By John Patrick/Producer of Idaho Sports Talk @JPktik
Hollywood stuntman Eddie Braun will attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon on September 17th. It’s been tried just once. September 8, 1974 Legendary daredevil Evel Knievel strapped himself in a rocket and failed miserably. Now, someone else will give it a try. Braun was a guest on Idaho Sports Talk on Tuesday to discuss his attempt. While he was talking, it gave me flashbacks to when I was 9-12 years old.
Knievel was a Butte, Montana native. He was someone who kids like me idolized in the 1960s and 70s. When Evel would jump on “Wide World of Sports,” it was our Super Bowl. After we watched, we would grab a board, build a makeshift ramp and jump our bikes. To this day, the greatest toy I ever owned was an Evel Knievel stunt cycle and Scramble Van. It seemed to be indestructible.
Even though I probably only watched a handful of his jumps live on TV, I have seen video of most over the years. Here are a few of my favorites:
8/20/74: Evel successfully jumped 13 Mack Trucks in Toronto, Ontario.
5/26/75: Knievel attempted to jump 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London, England. In this clip you hear Frank Gifford doing commentary. After he epically crashed, Knievel said the reason he missed the jump was that he underestimated the width of the buses.
9/8/74: I rank the Snake River Canyon jump in Twin Falls, ID number three because it didn’t live up to the hype, although the visual of the canyon and him taking off in his sky cycle was incredible.
12/31/69: I most certainly did not Evel’s attempt to jump the fountains at Caeser’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV. I would have been five years old at the time. The crash was spectacular. Also included in this clip is the video of Gary Wells. It is a miracle Wells lived through his crash at Caesers Palace.
4/14/89: The best Knievel jump was not by Evel, but his son Robbie. Knievel became the first, and probably last to successfully jump the fountains at Caeser’s Palace in Vegas. It was a jump that certainly lived up to the hype. Jump two minutes into the video for Robbie’s jump.
So when Eddie Braun attempts to jump the Snake River Canyon in September, you can bet there will be a lot of guys my age interested to see the outcome. I hope Eddie makes it!
