Evel Knievel: Wide World of Sports Classic
2017 ж. 5 Жел.
175 207 Рет қаралды
Chris Fowler hosts this 1999 documentary on professional daredevil Robert Craig Knievel. Fowler examines his appearances on WWOS from his first in March of 1967 to his final at the Seattle Kingdome in October of 1976.
Elvis, Evel, Ali, The Fonz, and the Six Million Dollar Man! Love my childhood!!!
Elvis and Evel were the real deal. Henry wrinkler was a puss and could not even ride a motorcycle.
Left out Bruce Lee.
Yes. I caught maybe late 70s reruns etc when I was 5, to say television,film and action figures we're not a huge part of being 5-6 years old is an understatement. I love this kinda stuff ❤️
Haha - nailed it! Add the Big Valley and Farrah.
You forgot Tarzan 👍
I’m now 57 and THIS was my youth 🤩
Same here at 57
48, same. 👍
Loved my motorcycle toy back then.. I just seen him in Butte. He's buried next to my wife's mother. RIP Evel.
@@G-S-D You can get the replica now. I got one when they first came out!!! Lol the coolest toy ever 🤘😎🤘
I used to love watching Wide World of Sports back then, never missed it
Every young boy and teen that ever set up a plywood ramp within a neighborhood parking lot in the 70's and 80's, was inspired by the pure passionate spirit that completely possessed this uniquely entertaining and courageous warrior.
YES!
Girls too for your info. Jumped bike off the roof of a flat top building , cleared a giant sand pile and landed on the black top , rear tire gave out , busted my left arm. But I made the jump, short time later saw Evil attempt the Grand Canyon while in my cast. Got the Evil wind up motorcycle for Christmas. Many years later , saw his son jump the fountains at Caesars in Vegas .. got his sons autograph.
Very well said ! You should be a sports writer. Cheers 🥂 I'm 52 now and I still remember being inspired as a boy watching Evel Knievel. Brass balls fo sho !
I watched him everytime on WW of Sports in the 70's,got my bike and was jumping garbage cans!!Hes was and still my hero!!!!!
Are you sure it wasn't the fonz that inspired you to jump garbage cans?
Fonz was a phony
I was a kid during the glory days of Evel, unless you were alive at that time it's hard to describe just how much of a cultural icon he was, and how much kids wanted to be like him. I dedicated my first dirt bike wreck to him lol
lol No doubt. I am a woman & when I was a girl I loved Evil. I was jumping my bicycle over stuff & I even talked my dad into a little 50cc Indian dirt bike. (yea, I was a big Ol' tomboy) He was truly an American Icon in the 70's. In the late 90's I worked with a woman from Butte. Her father was was Evil's attorney back in the day. She had been to their house & knew them on a personnel level. Even 25 years later, as an adult, I really thought it was neat I had a friend that knew the Knievel family. It's hard to describe to people that were not there but he was the closest thing to a real life super hero that you could get. On one hand he was "just" a motorcycle stuntman. On the other hand, he was a household name that inspired millions. Somehow he managed to capture the American spirit. He was the right person, with the right show at the right time in history.
Kevin Lake I know right , my little bro had an Evil Kneival wind up motorcycle toy and we jumped stuff in the living room , kids all over the neighborhood were building ramps for their bicycles and ending up in the ER. I was almost ten years old , kids talked about him jumping over our school , most thought he could not make it , I thought he could, if he set the ramps up right. Had to go to school that day and missed the canyon jump , I was really mad but glad he survived. Much later I saw his son jump the fountains at Las Vegas , Caesar’s Palace. The spirit of his father lived that day , the place was packed , we could not see the jump , we were in the street with thousands of people and a big wall separated us from the casino. We heard his motor cycle roar and heard him hit the ramp , for a few seconds we saw evils son fly through the air , over the wall , then we heard the sound of his bike hitting the down ramp , for a second we were all silent , did he make it ? Someone had a radio, they yelled , HE Made it !!!! We all screamed yeahhhh I had a tears in my eyes , I was glad his son made it , and it was like revenge for evils crash at the fountain. It was a great night. Evil was a great hero of our time.
shananagans5 So well written, I hope that you are doing well since your post here a year ago. You nailed it. Men wanted to be him, Women wanted him, and boys and girls looked up to him. Probably even bigger than Elvis in some ways. At least in the same league. I wish that I had a dollar for every time I narrated aloud while riding my bicycle “Folks watch this”! “Here He comes, Evel Knievel”!! Just before doing some trivial little stunt on my bike. I’m 55 years old , our Dad purchased a little Honda 50cc Trail rider? I think was the model? That thing was so heavy, looked like a miniature motorcycle with headlight, normal gas tank, kick start, 3 shifter gears. I think that it only lacked turn signals. I had the Evel lunch box and thermos, I looked on EBay last night I saw for as much as $485.00 ! Mine was lost in a house fire. I bought a brand new motorcycle last June 1st. I’ve put 5,300 miles on it even though we just finished a long Winter here on the IL/WI border. I had not ridden in 35 years and I already feel like yelling out “Here he comes Evel Knievel”!! Some more just for old time’s sake. So cool you know someone that’s friends with the K. Family! Happy Spring Time!!
The guy was a pioneer and my absolute hero as a kid at the time . Grandad , dad and myself all bikers all our lives (still am) with Evel as a massive influence. Even today's professional bike stunt guys credit Evel with being the first of the breed . Great film . Respect from England d
Absolutely ⭐️I’m 58 this year and remember well ❤️Classic times indeed 🌈
What gets me are those that say they think he pulled the shoot at Snake River and that he was a fraud, BULLSHIT...this man always went threw with his stunts even when promoters and others told him to cancel but he did it anyway, we need more men like Evel...dedicated to his craft at all cost..even when he knew he wouldn't make it...long live the memory of this great American Hero!...
He’s got balls the size of church bells
I just watched the Snake River jump for the hundredth time. The chute was coming out before he was all the way off the ramp. Truax essentially admitted he screwed up...I believe the same thing happened on the one test they did, same result. No way he pulled that chute.
Living through the Evel saga is everything these documentaries make it out to be. I had the motorcycle toy and watched every jump that was on TV. We would jump our crappy Holiday Stores sting ray knock offs and bend up the rims. There was no one like Evel.
There were four other boys around my age on my block. We each had our won Evel Stunt Cycle toy. He was unbelievably huge with us kids in the 70’s.
im 48 this man was a true american superhero rip evel!
N I'm 58. The man was great n his son was excellent too.
@@Papa-o33963 I have a problem with Robbie he has talent but hes riding his dads last name and all the jumps he has done he has cheated using more light weight supercharged bikes not like Evel riding Harleys basically a cinder block
When I was a kid in the 70s I had a brand new 1977 yz80 I tried to jump the creek in my back yard and broke the back wheel on landing on the other side I just landed short by a foot my wheel hit hard caught the other side and broke the spokes blow the tire out I went over the handle bars I was pretty sore for a few weeks and it cost quite a bit for new wheel and tire . Never did try that again it was my grand canyon jump 😂 it was about 30 feet across to the other side I felt like I made it regardless of what happened
Haha! Nice I had a 78 RM80. I bought it used, it was 5 months old. Got it for $500. Great times!
I got the Evel Kneivel wind up jumping bike toy for Christmas in 1970, wish I still had it today, probably worth a few bucks! 😂
I wanna buy it now Lol. It's on Amazon
Me too.. was an awesome toy!
ⁿⁿ
The memories are better than a few dollars:)
I had the Evil Soopa Doopa Jet Cycle.. You popped lighter flints in the back and sparks would fly out. My mate had the Evil Chidleswick, Choppington Sublick Stunt Cycle. And did they Fuck do what the Ideal Toy Commercial said they'd do with the back flips, jumps, summersaults etc.. They'd just shoot off at a 45 degree angle and scratch your mums skirting boards! ! 0️⃣😜1️⃣
I went from a schwiin stingray at 14years old to a Harley panhead at 17years old cause of evel kinevel
I’m 53 and remember the toys that were out that Evel Knievel produced after he became a household name. I was born in late 69 so I missed most of his jumps😐😞 But I’ll never forget the the zip start motorcycle toy that would rip just like he would when he approached a jump. I absolutely loved it! Just now getting a full understanding of what all he did. What an amazing man! AND best of all to me, he knew how real God is back in the day👍He’s has most definitely been in Heaven since he left this Earth. Much love and respect gor Evel and his loved ones❤️👍🙏
I was born in 67, I hear you brother!
I grew up in the 70s and Evel Knievel was a icon. When other kids talk about him the broken bone count would always go up.
I miss wide world of sports it was a great era of sports as I was just a kid born in 1970 but I watched every jump Evel did and set up ramps and tried to do a few in the neighborhood myself needless to say there was a lot of us kids got banged up pretty good wanting to emulate our hero and it was worth every scrape and bruise thank you Mr. Kenevel for the memories
I saw him in 1974, Texas when he jumped over like 20 Mack trucks. It was on Wide World Of Sports. To that end, you weren’t a fan unless you rocked his lunchbox. On the real.
Absolutely the #1 hero of my youth! I was lucky enough to have met him! “Happy Landings” Evel Knievel
Original and still the best daredevil ever bravo
Original says it all
That man is the reason I started riding motorcycles
Thats funny. He's the reason I didn't ride motorcycles. ;)
Me too !
I remember all the jumps on WW of Sports in the early 70's. I was a little kid born in '67 and he was a superhero to me. My dad said he was nuts , a wacko..i didn't believe it, i thought he was awesome. I rooted for every jump he did. I remember the Canyon jump, they were showing it on closed circuit at the Spectrum in Philly and i begged my dad to take me...he finally said OK and we went but we got there too late and it was over....I remember asking everybody what happened and people coming out were saying he didn't make it....I was like "What? What happened!"
He invented extreme sports
This is so cool! I was born in 1969, and I remember when everyone was talking about Evel's jumps in the 70s, but this is the first time I've seen this, and all I can say is, wow!!
This man is a true American 🇺🇸 legend!God bless his soul.This was a better time in this country. Thank You, Robert Craig K. Jr!!!!
Boy was this a better time in the country
wow this pretty much is a complilation of his entire carreer, Awesome
No man dead or alive could match his skills. Evil had no special equipment on his motorcycle, they were right off the assembly line, except the fact that he had no speedometer nor a tachometer on it, it was threw feeling and hearing the motor and eyesight. What a man. Imagine what he could have done if he had the bikes and equipment we now have. Awesome.
Evel
That was great Thanks for posting this 👍
Evel was the shidd back in the day .. I definitely remember all of it when I was a kid now 58
Evel Knievel was such a huge part of my generations youth (born 1967.) Anytime anyone rode by on a motorcycle, we would yell, "Hey--Evel Knievel!" I was too poor to have the toys but a friend of mine had the motorcycle that the Evel doll could stand on while it ran lol. I remember watching a few jumps on TV--very cool times.
Everybody loved Evel Knievel. He was my hero when I was a kid I got the motorcycle rev-up with Evel Knievel action figure for Christmas
The Balls this man had to do all these jumps couldn't fit on any motorcycle!!
He was my childhood hero! I had the wind up bike and used to build Lincoln log houses and try to jump them. oh the good ol days!!!
Even was a hero when I was a kid, in the early 70's. I am still a big fan. He was the greatest thing in my world back then. Nobody did what he did, unless they were influenced by him, or were copying him. Many did both, but there's only one Evel. Robbie Knievel is the successor to Evel's throne, He has broken records, and done incredible jumps. There are two Knievels. Enough said!!
I saw Evel jump twice on consecutive nights at the Spectrum in Philly. He made both jumps. I saw Robbie jump once at the Atco Dragway and witnessed one of his worst crashes. May they both rest in peace.
Love the move thanks for the great memories.
The Man, The Myth. The Legend
He always said "Don't do what I do, don't risk getting yourself hurt" Every single 12yo boy in the nation ignored that advice and now we have the X Games.:) lol It was truly a magical time to grow up.
I remember when I was a kid I watch that on wide world of sports. We got all excited about the stunt that you attempted and have done you were a true American hero. You always be in our minds and hearts 🇺🇸🦅
Im 56 an couldnt wait for wide world of sports on sundays because thats how i seen the Daytona 500 when cale Yarborough got punched in the nose by th the allison brothers an always got to see my hero Evil an sometimes was scary an sad landing but he always came back! RIP Evil
I once met Evil at the Cherry Lounge after his fame days, He seemed a nice man, may he rest in peace, also met Awful Knoffel the boxer.
What a great stunt man the amount of jump's this man did and lived is to me amazing respect to him and his family 👍🏻🇬🇧✌🏻
Brings back memories days of my little Z Trail 50
RIP Evel The best ever!!
I was born in 1963. I remember building ramps and jumping anything we could find to jump. I never ended up in the emergency room. But a lot of my friends did.
I had the Evel Knievel toy funny car. It was badass.
Dec 31th 1971🙋🙋🙋🙋 the 70s when it came to.sports... Was no joke!!!!!
I met evel up in Palm Harbor Fl. Back in the late seventies early eighties. Had a beer and shot the shit with him And he was just a regular guy. No BS.
Growing up it was him and Bruce Lee that boys thought were toughest people around
Best Harley spokesperson ever. Whoooooa Nelly.
Frank, today I'm going to jump 15 motorcycles while driving a double decker bus. Why Evel? To remind kids to stay in school and off of drugs.
There is a video of a guy driving a Bluebird school bus over a bunch of motorcycles. It is awesome. I don’t know the address. Find it
Yea kidds know whats cool allways they are clean
33:10 YEOW! Talk about, as WWOS veteran host/sportscaster Jim McKay puts it in the program's intro/outro, "the agony of defeat".
He did it at a time with some of the best announcers in the business fearless and did what he said he would
Long Live Evel 🇺🇸
How many of this man's critics have attempted to jump a canyon?
My hero
With out evil don’t think games would be as popular a true legend
That's what I'm talkin about bro nothing like the seventies and Evel Knievel he rocked it
Wide world of sports was great from the theme song to the different sports
I lived in Jerome Id when I was a kid in the early 80s. I knew about Evel Knievel, of course, since he was still a large part of the American Zeitgeist. I probably had a few action figures and one of those toys where you slapped the top and the motorcycle would take off. Anyway, I didn't know about the Snake River jump, since it happened when I was an infant. We would drive to Twin Falls to go to the mall, since Jerome was a very small town. I noticed the signs on the bridge and we stopped and took pictures, like tourists. I subsequently learned about that jump and the result.
Evel Knievel RULES!
A parachute? Gotta love the good old days. I miss the USA.
I feel ya.....I know exactly you what you me as n
I didn't realize until much later that he really didn't over the trucks. He jumped in front of them. If you look closely you can see that the ramps are offset.
He jumped over their hoods from what it looks like.
Robert Craig Knievel and Frank Gifford, 2 of the most charming and handsome men to ever walk the face of the earth.
He Started it. Was then. An still the Best ever.. Think for EVERYTHING.
Like Mel Gibson, Evil knievels character was attacked by some unscrupulous people in the media, and Knievel fought back and won [just like Mel Gibson]. He will always be America's number one Daredevil, Nobody has ever came close to taking that title away from him.
Yep he was No.1....everybody else was a copy cat. Those were the days. Memories!
Facts, Evel was great!
Between Evel needing more notoriety and Wide World of Sports looking for more to air they made Motorcycle Jumping into an official sport.
There was Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Evel Knievel. He was in their league. Big and flashy
I remember jumping my crappy bicycle over picnic tables after watching evel..my old neighbor Mr.Clark used to laugh his ass off on my Wipeouts
Evil you are the man you always will be. Thanks for everything Big Brother love you.
Us kids jumped our trailbikes over everything we could find, even each other due to Evel's influence. Fun stuff!
Hey was that the world's first ever stage dive? 7:45
Yea not the best hero but he was it. Broke my back jumping dirt bikes because I loved it. Crazy sob. Nobody ever like him before or after. Rip Bobby.
This was when America was great!
He was the best of the best.
Great! Thanks! @~`
You're welcome. If you liked this, there is a full version of Last of the Gladiators elsewhere on YT, its worth a look if you have not seen it.
Found this randomly when it aired, I was 5. The name Evel Knievel seemed to be everywhere, but I had no idea who he was until I watched this. Guy was a first-class asshole, but he put his life on the line.
Haven't watched this since it was live, so I didn't remember... 45:12 "I haven't had an accident when you're around..." I thought "jinx" and sure enough...even Gowdy seems to flinch...
This was one of the biggest memories of my childhood, i had all the toys and played with them for hours. I'm 54 now and a few of the older kids had them too and as they got older i wound up with some of their stuff, so i had a load of Kenevil toys. Lets see, i had a couple of the bikes, the red truck, the sky cycle, the dragster, then i spent hours practicing wheelies on my bicycle and busted myself up jumping milk crates. It was such a shame, because he actually cleared the canyon but the chute opened too soon and that wind blew him into the canyon. Now as an adult, as soon as i heard his name the first thing i thought of was how Frank Gifford was screwing Johnny Carson's wife at this time 😂😅😊
He said if you do what I did, you'd be shaking too....as kids back then, we busted our bicycles trying to be just a little like evil.
I wanna know who the lame people are that gave Evel Knievel a 👎's down. . I think the people that disliked this video deserves a 👊 punch to the face
America needs you again Ghost Rider...
Evel, I meant. Damn phone correct. I have read a few comments, and there are a lot of Knievel fans out there!!
A great American icon on the same level as Ali and Elvis.🐒🐻🤗👍
He got some sense knocked into him.
We used to build ramps and jump our bicycles. When Evel made a plug for Harley Davidson ( on wwos) he pointed to the number 1 on his shoulder and said something like " I wear this harley #1 because them, like i, are number 1. THAT SEALED IT. I PUT A HARLEY 1 PATCH ON MY JACKET AND I STILL PUT THEM ON MY CADDYS. RIP BUDDY.
Evil didnt really jump the 11 mack trucks. The ramp was in front of the trucks if you looked closely. Not over them.
Timestamp? Never really looked that closely.
The hoods of the trucks were there though. The cabs are on the left of the ramp.
@@Buddycoop1 Exactly so he didnt jump the trucks then did he? He jumped alongside trucks it should have said./
Hey had balls no bs
smaller sprocket on the back or bigger on the front might of helped
I wrote the script for this show.
3:22 "I'm glad you're here today, I've never had an accident when you're around." Oh, well...
The last of the real U.S.A bad asses!!!
The Cub Scout nailed it. Reminds me of me back then. :)
Howard Cosell's public refusal to join Knievel on a jump has some humor to it. On the one hand it's absolutely absurd to think that, as a passenger Cosell could safely mount a motorcycle driven Knievel and survive a jump. However on the other hand Knievel had previously survived a great number of absurd, death defying jumps. As such? Cosell took his offer seriously. The thing that made Knievel outstanding was that even in the face of poor odds he STILL decided to jump. This took a certain faith and honesty uncommon in the world. Similarly today I hear a tone in the voice of other risk takers that sounds much like Knievel. Killer Bee pest removal expert Reed Booth for starters. Sounds just like Knievel at times. His job risking his life daily.
Saw him in the ASTRODOME
Evil never used a Speedometer.. Most Jumpers used physics calulated and figure the needed speed to land on the Ramp ..
At the end of the movie Evel Knievel starring George Hamilton evel rides to the edge of the Grand Canyon in the closing scene,the movie was 1971, the snake river canyon was 1974, this is only six years after Caesars palace, which happened before the movie he actually lived up to the movie
I wish he could have made the Snake River Canyon jump. I still think it was great spectacle. It was inspiration from Wiley Coyote. I think he could have made it on a second try. Whatever happened to the skycycle rocket? Hope it was saved somewhere.
EVIL is forever a Legend in my book
class wearing a suite for interview nowdays that dont happen John Prine performer singer wore suits on stage saw him in 2020 great concert Long live Evel spirit who found jesus later in life god less
Wow 😳.... just imagine living on a spinning ball with curved water
He ivented stage diving.
He sure did........good call. The original thrash cyclist!
Celebrating his 13th post-death birthday today.