Evel Knievel - "Absolute Evel" 2005

how I feel and I don't talk like a politician I don't shout it through a microphone I try to tell them how I feel on a jump about what I'm going through they think they really knew I was risking my life Vietnam Watergate Drugs and Hell's Angels States United is disillusioned by the direction it is heading The country is searching for an antidote and roars their lives in a star-studded package known as Evil Kneels Little does it know, but what it represents will cement its image as one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century the last gladiator in new Rome I am a professional life risker and I am the best in the world at this.

There has never been anyone before me and there will never be anyone after me. I know. I arrived at the right time at the right place. The country was depressed. The country was depressed. Vietnam was in full progress. And I thought Vietnam was a mistake, but I didn't say anything about it because I had a lot of respect from the kids in Vietnam and those who were in Vietnam who could see me on TV and read about me and the stars and stripes and there were different magazines there, they partnered with me because I didn't quit, they knocked me down, I kept getting back up, I always lived by a saying that you can fall many times in life, but you are never a failure as long as you try. to get up I always lived by it I thought I gave people something to think about Spark is something to hold on to I go to Indianapolis every year Some of them cheat a little to get ahead and they use nitro and their car starts for a few five laps and then everything explodes and that is what will happen to you in life if you take narcotics you will run for five laps and everything will explode so the decision is yours to make several children have come He told me that you changed my life.

He was in a lot of trouble, but hearing what he had to say about believing in God and loving his mother and father, staying away from drugs and putting things in their bodies that hurt them and I had a horrible altercation with them. Angels from Hell. They had a group that were drug traffickers in this country, big in many years. I have spoken out against alcohol and narcotics. I've fought fiercely against the outlaws of this industry and I took off a black leather jacket and put on a white one, so here I was, in front of this huge crowd of exhausted people in the cow palace, boy, these guys who They were in the crowd, these hell's angels, they took a strong opinion against that one who threw a tire. iron in the hallway while I was doing my practice runs, I came back and here was this guy, the same guy standing in the middle of the cow palace in front of twenty thousand or fifteen thousand people, he was full of giving me the finger.

I know I just wanted to punch one of those bastards and I rode this motorcycle at this guy and I threw it at him on that slippery surface inside that cow palace and I slid it right at him and I threw him over the teapot in the air and then The fight started, five or six of them came and jumped on me and half of that grandstand and that cow palace came out and stood behind me and just beat up those hell's angels, they got just what they deserved, but the people 99 of them were behind me and they believed what I said was right they liked what I did people liked what I faced and I'll tell you what I hate being called a hero I hate not being a hero I'm a daredevil , I am a daredevil and you could say I am a legend for the time I acted and I am still alive for now.

If you look up the word in the dictionary that describes me pretty well, you'll know that I was nobody's pioneer. I ever jumped like I did, a guy jumped through a ring of fire, maybe 20 feet and these drivers would strap themselves to a car and jump over a car, no one ever jumped over a motorcycle where they were just hanging, uh, let me ask you a couple of names. or say a couple of names so you can see what your reaction is other people who do something very similar to you super joe einhorn the other motorcycles yeah, well there are several of them all over the country uh einhorn and uh gary davis and rex blackwell and uh bobby Bob Gill and there's a couple of girls in the Arena Cave and little Debbie Lawler who was jumping now, they jumped almost as far as I did or maybe as far as Debbie jumped little jumps.

She did too well for a girl to jump into the Astra dome, someone said. I know you guys didn't say it, but someone said it could have been a world record. Well, I looked at his height was 103 feet. I could spit past that. I didn't want any competition. I was the fierce competitor. Someone else would do it. I jumped as far as I did the next day. I had to jump further the following weekend. I should have realized they were trying to be like me. It's the greatest compliment they could have given me. I always thought to myself that I would surely like it.

Being an Elvis Presley and a Liberace together and entertaining on a motorcycle Liberace was, I think,

absolute

ly the best entertainer I've ever seen in my life. Oh, he just captured you and when he was introduced here, he came from the top of the roof. Flying with this cable attached to him all over the area, oh boy, and then landing on his seat that he had on these beautiful big mink and chinchilla coats, you have a beautiful audience, bless you, liberate, how cool. Artist I remember the first time I went to a bar in Orange County. It was there.

He had a jacket on. Evil Kni

evel

said. There was a guy standing there at the bar and he said Evil Kni

evel

. Who is it?. Said. That's me. I said what kind of name is that I said that's my name he said wrong you can then that's a good name and I said well I haven't gotten used to it yet he said well one day it will be a you'll be proud that we're back the Los Angeles Coliseum where about 25,000 people are waiting for the evil

knievel

to make another of his spectacular motorcycle jumps, this time more than 50 cars stacked in the center of the field boy, the jumps seem longer and the ramps seem higher and the speed seems faster, well , that's how it's done, you make a bed, you have to lie in it.

I'm not looking forward to this 50 car jump, but until I decide to take this red, white and blue number one off my shoulder, I'm going to try to jump as far as I can and keep going even though I was going to do it evil, never I will make him evil. Knievel won't make it. How come he is too tall and too far from where we are now? row 51 of the los angeles coliseum this is where the ski slide shaped takeoff ramp has been mounted on a 200 foot rock and this is a practice run of the evil

knievel

trying to see exactly where he wants to be and what speed, you can really feel the tension building here, evil, I don't even want to look down that ramp, I don't go down that track praying, go down that track praying, your life will be murdered, boy, you better prepare for what What's on the other side, promoter. jc has once again given the all clear signal now the crowd stands up ready this is going to be a fantastic jump and here it returns to the tremendous thunderous intersection here in the coliseum again well another day another dollar I will tell you this is that if they graded you by form and beauty, today you would have gotten 100.

It was

absolute

ly beautiful work if you don't really believe and what you're doing you can't transfer that message to people, they won't believe it, they never have. I have been something like this evil man Knievel super reckless my name is a household name and I know it a kid I earned it I paid a price jesus I have paid a price being number one has its advantages but there is an even bigger disadvantage to remaining the king, evil knievel has strived to break record after record and not only the records of his competitors but also his own, whether for the length of the jump or the number of broken bones, evil strives to set the bar for unbreakable heights. 1974 will prove to be the pinnacle of his career and will also be a year in which evil will be forced to make a decision about a lifelong dream, a dream that could potentially end his life.

Canyon jump. My name is Evil Knievel. I wear a red, white and blue number one. shoulder because I think I'm the best at my business you have to think you're the best you end up dead the man behind me is called evil knievel he's a motorcycle daredevil openly defies death on occasion after occasion the 4th of july wait become the only man to jump across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho as a prelude to tomorrow in Dallas, Texas, he will take a warm-up jump once again. His life will be at stake and I am here with you.

He lives on the Green. valley race track in north richland hills, texas, where today evil extraordinaire knievel will attempt his longest jump yet over those 11 mack trucks right behind me and with a headwind against him, you know, sometimes I would go to a track and I would look at the jump I was about to make and I would look at like 13 or 14 or 15 trucks and I would say to myself you know, I don't think it looks too far, you've jumped over 300 times, Sampson had 11 misses. you feel like basically the crowd comes out to help you make this jump there are some that don't bother you that people come out maybe to see you jump 10 instead of 11 how do you feel about me not coming here? to Texas to jump less than 11 I'm going to jump those trucks, that's how it should be. you know, there are some great athletes in this country who I respect a lot, but there wasn't a billionth of one percent of them that could do what I can do uh, this should cross your fingers or whatever you do, but let's do everything whatever we can to help them get through this, I sure hate that it's ten cameras focused on evil, here he comes, he did it. only 11 misses and 300 wins before and it did it, they didn't have any suspension in those days front or rear even to speak the travel was only three inches max maybe take these kids right now they're jumping, they really don't they do it.

I don't even need a landing ramp to land. I needed the landing ramp because when I landed on it, it took away the jolt and the danger of hitting the ground because if you hit the ground you would break your back. I broke my back seven times. a heavy motorcycle to fly through the air over obstacles and buses and buildings and fountains and things the motorcycles that are doing today are much easier to ride that motorcycle is a big motorcycle when you make the motorcycle jump the best position to be in It's on the balls of your feet, it perfectly balances your weight upwards with your hands on the handlebars, you're going so fast and the obstacle you're jumping passes under you so fast that all you're looking for is to hit that x In that round landing you have to make sure you're straight on the takeoff ramp when you hit it because if you're off, say six inches off takeoff at the wrong angle, you go out 150 or 200 feet and you can miss the entire landing round when you go for a jump The most important thing is that you are on the power curve, you have to be far enough from the jump where you can change the bike enough times so that when you reach the takeoff ramp, you drive the motorcycle up the takeoff ramp through the jump with the front end up in the air as you cross the jump, twist the throttle a little to spin the rear wheel so that it acts like a gyroscope to keep the front end going in the opposite direction the rear wheel goes in this direction the The front wheel goes in this direction which allows you to cut through the air and the motorcycle perfectly on the rear wheel and an attitude like this works exactly as it should.

I would tell you what it would definitely be. Could we set a world record if you clean up the Snake River Canyon? Are you going to do that? And if so, I've always made the statement and tried to be honest that I'm going to milk that. I'm jumping out of the Snake River Canyon for everything I can get out of this. I'll do it when I'm really good and ready, but this will be the year where there's been a lot of controversy about motorcycle jumping, what the record is and what it is. Today I'm not deep into the wide world of sports, you'll see me try to jump 17 vans and trucks and today I'm going to make the announcement.

I'm going to announce the cannon date with Joe here in Portland, Oregon, king of daredevils number one, evil ponyville, thank you Keith and evil knievel has come out of his truck here at the memorial coliseum in portland, oregon, dressed in colors As always evil, evil relative, become a top hero, if you wish, in the whole country. I would like to return. A few years with you, when I announced that I was going to jump the Grand Canyon, the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Stuart Udall, gave me written permission to cross the Grand Canyon, they changed their mind and said I couldn't jump that canyon, so I went. to Idaho and bought a piece of the Snake River Canyon, it's my canyon.

Well, on Sunday, September 8, I'm going like hell and crossing that thing faster and farther than you've ever seen, hands down. he's evil knievel he's quite the man people can even warm up and let's listen maybe what's going on maybe you can hear it i remember telling frank i don't know if he remembers this or i didn't frank tell them you came here today to see me spill my blood . I can't even explain to you the feeling in your stomach when you step onto that takeoff ramp and look through that thing. Not evenI can tell you. You can't describe the feeling that you have to have within you to push yourself back from that takeoff envelope after you've looked at it and turned around and come back and then run towards it and try to jump through it.

This is the most challenging crazy suicidal feeling there is. The world to do that, here it comes, should not have been more perfect and evil. None of us thought we could make this leap here. You know, we sold out this place tonight and I'm just assuming that missing the jump has put me out of here and uh, I'm almost at the end of my road and I'm not going to let that happen just yet, I'll tell you I've never made a better jump than that one in my life, I don't think you have the Snake River coming up. you said it would be september 8th any jump before that yes im going to do a big jump a world record jump at the canadian international show detoronto canada and then we will go to the canyon sunday september 8th and i will see you there yvonne is very lonely up there it's not okay you're alone but you have someone with you frank i've had someone looking out for me for a long time good luck thank you thank you eva knievel unusual to say the least i don't know what the hell i was thinking i thought i was indestructible and i never was I've made a penny in the stock market I would invest in something and get it and I made mine.

I spilled my blood and broke my bones on every damn racetrack in America. I won it for the evil Knievel. The years of working in the dark on the brink of financial ruin ended when it was broad. The sports world broadcast one of his jumps. This exhibition catapults evil to fame and fortune. This is barely understandable to a small town boy from Butte Montana. The physical abuse he has endured finally pays off and pays off big. There is one thing that money can't buy. to be successful in life you go through life like a whirlwind you don't really pay attention to things like family because they're just there you make sure they're there you make sure they're taken into account you make sure you're taking care of them, but You would never achieve the success I had if that's what you paid attention to.

It can't happen because if you do, you're taking away the momentum that's making you a success and I had that momentum and he set the goal, of course, he was very critical when I started Wide World. I did it for free. Television rights and movie books arrived. White Roller Sport paid me up to a quarter of a million for different suckers. I signed for four movies with Erwin Allen and Warner Brothers. He had made a deal with Harley Davidson. He had a red, white and blue money making machine that went 100 miles an hour. The one he was driving was a money-making machine.

A toy motorcycle was introduced and there if a toy motorcycle had never existed, it was simply incredible, the whole Knievel thing starts to make sense on a visit to the ideal toy company, where Mr. Knievel is not a question mark culture, but the solid inspiration for sales worth six million dollars in one. year and that's quite real, kids love that toy and their parents loved it for the first time here was a toy that really appealed to everyone all the little toys that came out of it puzzles and drinking glasses and everything you can think of happen came out of the success of that boy toy the money I made on that thing man oh man oh man just an amazing toy it raised 350 million dollars that guy saved the toy industry it was to the extent that I didn't get it all I mean I made five ten percent but it allowed me to live like a king paid for my yachts and my boat and my racehorses and my stutzes and my ferraris and my girlfriends and my beer and whiskey and everything I had I don't think in this world I wouldn't It doesn't matter if it's furs, diamonds, cars, houses, anything you can name, that's the best, I'm not going to have two of everything, handsome, I don't know what brought me to this, why I succumbed to it, I was so jealous.

Pretty, if another guy looked at her, I wanted to kill him, I mean, God, I loved her, but I would go to a show where she was jumping and during that time I would walk to these booths when I wasn't performing and I knew these girls, Miss New Jersey, miss show, miss bike week. I was coming back to my hotel and I had a guy in a chair sitting outside my room, knock, knock, knock, and here was a girl and a guy. This happened in two or three different cities and she was Miss Cycle Show and I said who is this guy with you, well that's my boyfriend or my fiancé or my husband, what is he going to do, is he going to wait and say what is he going to wait in the hallway, a girl told me, I told her.

If he didn't let me be with you I was going to leave him and I don't know what it was. I asked his psychiatrist one time and I told him what the hell is going on with these women. He said number one, you're not a bad-looking guy. You're not the most handsome guy in the world. world but you are not a bad looking boy said secondly you are evil but it is spelled e-v-e-l but it represents doing maybe something wrong it is attractive too long but she can live with him said thirdly you are a life risker and they see you jump for some reason that danger is really exciting for a woman it represents danger of adventure the thrill is like fascination that most people only fantasize about it became the strangest thing that Any man could wish for me to take a girl to bed in the afternoon knowing that I was going out that night just to wear myself out.

You can take it twice a week. How many years? You realized? Simply amazing. Puerto Rico eight in one day was like a chocolate bar something I had to have and I was married to the most beautiful woman in the world now you doctors watching me, psychiatrists suck on that, he'll probably be turning around 75 or 80 I imagine the Canadian International Exhibition paid me a lot of money to come to Toronto and I wanted to do it because it was going to help with the big expense I had made on the canyon, this is the moment of psychology, this is the moment of selling himself with the idea that he can do it, he's done it many times before, but every circumstance is different, every obstacle is different, visually it's different, it's a long road and I don't know what I did in That Toronto Thing, maybe 25 or 30,000, but it was a lot of money.

Anyway, I was down to my last two thousand dollars. I jumped so close to the jump because I needed the money that no one I had as a sponsor paid. Millions of dollars to pay for that ramp and that fence and the rights and the lawyers and everything to pay for that canyon jump, that rocket, I mean, I had three of them built and now you're holding on to your seats and you're all holding on to the handlebars. . and we'll take this harley davidson to these mack trucks and do this. Thank you very much, everyone was very nervous because we knew that if I didn't make that jump, I don't think I would be able to make the canyon jump.

Maybe what helps me the most before I get ready to go is a little prayer that I say that helps me understand and maybe the prayers that I can feel crossing the field from the stands are absolutely perfect. Take aim and listen to the crowd on September 8th after the canyon jump ends. I hope to see you there and we will have a great time together. I went to Idaho and bought a cannon, it's my cannon, and on September 8th. I'll jump over it and the only way they'll take me out of the air is by shooting me with an anti-aircraft gun because I'm going believe me evil knievel seemed to be a fearless man 300 jumps over 50 broken bones that's why he's the king of daredevils, even if he doesn't He was successful, he was always willing to take another leap, the point is that it had to be bigger and better than the previous one, there was a trick that would cost him more than any broken bone, making a river.

I work at the cannon, this dream jump will be my last, you know, I've always talked about the tremendous cannon project on my part, I have a dumb engineer named Doug Malwicki who thought he was going to build a rocket for me that I could run on. the cannon, then it will take off and cross it, drop like a rock and then ob2x came along and showed me another idea: This rocket is the one I tried to cross the canyon as it provided 15,000 pounds of horsepower. Probably 10,000 pounds of thrust and it would have given me about half a mile wide, that might be maybe a quarter and a half.

It was so powerful that you will see it all over the world today. Evil Knievel's cannon flight when I went. That day, to enter, someone painted a target on the other side of the canyon wall. Overall, it was a bad omen for me. You've obviously thought a lot about life and death. Are you afraid right now? I've never done. I have been afraid in my life of dying under any circumstance. I believe a man was put here on earth to live, not just exist and today is the day I am most proud of in my life.

I'm living a dream that they thought could never come true, but I'm done and I'm getting into that thing, sound. There are many people who think that their two previous test failures of the x1 and x2 were fake jobs, they were real failures, they were real failures. Mother Nature is tough enough to deal with. Without trying to invent failures, I would like to ask everyone in the cabin right now to be silent. I mean, I know what men like Gary Gilmore felt when they stood in front of an executioner. He was a dead man. I never thought he did it. a prayer, I didn't think that thing would reach 10 feet, I hope no one ever sees in their wife's eyes and their children's eyes what I saw in my wife's eyes, in my children's eyes, the night Before that jump, my wife was petrified, uh.

Jim, all I can tell you is uh, the evil Knievel Truax from Happy Landing and all the other engineers were sitting in a van, the control center a hundred meters away from me, in front of me, it was there for quite a while and the rocket It was getting hot. The parachute that was to be operated with my hand was removed. I had to push it forward to release it. I removed it and taped it on. We are one minute and counting one minute to go. One minute. I had a strap to choose from. in it or they strapped me into it, so they strapped me in with a very firm, firm seat belt system, they went down to about 15 seconds and I was counting down with them sitting in that thing almost at this angle and when it got there it got to three I said God, take care of me, here I come, there has been a mistake, it seems to be going towards the cannon, the ship is sinking, it is sinking, that parachute, the power was so much, that parachute shot out of that rocket right at launch . pad and I'll tell you what when the parachute opened I finally had a blackout when we took off when I took off and then I had a red when it opened that's where all the blood goes back into your system into your eyes and out through your nose and your mouth and your ears I can never tell you what I said.

I was so angry at that engineer. I screamed so loud from there thousands of feet up in the air. I don't know why you never heard me on the ground, what does it look like? Looks like he didn't hold on to the handle like we feared, yeah that guy was an idiot, I never touched that shot, it was his fault and his fault alone that I didn't make it through that canyon. and it's going to crash now it's going down about 17 feet per second going down slowly boy it looks like it's in the water robert craig knievel didn't make it over the 1500 foot snake river canyon all those people along the canyon i could see them all some of They were silent, some of them were booing and there I was floating, you know, it was a sad and defeating experience, believe me, I don't want to live it again.

The evil Knievel now seems to be standing on the boat and waving, he is alive and well, I waited seven. years to cross that canyon and that's what happened because I put faith in that guy you did nothing even though the can is still on the beach and there you heard it from bob truax evil didn't deploy the parachute he himself came off on the platform a failure mechanics are you going to try it again? Well, I don't know what I'm going to do. I sat on it and gave it the best I could. I do not know what to tell you.

Believe me the way I did. Think about it, 30 years have passed, a cannon is still there. God has not moved an inch. I don't see any long, long lines of daredevils standing there beating their chest saying, "I'm going to try it." An excited crowd at Wembley Stadium as Evil Knievel returns to action. I saw so many people I couldn't believe it. There were three times as many people in the stadium there as soon as he was in my entire hometown, so right? I haven't jumped in over a year. Sometimes I think maybe I should quit, but you always want to move on and be proud of that red, white and blue number one on my shoulder.

I want to keep it there. I'm glad you're here today. You know I've never had an accident when you're near Wembley Stadium. I got half the door. They paid me 80,000. I made a million dollars for that jump, of course, there is a really significant one. The problem with my jumps you have to be alive when it's over to collect the money, it's not about whether you win or lose where I come from, it's about how much heart you put into it and the most important thing is that you keep your word and go in and try it .

You guys hold on to your seats, I'll hold on to the handlebars and we'll get this over with. As I was looking down that tunnel into that stadium before I got out, I thought to myself that you've finally reached your goal, you've found what makes you happy, you've found the challenge or you go out and do it rightBefore he came out, he looked out the window and looked at a crowd of 80,000 people, he said, what does a man have to do to gather so many people? I looked at him and said evil, you're doing it here.

He was across the Atlantic in another country and I finally realized what drove me to keep going. I finally woke up. I didn't have any wish to die, it was just the excitement of the thing and that was the day I realized it wasn't wembley 1966 he got hurt indian series 1967 and he's going to turn evil knievel has done about 300 jumps and broken a few 50 bones into his career as a daredevil says he's quitting, he made that announcement Today in London, after an attempt to do a hundred mile per hour jump over 13 buses, ended in a spectacular accident.

I don't want to get up despite a crushed vertebra and a broken hand. Knivo got up from a stretcher and returned to the ramp to tell the story. 70,000 spectators, ladies and gentlemen of this wonderful country, I have to tell you that you are the last people in the world who will see me jump because I will never, ever jump. Once again I have finished bringing that stretcher here and this is Monday, May 26, 1975 This is walter cronkite cbs news good evening, sports on wheels was considered the number one sports program in the entire history of television of all the wide world of sports programs best rated by the four of the top ten I have the number one position.

I created my own program I created my own sport I'm very proud of it Robert Craig Knievel unknowingly launches the x-game genre when he becomes Evil Knievel, the king of daredevils, but the smooth leather exterior he has come to embody His superhuman image now hides a total of 50 broken bones. Evil Knievel, the man of steel, is literally starting to feel the steel plates holding him together. Evil Knievel, the obvious question. which are your future plans? Are you going to jump again? Yes, I will jump on October 25th. I'll jump on Kings Island Cincinnati now. When you made the jump to London, you said you were going to retire and then you changed your mind. are you going to go back and do that jump again not in london i jumped 13 buses in london i'm going to jump 14 kings island 13 is an unlucky number i just put myself in a trap the whole time i was behind the eight ball the whole time i kept jumping more and more and more after getting lost look at me in London I went there and jumped 13 buses I said I was done I ended up on King's Island jumping forward just go further and further and further hello I'm frank gifford back with Evil Knievel as we were in London last 26 May Evil Knievel, of course, missed that job, he said right after that, I'm going to retire, but in fact, Evil Kneel is back and he's going to jump.

You have to wonder and wonder why Evil Knievel kneels. jumping back but something hit me in the chest again to get up and be a man and I didn't exactly do it for the money, I did it because I wanted to come out a winner, I didn't want to come out a loser. and here he comes right now robert craig knievel evil welcome to kings island thank you good crowd ready to go looks like there's enough to leave me broken if I can't take that harley davidson to the wind we'll talk about it again evil uh adjusting a problem well, from the side From the flags it seems that it may have calmed down a little, but I'll be frank, there is no wind that can stop me, not even a hurricane, and there's the jump, I'll tell you.

When you look at that perspective, it really is an incredible 14 Greyhound buses. It does not have a speedometer on its engine. He goes strictly by field and doesn't hesitate to go, and although I mean, it seems like I made the jump. Perfectly that motorcycle broke down at this moment, I didn't know it at the time because it was going so fast when I hit the brake, I thought it stopped like it should, but wow, when I got off and took a look at it, I turned it around. I barely made it back to where the TV cameras were oh yeah, it fell apart, wasn't it just a little short?

Thanks, you know, I landed on number 14. I didn't make it all the way across. This motorcycle is the best. The biggest machine in the world, as far as I'm concerned, broke in half but it stopped me and all I can say is thank you number one, thank you Harley Davidson, you've been so good to me all year in the on the way to Austin. I stopped in Deming, New Mexico, and we found a nice Mexican restaurant with a bar and this guy says, Look, I see him jump into the Grand Canyon and this other guy says, I saw him jump a hundred cars in the coliseum that I didn't jump into.

Grand Canyon I jumped the Snake River I didn't jump hundreds of cars at the Los Angeles Coliseum I jumped 52. When I started to think about whether I have to live up to what these people think I am the comic book character, Spider-Man or the captain marvel or superman i will not be alive another year because they have stretched the truth about me so much that no man could stay alive trying to fill this bill no man not even evil would kneel that was what made me make the decision to quit I couldn't believe what they expected of me, they thought we could go to Seattle Kingdom and do that jump, draw a big crowd and it was big, but nowhere did it fill Seattle Kingdom and of course seven buses didn't It sounds like a long jump forever.

Knievel, if you are familiar with this story, but keep in mind that there is a short ending here and it could be very dangerous and evil. Knievel, frankly, is very concerned about that. When you hit the pavement at 100 miles per hour, it really hurts and it becomes harder as you get older in life to get up and move on. Your mental attitude deteriorates with the pain and the long healing process. I've been hurt so many times. I have spent three years in hospitals. I'm face up. I'd like to do it. how to do this successfully and safely and just go ahead and hang it evil says thumbs up proud clapping with anticipation they've said it so many times before there's no one in the church nor a crowd fighting like evil knievel i think he's coming to you Wow what It happened here tonight.

You saw the motorcycle in a dive. I really didn't do well. The power curve was bad. Even I, after jumping for 12 years, even make mistakes. Still, now you have been a wonderful audience. Thank you. Never thought about it. I had run out of talent, I never thought I'd run out of value, I never thought I'd run out of whiskey or beer or anything else. Boy, no, I ran out of all of them, this guy named Bob Arum, he was the president of Top Rank, he's the promoter of the fight anyway, Top Rank was a promotional company that showed that the cannon jump exhausted all the tickets in all places in the world for that canyon jump, it sold out.

I didn't pay myself any beans. He pretended to be my friend. The promoters of the fight are. meat users, that's what it is, baram hired some of the sleaziest bastards you can imagine in the world, like Shelly Saltman. I wanted to buy a book that these rats wrote about Elvis Presley, it just came out, so I went there to buy the book and this guy handed me one about me he said here's one you're going to like much less he said well, did you read what this one guy wrote about you and said on tour with sheldon saltman's I had to take my kids out of school, for God's sake, do you know what I did to him?

I caught him I went to the guard gate at 20th Century Fox I said, You know Shelly Slalom and oh yeah, he's vice president. I said where is he? Well, you'll probably catch him at the police station. I caught him going straight to it. So I picked up that baseball bat after that guy had a guy with me it's because I was afraid he would take the bat from him and hit me I couldn't hold it very well both my arms were broken both of them I had them in casts from an accident. I had to hold the ball with both hands and when I went to court they asked me if he had any regrets, so I said no, I have no regrets.

My lawyer told me not to play with low rivalry. I fired them. I told him that I am not alleging anything. I did it. I faced it. He was proud to have finally taken a stand against him. God created all men and the baseball bats in Winchester made them all equal. And that's how the hell, but you. I really can't believe what you're saying that if someone wrote something about them you have the right to chase them with a baseball bat. I think I did him a favor by chasing him with a baseball bat. In Santa Monica, California, stuntman Evil Knievel was sentenced today to six months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon.

He was in a furlough program. He had to go out during the day, so word got out that he had a driver who took my cars to my office in North Hollywood and then to Universal Sheridan for lunch every day. He was on work leave at the Beverly Hills hotel in the polo room and drunk and Avatar were sharing and drunk, but I told the guys they were on work leave. I told them that if I win this Rose Bowl game, I will get them all a limo. Well, I love her, so the day after the game, all these limos pull into the parking lot of that county jail and here all these prisoners come out of there and these limos take them away. guys to where they were supposed to work, that was the deal, oh boy, the chaos, caution, it was fun while it lasted for those few inmates who traveled in style today the last time they were in the back of a car driving them anywhere.

They were handcuffed. I really thought at the time that that would bring some morale to some guys throughout the prison system who knew I was doing this to make them feel good about themselves, especially to make their kids feel good about them. I don't think I'm going to have any problems for that, I hope not, for trying to help someone. That's all I can tell you about toys. It may not be a merry Christmas for daredevil Evel Knievel. Knievel was jailed this week on assault charges. and Ideal Toys says he still doesn't know if he'll continue selling evil Knievel stunt motorcycles and other toys and that could be a big loss for Knievel, the guy I hit with a ball that created so much stench in Los Angeles.

My career as a toy. My pinball. career my career in clothing and television career all associated products I was in so much trouble I couldn't believe it two days before I was going to be released on parole I said to hell with this I'm not going back to jail I'm going after this guy again this saltman oh i never forgave this guy what he wrote about me never anyway uh i escaped i came back around two in the morning when i realized i was immediately arrested for escaping from evil knievel is confined in maximum cell security this night judge rafi in santa monica will determine later this week how much he will have to pay for being five hours late to return to jail, so when they sent me back to have more common sense, he could have given me three years for the escape and the limousine thing but he didn't do it he sentenced me to six more months and so a very subdued evil knievel returns to jail the judge's words graffiti in his ears that you are no longer the daring evil knievel you are robert craig knievel with a number reserve sold almost everything.

I had never taken care of my family like I should. Robbie is out of line. I do not know what happened. He was rebellious and crazy just because he had a crazy father in my mind. The more he found he. more I wanted to be like in July 1971 Evel Knievel's two children, Kelly and Robbie, appear for the first time with their father at Madison Square Garden. It will be another three years before they make another public appearance, this time in Toronto just days before of the famous Snake River Canyon jump, shortly after eldest son Kelly decided that the reckless life is not for him.

I usually don't like to be the center of attention, I think that was the main reason, plus I don't have as much guts as they do, but from the beginning, the younger brother, Robbie, is attracted to wildlife because the motorcycle daredevil. Oh, he's just a great raiser from day one, he's a great driver and the reason he's still going is because I started him when he was four or five. teaching him to ride a motorcycle, a little mini bike, I tied a rope around my waist and tied it to the back of the mini bike, that's how he taught us, but my dad didn't encourage me to jump at all, I mean , he would do it. crash, he gets in the ambulance with me and my brother and says, look at me, everything will be destroyed and he will go to the hospital and say, look at me, never do this, I never want you to do this, but he knew he was going to do it.

He knew it, he was a superhero to me like any other kid was and he wore the red, white and blue and I remember being in his truck and watching him take a drink of wild turkey in his dressing room before he jumped. . Damn, look at this, you want to get hurt. My father, he was like a drill sergeant. Sometimes, why don't you change? You're not supposed to have a brake lever like that. I want you to fix it before tonight. You understand. He was like a superhero but a real-life hero and that's why he wanted to follow in his footsteps and do what he did.

Most children want to do what their parents do. Know? Tonight I have a special night because I have twochildren. I always loved them. perform with me and write something under my guidance in the last performance I would have before the canyon jump and this is that performance and I would like you to meet my children Kelly and Rob. My brother didn't ride as much as I did. he did it his life was going on a different path i didn't know it at the time but he knew that i was the eye of the tiger the crazy kid the black sheep in the middle whatever you want to call me but that's what i wanted to do the crowd was going crazy and That's when I said this is what I want to do for a living and it stuck in my head and I kept it there and I wanted to do it since I was 11 years old.

I would like to do something. wheelies for you, would you like to see some wheelies? Okay, I'd like my youngest son, Robbie, to come. I'd like you to do some wheelies with me, robby, that was the main day. I think I introduced Robbie to his career. where he did the wheelies it was a very proud day of my life if I had known what I was going to end up with like he probably wouldn't have been as proud I don't know why he took the wrong turn I said Is it because I bought you too many motorcycles?

He had a garage. He had 12 motorcycles in the garage, so he went from a mobile home to being poor to eight acres in this huge house. Two jet planes, five Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis and a 118-foot boat. and a house in fort lauderdale i said what the hell have i done wrong trying to give you everything you want? I just can't understand it there was a rebellious part of me that was like my father robbie really tested me, tested my temper. Things didn't really get ugly between my father and I until I was 16 when I moved away.

Robbie was just trying to do what he did or what he said, he did it the way he drank and I ended up doing drugs in my day. my dad practically showed me how to drink in the 70's i don't blame him maybe yes maybe it wasn't hard being the evil knievel's son when i was a kid, you know, going through all his pressure, he had a lot of pressure on him, that's how it was You could understand, you know, if you were, you stopped and thought about what he was going through all the time. Thank you so much.

I did this same jump at approximately this same distance at this coliseum a few years ago. I never thought about death. about confidence positive mental attitude the things my dad taught me when I started jumping I put that positive mental attitude what he always taught me death was part of it and still is and I wasn't a born adrenaline junkie this is a time for robbie a final mental adjustment, the collector's thoughts are focused on the challenge, the huge crowd they are expecting, around 50,000 people here, they completely shut down the Las Vegas Shrimp just for this event, I will say that Robert has a lot of guts , I'll tell you what, although an incident occurred.

At Caesar's palace, when I jumped, I built a takeoff ramp to cross and jump, so I said robbie, this was the day before robbie. I want you to build a safety ramp from your landing ramp that is 12 feet wide and 25 or 30 feet long. no one will know the difference, but it could save your life, so he said dad, I don't want to build a safety ramp, I'm Robbie Knievel, I said well look, I'm evoking evil and I'm telling you to build that safety ramp. Oh, he argued with me and then possibly got angry. He said he had to hit you in the mouth.

Said. I said you are going to build a safe journey. My dad said he would never want to use a security platform at the same time. I didn't, but since that was years ago, when he was a punk, he always used a safety platform. It's very smart, it's not smart to jump, but it's smart to use a safety platform. Duh, I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm not the biggest daredevil in the world. I'm not at all. I am the father of the greatest daredevil in the world. I would like to introduce you to my son Robbie.

The most reckless and obviously drowned. Evil fable. Hug Robbie tonight. Robbie's last dream. and even though it's the same job that almost ended his father's life 21 years ago, a jump that sent his father into a line left a one-inch discrepancy in the length of his legs, he's determined to get revenge, so he I watched very carefully and he got on his motorcycle and just ran back and forth when he jumped off, he landed 15 feet from the landing ramp, he landed on the safety ramp at 75 or 80 miles per hour, if that ramp security had not been built, Robbie would have been decapitated. in the neck he took his head what an incredible sight robbie knievel's dream has come true so now after the jump he walks up to the microphone and says I love you dad that was for you dad I love that but I know he loves me can 'I can't change that no kick in the ass was hard enough for him to not love me too much.

There's a lot of traffic here, we'll go for a ride, okay, let's see, go sign some autographs. I will see you later. I think I should leave it. before they kill it, most athletes quit when they are 40 years old. I dedicate 10 more years to my life. I'll forever jump if I can be the luckiest kid in the world if he doesn't end up in a wheelchair. My heart breaks, I am a perfect example of someone who had a desire, a burning desire to do something, a dream and I lived it being a true gladiator. Many believe that evil would die in the sand when you live each day as it will be. being the last it has to be hard to get out of the spotlight now evil often talked about jumping back in but years of hard living meant he had a pretty rough landing in 1999 his past finally caught up with hepatitis c contracted from blood transfusions was destroying evil's liver without a transplant he was going to die as usual he beat the odds and the grandfather of extreme sports was back in 1992 evil met and began a relationship with 22 year old professional golfer crystal kennedy knievel he was 53 years old in That moment I am lucky to have Crystal to be by my side in November 1999, shortly after Evil recovered from his liver transplant, he and Crystal were married at Caesar's Palace, less than a year later they divorced, but to this day they remain together as a couple if it weren't for Crystal.

I am very happy with her. I truly believe I would spend my life traveling. I am a gypsy and I admit it. I simply am. I love traveling on that bus. I love it. It's as big as you can get. It has everything. the world in it, Tiffany lighting and a king size bed. It has a nicer bedroom than any suite at Caesars Palace. I hope that while everyone was here you had a chance to see our new beautiful 40 foot well loading trailer where everything is stationary. it has a lot of memories it's beautiful to look at and I take it to all my performances and shows so I call it my Wells Cargo Evil Knievel experience and I just pick it up or take it to your showroom or in front of your house and just open it and you can see the things it contains.

I sign autographs in the different stores or shopping centers I go to. What do you think? How does it look, Earl? So I have the trump here that I skipped the seizures with back then. The Harley-Davidson XR750 that I did my last three rocket jumps on is just as it was when it came out of the canyon. This harley-davidson is my own personal bike that I ride, last given to me by George from Latest Motors in Portland, Oregon. Me, this bike, I almost want to get on that 750, but I made it. I really don't want to take another leap.

Many people have told me: why don't you give up and don't do it? I don't know if I'll just quit smoking, what am I going to do? I just lie in bed and watch TV, I walk around the trainer to exercise, I can't do that, what does it feel like to jump? It was scary, I didn't tell anyone. although I just told him that I was worried I have a skeleton a big skeleton in which I have all those plates and everything that my doctors did for me I talked to him I told him see the evil I told him he should have taken another leap I pretend that He Skeleton is me, but anyway, it works fine.

Can you imagine me at this age trying to jump? People wouldn't think that's worthy. Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Let's give a big Canadian welcome to a man known around the world. the world as the last of the gladiators the all-time king of daredevils evil knievel have you ever heard of my great-great-grandfather he was a gladiator in rome caesar hated him he dug a hole in the middle of the sand he buried him in his neck and Caesar was given the meanest lion in all of Rome, they flew him from Africa and put him in a cage, they fed him for a month, they starved him and then they let him out at this big Julius Caesar meeting they have in this big Sand in Rome, this lion lunged and when he was going to grab my grandfather by the neck, my grandfather crouched down, the lion went over his head, my grandfather leaned down and bit the lion's balls and spat him right back at him.

Julius Caesar, do you know what Caesar said? fair fight you can evil son of a great fair fight that was my great-great-grandfather I also love being in the arena I owe God for taking care of me every day I know if a doctor came to see me today tell me I had two weeks to live I would pray for go to heaven and I would be grateful. I thank God for every wonderful day I have had. I'm so grateful for that come on baby light my fire come on I think you know me as a man who kept his word to the people and stood his ground against all odds he's good enough for me I don't care what they say about him I know that my grandchildren love me I know that my children do I don't know what else a man could ask what the hell are you going for?

What are you going to ask for when you die? I am truly blessed to realize how short life is. Can you imagine it wasn't a team? They weren't two boys. It wasn't some sports world fraternity it was just a guy who came with a show at the right time, in the right place and captured the hearts and imagination of Americans, what a wonderful feeling.