palace (wasn't that where he thumped the big column?)

BALLS OF STEEL!

ANYONE that will get on an overweight Harley and jump the damn thing is either mad or genius! (or both)

RIP !!!

One of my fav toys growing up- evil knievil with the plastic pull zip strip!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I had a poster from SPencer's gifts of him on my bedroom wall."
Posted by goatman at 2007-11-30 05:39

YEAH!

As if that's not gay!

many many moons ago i worked in vegas. i was there when he damn near jumped the fountain. sometimes he would come in the horseshoe and play a little 21. craps game confused him. was fun to talk to. he was cool

"I am supprised he made it past 25"
Posted by Sniper at 2007-11-30 07:21 PM

YEAH!

As is always your kind ----- 44 years late(er) on the "supprise"!

Natural causes.
Sixty nine.

My old man only made 66; My childhood best friend 43.

FUCK OFF REDNECKVILLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!

Loved EK.

I had his toys and lunch box also.

He got me into dirt biking, that i still do to this day.

I still like to pretend i'm Evel when i go over a jump.

Great interview he had on the Jim Rome show.

Jim asked him why he tried the Snake river jump when he thought it was 50-50 he'd survive.

Evel just said "You know who in the hell i am?"

RIP buddy.

Evil Knievels' 1974 Snake River Canyon (failed) attempt to jump over the river in his Skycycle was cool.

Posted by CalifChris at 2007-11-30 04:51 PM


That was sooo cool--and his Cesar's jump sooo painful to watch.

We rode motocycles at the time (don't ask) it didn't seem possible for him to make that Snake River jump.

He was still the best. Dang that guy could ride and jump stuff--and no one telling us--

"Don't try this at home kids".

There was no way! ;o) He was good--RIP..

Murphy

A life well lived. An adventure.

Vernon Hemingway