RIP to a true American badass. I will tell you sopme Evel Knievel stories in a few minutes.

Evel Knievel dies at 69
By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago



CLEARWATER, Fla. - Evel Knievel, the hard-living motorcycle daredevil whose exploits made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.


Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

Knievel had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...IHGVKs0NUE

RodeoSchro said:

Oh man, I loved that guy.
He has been on dutch television a lot...









oh and..... eh.....first....

Wow and he just settled his case with Kanye

I used to wear t-shirts with him on it when I was a little girl in kindergarden ...oh my goodness ...

He was cool!!!!! God bless.

He was the official original "Jackass" waaaay before Johnny Knoxville... and he didn't have to change his name to be cool either.

RIP Evel... Ceasar's Palace couldn't kill ya...

R.I.P.

He lived close by to me. Who knows what that part of town will look like today (probably some kind of candlelight vigil)

That dude was awesome. Sucks he died from this instead of an awesome stunt like he would've wanted.

Well fuck me. Don't I just feel old all of a sudden. Evil was one of my first heroes...and first Halloween costumes. Remember that cheesy store bought number where the "helmet" already has the face in it and straps on with a rubber band? Sat on my Huffy and i WAS Evil Knievel.

I think I still have the scars on my knuckles from scraping them on the asphalt cranking up that godamned plastic motorcycle toy.

R.I.P, Evil, and thanks for years of attempting to kill yourself for my entertainment.

ThreadCula said:

CONSPIRACY!!

Dang Surprised he made it this far quite frankly. Rest in peace ole man

he was my first official hero...

There's a great interview bit he did some time ago with Jim Rome, where he mentioned that he had a 50/50 chance of survival when he did the Snake River jump. Rome, astonished, asked him why he'd so something like that with such a high probability of failure. Evel just responded,

"Do you know who the Hell I am?"



rock on badass.

Whoa.





RIP

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I know. I always expected this headline, when it came, to read something like

"Evil Knievel Dies Attempting to Jump Over Landing Space Shuttle" or something.

So Evel Knievel was being interviewed by Jim Rome, and Rome asked him about the Snake River jump. Evel said he figured there was only a 50% chance he'd survive. Rome was flabbergasted. Here is a transcript of what happened next:

ROME: You mean, there was as much a chance that you'd die as live? You went into that jump figuring it could go either way? What were you thinking? Why did you do it?

Pause...

KNIEVEL: Do you know who the hell I am?

ROME: Hell yes! You're Evel Freaking Knievel!

<<<<<

Another time, Rome was talking to Knievel about growing up in Butte, Montana. Knievel said there was a guy named Bobby I-Forget-His-Last-Name that had dissed Evel in the third grade. Evel said he still remembered that, and if he ever ran into Bobby again, he was going to punch his lights out.

Evel was 67 when he said this. The man could hold a grudge!

<<<<<

I was 12 years old when my Dad took me to the Astrodome to watch Evel jump over 13 cars. He did it two nights in a row. I'll never forget it. The wheelies, multiple passes before actually making the jump - it was the biggest crowd ever in the 'Dome at the time.

Here's a good video of it: http://www.bestcrazyvideo...rodome.htm

He inspired a kid in my neighborhood named Gary Wells to start jumping cars. Gary actually out-jumped Evel for awhile, and was on "Wide World of Sports" many times.

<<<<<

I had an Evel Knievel lunchkit and if you were cool, you did too.

<<<<<

Evel Kneivel used a cane. Unlike Prince, he actually needed one. Evel and Prince both had liquids in their canes. Prince said he had sperm in his. Evel? Crown Royal.

<<<<<

I won the 1979 Lee Junior College Pinball Intramural Championship on the Evel Kneivel machine:



I'm going to a pinball convention tomorrow and I'm going to smuggle in some Crown Royal. If there's an Evel Kneivel pinball machine there, I will stand beside it and make a toast to Evel.

JerseyKRS said:

Greatest

Quote

EVER

RodeoSchro said:

I had the stunt bike, and I thought it was the coolest toy evah made.

I remember my older brother had this toy and it was awesome. Damn I wish he'd saved it.

RIP, man.

alwayslate said:

OMG we had that toy and the board game where he went around in circles doing jumps. We never missed any of his jumps...they were events in our house.

Be at peace Evel

RIP, Evel.

alwayslate said:

OMG I had that! and my sister had a girl version. Wish I kept it....

I was a pretty big fan of his as a kid. But I always felt weird about it because he was... well... "evil." Thank God we get older and wiser.

I'm so glad he and Kanye settled their spat amicably. He had really nice things to say about Kanye, and Kanye obviously had some affection for him. It's great to see someone go out on a note of positivity and reconciliation for a change. Maybe Kanye will do some performance or something in dedication to him.
[Edited 12/1/07 1:10am]

I went to a few of the bars that he used to frequent about 10 years ago but never had the pleasure of running into him. He supposedly was a thrill just to talk to, and was always full of grand stories (obviously).

May he rest in peace, and his journey forward provide him with new adventures.


.
[Edited 11/30/07 20:24pm]

R.I.P.

June7 said:

Oh but he did.
His original name was Robert Craig Knievel, Jr.

the man is an institution!

my spelling
[Edited 12/1/07 0:22am]

Legend

Anyone interested in talking about a Sports Forum for the org ...

http://prince.org/msg/3/253958



Mach

Mach said:

Might as well.

P&R is a wasteland and GD is....well...

GD

Go for it.