Being Evel Page #3

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that he didn't need the team.

he went on his own.

now it would just be him

looking for his big break.

- ( dramatic music plays )

- announcer:

spanning the globe...

spanning the globe to bring you

the constant variety of sport.

few years, i was singing it

in my sleep.

the thrill of victory

and the agony of defeat.

announcer:

and the agony of defeat.

knoxville:
the thrill of victory

and the agony of defeat,

and they always showed

that skier,

where you never knew--

the word was he died.

tony hawk:
the crash, like,

that's what you remember

from "wide world of sports."

announcer:
the human drama

of athletic competition.

i remember, like,

the crazy stuff that they would

show once and a while.

skateboarding was on

"wide world of sports."

i remember that.

announcer:

abc's "wide world of sports..."

we were in the business

of sports theater.

sports was drama.

sports was a story.

announcer:

the trill of victory.

i loved it.

like i covered some of

the weirdest things myself.

as long brought in an audience.

america loved it.

announcer:
the human drama

of athletic competition.

leeuwen:
everybody'd

rush home from church

and watch abc

"wide world of sports" at 1:00,

and that was

the biggest show on tv.

announcer:
this is

abc's "wide world of sports."

knoxville:
evel knows

that the motorcycle race

at ascot speedway is featured

on "wide world of sports."

so he fast-talks the owner

into letting him do his thing.

before we get back to racing,

i'd like to introduce to you

a most unusual young man.

this is evel knievel,

and his specialty in sports

is to take a motorcycle

up over a ramp

and leap through the air

some 90 feet.

that's what he's gonna try to

do today over 15 automobiles.

- you're trying 15 today?

- well, the parachute's ready.

motorcycle's ready

and i'm ready.

and i'm not

gonna miss today.

reporter:

and he's set to go.

he'll build up speed

as quickly as he can.

and here he goes!

he makes it!

a beautiful leap

as evel knievel

gets the roar approval

from the crowd.

leeuwen:
here here we are

at "wide world of sports."

biggest race of the year.

biggest dirt track race

of the year.

and i won it.

i won the race.

and you think anybody'd

remember it? no.

they know knievel.

they remember knievel

out of that whole deal, not me.

and i won 100 laps.

road my ass off.

so e

so evel got his foot

in the door,

and now he's going

to knock it down.

if you was to think of the most

outrageous thing you could do,

what would it be?

it'd be jump those fountains

at caesar's palace.

robbie:
i don't know

where it came from,

how a guy would go down

caesar's palace strip,

look at the fountains--

what was he thinking?

where did that come from?

knoxville:
so evel wants

to do this stunt in vegas,

but no one knows

who the hell he is.

so he switches

into hustler mode.

kelly:
this guy called

every news outlet,

told them that evel knievel,

famed stunt motorcyclist,

was going to jump

caesar's palace

come saturday morning,

be there.

knoxville:
so then he calls

jay sarno.

the guy who runs caesars,

and each time he would call

as a different person,

and each time, he would

mispronounce his own name.

evel knievel:
i told him

my name was larson.

i was with sports illustrated.

i said, "you ever heard

of 'evel neevel'?"

he said, "who the hell's this

'evel neevel'?"

so i waited two more days

and i called him back up,

and i said,

"this is dennis lewin from

'wide world of sports,'

do you know evel knievel?"

he says, "'avel navel.

evel neevel. evel knievel.'

who is this crazy guy?"

he said,

"everybody's calling me up

about him.

he said, i think

we got a deal with him.

i don't know. call back."

( laughter )

knoxville:

like a lot of his stunts,

caesar's palace

was one of those

that he dreamed up and sold

before he even knew

it was possible.

and then on the day,

he's got the crowds there,

and he doesn't know

if he can make it.

he's just got to go for it.

robin knievel-dick:

i talked with him for a while

before he jumped,

and he was very unsettled

about the jump.

you could tell he was nervous.

he was making runs

at the ramp and,

you know,

we could hear the motorcycle.

and we could hear the crowd,

and then the doorman--

the doorman got on the phone

and told us what went on.

( woman screams )

tonning:
my god.

that was horrible.

i thought he was gonna--

i thought he was dead.

i was horrified to watch

my friend look like a rag doll.

linda knievel:
i don't think

he was unconscious.

but he was hurting.

so off to the hospital

we went.

knoxville:

he had a broken wrist,

two broken ankles,

crushed his pelvis.

and then somehow,

word gets out

that he's in a coma

and might not make it.

he told that story,

but he wasn't in a coma.

in fact,

i flew down there,

and it hadn't been

but like two days

since he'd had the wreck,

and he was awake

when i walked

in the hospital room.

( laughs )

he had the press come in there

and play it up.

"oh, i'm about to die.

don't know if i'll make it."

well, this was knievel.

that's what he did.

he played it up

right to the end.

knoxville:

pretty soon, the crash footage

was everywhere.

geraldo rivera:
we saw him jump

caesar's palace.

we saw that fall

and his body flopping

and his head hitting,

and, you know,

all of the agony of that

and the broken bones.

that piece of film was amazing,

to see him go over and over

and then roll all the way

up to the wall and it--

that's one of the great

pieces of footage of all time.

boy, he was national news

all over the place.

( cheers and applause )

gunn:

he became instantly famous.

this guy somehow had captured

what america needed.

he came along

at the right time.

there was a certain cynicism

throughout the country.

society was changing.

man:
you had corruption

in government.

well,

i'm not a crook.

when i look out

my window...

man:
the country had been

battered by many years of war.

hamilton:
america was coming

apart at the seams.

must be the season

of the witch

must be the season

of the witch.

williams:
we were a little

down on ourselves,

and along comes this kid

from butte, montana,

who showed us who we were

and wanted to be again.

he wears red,

white, and blue

stars and stripes, too...

earle castine:

i guess we were looking

for some sort of a hero.

we had superman and batman and--

but this guy

was the real thing.

evel knievel's

for god and country, too...

sullivan:
most motorcycle

people wore black.

that was what

evel wanted to change,

and that's where

the red, white, and blue

leathers came from.

he wore red, white, and blue

because he was patriotic.

he loved his country,

but he also saw

that that would

give him a boost

to his image,

and people

were respecting him more.

wilson:
and he came out

of those mountains

in his star-spangled suit,

with his cane, and he said,

"i am gonna face death."

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