New Wooden coaster for Six Flags St. Louis

and everything else aside, he was truly something, like which we'll never see again. At least enough that ABC World News Tonight made him Person of the Week - I can't remember the last time they did that the week (or day) someone died. That says something.

And I still wish they'd call the new coaster something else.

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Seahawk & the Wave said:

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J7G3 said:
Only the bad kids liked him?
Gimme a break. Or some crack. come on....

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um - yeah. Only the bad kids liked him. The losers. Were you alive and in 7th grade in 1972? I was.

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No, I was -1 in 1972. But when I was older, like 5 or 6, I remember Evel being a pretty cool guy. Yes, it had 'white trash' all over it similar to Nascar stuff. But come on, I was a good kid and liked him :) Losers? Geez what stuck up burb did you grow up in?

Born in '71' and also knew kids that had the stunt bike. That thing was fun! I guess we were the "bad kids".

I watched a History channel biography on Evel today. He was brave but it was purely for entertainment sake.

They also showed the jump he did at KI. Does anybody know where that happened in the park? I couldn't get a bearing. But my guess would be in the north parking lot.

Maybe KI should name a ride after him too.

I think if they do the theming leading up to the ride like they did Tony Hawk's Big Spin at SFFT I think they will have a winner and have people educated about who this guy was. I mean waiting in line for THBS I remember reading every little sign. But seriously if the ride is going to be as good as I know it will be then who cares what the name is. It could be Mark Shapiro's Six Flags adventures, all the twists and turns he is taking to redo Six Flags.

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Seahawk & the Wave said:

I've never voted for anyone named Bush, drunk drivers or otherwise - though I was overruled by the majority on three occasions.

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Well, majority twice and minorty once anyway...

I was born in '72 and I loved Evel, as did all my friends. I was far from a bad kid too. I was a dorky good kid. Maybe it was an age thing, but me and my fellow 5-7 year old friends thought he was about as cool as they came.

I agree with those who support the Knievel name and the near myth legend of Evel. He was an true American icon imo, a mix of courage, showmanship, heart, and yes, like us all, mistakes and flaws.

I watched a cable channel documentary on him yesterday and Evel came across pretty genuine in it; he knew he was a screwed up guy.

Another thing. The show mentioned one thing in contrast to something someone above said. matt above said, "I think putting a ton of respect towards someone who made a living by putting himself in grave physical danger for the purpose of selling action figures and lunchboxes is a bit misguided." A) if you listen to him as to why he did what he did it was because he loved doing what he did, he cared less about the merchandise. B) Evel was the pioneer for almost half of the entire xgames genre. So I think these people (http://expn.go.com/expn/index) would disagree with you, and these (http://www.radical-films.com/), and him (http://www.glenplake.org/), and maybe them (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEeqHj3Nj2c&feature=related), oh, and definetly this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X70OPsVnSm4&feature=related). If we took a little time to learn, maybe we'd all be a little less 'misguided'.

One final thing. Whoever felt the need to throw Bush in this thread, get a life. How far into the next guy's term before this pathetic rhetoric finds the trash can? Think solutions, not blame. If there's one thing I dislike more than Bush it's Bush hatred.

It's supposed to be a thread about a roller coaster the daredevil for which it's named. Let's try and keep it so, yes?

To all that have something to say to Mr. Knievel, here's what he'd have to tell you...

"You come to a point in your life when you really don't care what people think about you, you just care what you think about yourself." - Evel Knievel *** Edited 12/2/2007 10:24:51 PM UTC by Dale Picolet***

I remember Evel, growing up in the 70s & 80s. He's definitely a pop-culture icon. Not sure it makes a good name for a rollercoaster, though. Maybe they just really want to paint it red, white and blue. I don't get it. As far as I'm aware, he isn't tied to St. Louis in any way. Sounds like another nationally known name Six Flags can spread throughout their park system.

They already have a red, white, and blue wooden coaster. ;)

^And it's awesome. I read the Wikipedia entry for Evel when the coaster was announced, and man does it sound like the man led a life of pain.

For every event he succeeded at, there was the next one or two he didn't do so well at. And this would typically wind him up in the hospital for extended stays.

But, in many respects it's no different than watching today's Motocross bikers (or skateboarders/bmx bikers) at the X Games when they don't succeed at a trick. When they fall out of the sky, you just know it's going to be really bad.

It's still hard to get the image of the guy this year who attempted Travis Prastrana's double-back flip and didn't make it. Or even worse (but walked away from it) was the guy competing in the skateboarding big air competition and slammed from 40ft. up in the air onto the plywood. Ouch.

One of the things was, Evel went out on a basically stripped down STOCK Harley davidson with written down callculations and guess work to WOW the crowd.

Robbie and others who've followed have had DIRT bikes with 19 inch suspensions, There were a couple others in Evel's time doing it with simular equiptment and hard work. Evel stood out and got bigger and bigger while the rest faded away.

Chuck

Charles has a good point in that today's world he would have had a technical team working out all the calculations on their laptops.

Im sorry but anyone who beats his wife is no hero. He had to lower someone else to get a rise out of it. Also I agree with matt., there are people serving overseas (myself included) who show more bravery and balls than anyone who does some stupid motorcycle tricks. He did nothing more for this country than Britany Spears is doing today. Making News. Bottom line

I agree. He may have been an entertainer, but certainly no hero like those of you fighting the good fight abroad. ^Thank you.

^And that's just it, he entertained.

I don't agree with his personal crap, but his name is known enough to put it on a coaster logo.

His name is iconic in the stunt world regardless of his demons.