It is hard to describe the impact that Evel Knievel had on kids in the 1970's. He was one of those schoolyard points of discussion. His exploits filled your dreams. It all sort of fell apart and the illusion was broken for me after the failed Snake Canyon Jump in 1974. But now years later his name still holds a special place in my memories.
5 comments:
I remember the toy Evel Knievel - a red base, a flywheel wind-up and an Evel K on a weighted motorcycle that would career into the wall at the wrong moment.
Jeff Espe had one. It never worked right, but that fact never quelled my jealousy.
wily
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A real blast from the 70's. I had a wind-up Evil when I was younger too.
I also have a puzzle of Evil K; I've got to dig it out of the basement now.
You know it. I had the stunt set with the red base and wind-up reel. Man, those were the days.
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I was 11 when Knievel made the Snake River attempt. What was exciting was the year of publicity building up to it (almost every week) on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Kids our age could barely contain our anticipation about it. I agree, it was never quite the same after the Snake River jump flopped.
What's hilarious to me now is that I saved the Chicago Tribune paper the next day and was appalled that the story wasn't the top headline (I still have the paper after all these years). The main headline that day was a minor event to my mind at the time - President Ford's pardon of Nixon! :)
I vividly remember the Snake River attempt! We all loved Evel growing up. We used to make ramps out of wood and pretend we were Evel. I remember him being popular when I was 11-12ish. I remember the toy stunt cycle too!
May Evel rest in peace.
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