Axis of Evel

All things considered, I've taken the aging of childhood heroes pretty well. Adam West, Maria from Sesame Street, Johnny Carson. People get old and gray, die. Cycle of life. But when I heard the other day that Evel Knievel had turned 68 it hit me hard.

More than anyone else, Evel Knievel made a boy feel like anything was possible. He was a cross between Captain America and Fat Elvis, and it seemed like every couple of months the neighborhood boys would be buzzing about some new feat we would -- for now -- replicate with Matchbox cars and (for the luckly ones) our Evel Knievel Stunt Cycles.

Evel's name hinted at things your mother would definitely disapprove of, and he repeatedly defied death, which is what every boy thinks he will spend the rest of his life doing in one way or another.

Now of course, I'm a grown-up. I wouldn't dream of climbing up to that branch, or jumping off the garage roof into the wading pool. I won't even clean my own gutters. But I appreciate Knievel on a whole new level now. When he saw the fountains at Caesar's Palace for the first time in the 1967 he decided right then he would jump them. According to Wikipedia:

To get in to see Caesar's Palace CEO Jay Sarno, Knievel created a fictitious corporation called Evel Knievel Enterprises and three fictitious lawyers to make phone calls to Sarno. Knievel also placed phone calls to Sarno claiming to be from ABC-TV and Sports Illustrated inquiring about the jump. Sarno finally agreed to meet Knievel and the deal was set....

Knievel tried to get ABC to air the event live on Wide World of Sports. ABC declined, but said that if Knievel had the jump filmed and it was as spectacular as he said it would be, they would consider using it later.

Knievel used his own money to have actor/director John Derek produce a film of the Caesar's jump. To keep costs low, Derek used his then-wife, Linda Evans, as one of the camera operators....

When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate. The sudden loss of power on the takeoff caused Knievel to come up short.... As a result of the crash, Knievel received a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days.

After his crash and recovery, Knievel was more famous than ever. ABC-TV bought the rights to the film of the jump and had to pay far more than if they had televised the jump live.

Complaining about your gimpy knee makes you seem pretty lightweight by comparison, don't you think? Come and play hoops at St. John's tomorrow. We tip off at 8:00 a.m. as usual. Please let me know if you will or will be there.