Evel Knievel

A little bit of the great Evel Knievel, one of my heroes (and so many other people too). Like many of my generation, I did jumps on my bicycle and had the action figures. I saw him on ABC's Wide World of Sports many times and besides being a term for doing something risky ("what am I, Evel Knievel?" or "Ok, Evel Knievel, have it your way."), I think he also represents a circus/carnival part of show business as well as anyone ever, PT Barnum and Col. Parker included. It's not like their artists didn't put their bodies in the mix right? I bet there are books about Evel's great career.

When I visited Las Vegas, I checked out the fountains at Caesar's to see where Evel did his tumble down the landing ramp and the ramp going down into the garage.

Once on a tour of the Astrodome, I asked the guide about the Evel Knievel jump they had there. He wasn't familiar with it much to his embarrassment, but thankfully, we can see it right here.

The bottom line was everyone was into him in the 60s and 70s. With all his injuries I'm sure none of us thought he was going to last forever, but I am glad we can at least still see him on the net the genius he had as a showman guaranteed that people will love what they see too.