"Superman just doesn't die, right?"

[Jester]

But he did. Earlier today, Evel Knievel performed his final jump, taking off from the world we know. No one reading this will see his landing.

For some of the younger forum members, Evel Knievel may just be a name, albeit familiar, maybe as the father of daredevil Robbie Knievel, maybe as some motorcycle-riding nutcase from the 70's. But for those of us who lived through the 70's, Evel Knievel was the man, the myth, the legend, and more. He was the reason we came home to mom bloodied trying to jump our bikes over this obstacle or that ravine. He was the reason we would gather around the tv slack-jawed and awestruck as he attempted the impossible yet again. He inspired us as he defied what we thought we knew what could and could not be.

A few years back, sports radio talk show host Jim Rome asked Knievel why he did all the things he did, why he risked life and so many broken limbs. The response was classic Evel Knievel: "Do you know who the hell I am?"

Superman? Please. Superman we knew was fiction, a character in a movie or on television.

Evel Knievel was real.

[Pedersen]

Wow. I thought this had to be a joke. Out of all the legends I've heard, his was the most amazing.

He can't be dead. Yet he is.

The world became a little darker today.

[BlaqueKatt]

NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm actually named after him-have an autographed picture that says

"Happy landings BlaqueKatt-Evil Knievel"

My Mom wrote to him telling him that she was going to name her next child after him, if he was ok with it) when she was 8 months pregnant with me-he wrote back that he was honored and asked for a baby picture!!!

she wrote him again when I graduated and he said he still had my baby pic, and could he have a graduation pic to go with it

And yes-he got one

[TNT]

I'm relying on a steadily fading memory here, but if I recall correctly... Jim Spence, former Senior Vice President for ABC Sports, wrote in his book "Up Close and Personal: The Inside Story of Network Television Sports," that Evel knew he would never make the Wembley jump successfully... apparently the wrong gearbox came in and the bike couldn't get up to speed.

There were 90,000 people in the stadium... and he wasn't going to send them home without a show. Sure enough, the bike didn't get up to speed and he landed too high at the end of the jump and couldn't control the landing from there.


"I know I can fly when my plane hits the sky
I believe I've got nothing to lose."
-- Superman's Ghost by Don McLean

[FuzzyKitten99]

I just read this online. Wow. You would think that he would have died from some injury-related malady, but instead it was something he had that he didn't inflict on himself. Ironic.

Very sad. Here's to the real Superman.

[Saydrah]

It is so disappointing that he didn't have time to organize a truly impossible stunt to go out in a heap of twisted metal and flames when he realized he was in failing health.