Tributes to this icon of many of our childhoods, Evel Knievel, who passed away today:

LeBlanc:

An icon of former children everywhere has made the greatest jump ever today, straight into Heaven.

Newscoma:

The Wide World of Sports was the big deal when I was a little kid, which means the Evel was the man.

He was pretty groovy in his Elvis outfits and the fact that he was the face of fearless when I was a little kid. I was nine when he did the whole Snake River thing…

…I miss those crashes. These kids on reality shows can’t compare to Evel.

He was the man.

Sadcox:

My absolute favorite toy as a little kid was the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I’d wind it up as fast as it would go and send Evel flying up a ramp made out of an album cover and the phone book.

Thanks for entertaining us for all those years!

Slarti:

For men my age, Evil was a HUGE icon in our consciousness during childhood. I still remember building ramps out of bricks and plywood, and jumping whatever was handy (including, one time, my brother). I idolized Knievel that much. I was SO jealous of my best friend because he had the Knievel wind-up motorcylce/action figure. That had to be the coolest toy since the 6 Million Dollar Man action figure, with bionic eye and cool punching motion.

Evil Knievel is dead. I am suddenly feeling very old. Rest in peace, Evil.

Pistol Pete:

I remember watching Knieval’s daredevil stunts on Wide World of Sports growing up. He seemed to show no fear and took risks very few (if anyone) would take just for the thrill of saying he’d done it (oh, and maybe for the thousands of dollars he got for doing them). The benefits to the leap of faith he has now taken for Christ, however, are immeasurable…

…And now, as Kneval takes that great leap into the Beyond, I pray his fans and all who knew of him would likewise be touched by Christ so they might one day land safely home.

Les Jones simply posted a quote, which said it all…

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have no idea how good it makes me feel to be here today. It is truly an honor to risk my life for you. An honor. Before I jump this motorcycle over these 19 cars - and I want you to know there’s not a Volkswagen or a Datsun in the row - before I sail cleanly over that last truck, I want to tell you that last night a kid came up to me and he said, “Mr Knievel, are you crazy? That jump you’re going to make is impossible, but I already have my tickets because I want to see you splatter.” That’s right, that’s what he said. And I told that boy last night that nothing is impossible.”
– Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel, 1938-2007

As always with these roundups, if you post about the topic afterwards, just let me know in the comments, and I’ll give you some link love by adding you to this post.