A Lost Opportunity

Evel Knievel died earlier today, and he wasn't even jumping over anything. But at least he settled his lawsuit with Kanye West before he was gone. That connection even got his obituary to appear in the NME.

If you weren't around in the '60s and '70s, you'll probably never believe quite how iconic a figure Knievel was. Jumping his motorcycle over cars and busses, being played by George Hamilton in his biopic, attempting to jump his rocket sled across the Snake River Canyon. These were gigantic events to kids at the time.

The Snake River Canyon jump was spectacular in its failure. I never quite understood exactly what happened there. Knievel was known for jumping motorcycles, and if he'd tried it with a motorcycle, then that would've been something. It would've been unlikely that he could've made it, but it would've been something. But to try it with a rocket sled--why shouldn't we expect a rocket to make it from one side of a canyon to the other. And yet, he didn't. Everybody I knew was watching on TV, and I still remember how the rocket quickly petered out in the middle of the canyon and floated to the bottom on a parachute. In many ways it was the "Geraldo opening Al Capone's vault" of its day, but it only made him bigger. He went on to leave George Hamilton behind and star in his own movie, Viva Knievel, with a supporting cast that included Gene Kelly, Lauren Hutton, and Leslie Nielsen, back when he was still doing serious roles. He had a good run in the spotlight, but he disappeared fairly quickly by the time the '80s rolled around. Apparently he'd been sick for a number of years, after undergoing a liver transplant in 1999.

Goodbye, Evel.