Evel Knievel dead!

He was like an icon from my childhood. Don't misunderstand, in the world of all the things that comprised my childhood, Knievel doesn't make it into the top ten, maybe not even the top 100, but he was a big part of Saturday afternoons in those Dark Ages--you know--BC--Before Cable.

Back in the days when there was only network TV and the randomly available VHF channel, ABC Sports ruled Saturday afternoons. There was college football, which bored me to tears in the fall, and then there was the ubiquitous car race, but other times there were all kinds of awesome things going on. The Wide World of Sports rocked! I enjoyed ice skating, and skiing, and tennis, and basketball, and if there were Olympic trials going on, we had a ton of cool sports. There was swimming, and synchronized swimming ( a little nod to Anna, wink) and just all kinds of things that I truly enjoyed.

And then, there was Evel Knieval.

That guy was a psycho. Whenever he was on I couldn't decide if I wanted him to be successful or wipe out. They were both amazing. Well, actually, the crashes were pretty spectacular. I remember when he tried to jump the Snake River. What an idiot. Or, what a brilliant guy. Either way, it was incredible entertainment.

Who could figure out what drove him? I know what fascinated me was "the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." He sure shared in both.

In retrospect, the outfits were a bit Elvis-y over the top, but hey, it was the 70's.