Rembering Evel Knievel

Evel Knievel 1938 - 2007

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- Evel Knievel is dead.

That sentence probably should have been written in 1968, when Knievel crashed his motorcycle spectacularly as he jumped the fountains at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and wound up in a coma.

It probably should have been written in 1974, when his rocket-powered cycle failed as he tried to jump the Snake River Canyon and he almost landed in the raging water. Or the numerous other times when, while trying to jump something bigger than ever, he splattered.

Instead, it was written Friday. Natural causes. Age 69.

"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" said longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundle. He's the organizer of the annual Evel Knievel Days festival in the daredevil's Butte, Mont., hometown. "I lost a good friend and a guy who was like a father to me. I'm just glad he doesn't have to suffer anymore."

Rundle said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium Friday and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital. Knievel had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his many spills. He also suffered two strokes recently.

Knievel's son, Kelly, 47, said he had visited his father in Clearwater for Thanksgiving.

"I think he lived 20 years longer than most people would have," Kelly Knievel said. "I think he willed himself into an extra five or six years."

Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980.

For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. Always, he welcomed the challenge whether in sports, at work or play. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer.

"No king or prince has lived a better life," he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved."

He garbed himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though."

Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video.

Triumph and Tragedy...

By now, we all have heard the tragic news of the death of Redskins Safety Sean Taylor. Not enough can be said regarding how senseless his death was, and how dearly he will be missed by his family, friends, and sports fans everywhere. His passing has already received plenty of press coverage, and the story and investigation will continue to maintain the media spotlight for a while.

The sports world suffered the loss of another legendary sports figure today. And while this second man did not command the national spotlight on Sundays, he played a role in the careers of almost every athlete in America today, at every level of competition.

Dr. Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade and launched a multibillion-dollar industry that the beverage continues to dominate, died Tuesday of kidney failure. He was 80 years old.

His death was announced by the University of Florida, where he and other researchers created Gatorade in 1965 to help the school's football players replace carbohydrates and electrolytes lost through sweat while playing in swamp-like heat.

Now sold in 80 countries in dozens of flavors, Gatorade was born thanks to a question from former Gator Coach Dwayne Douglas, Cade said in a 2005 interview with The Associated Press.
He asked, "Doctor, why don't football players wee-wee after a game?"

"That question changed our lives," Cade said.

Cade's researchers determined a football player could lose up to 18 pounds -- 90 to 95 percent of it water -- during the three hours it takes to play a game. Players sweated away sodium and chloride and lost plasma volume and blood volume.

Using their research, and about $43 in supplies, they concocted a brew for players to drink while playing football. The first batch was not exactly a hit.

"It sort of tasted like toilet bowl cleaner," said Dana Shires, one of the researchers.

"I guzzled it and I vomited," Cade said.

The researchers added some sugar and some lemon juice to improve the taste. It was first tested on freshmen because Coach Ray Graves didn't want to hurt the varsity team. Eventually, however, the use of the sports beverage spread to the Gators, who enjoyed a winning record and were known as a "second-half team" by outlasting opponents.

After the Gators beat Georgia Tech 27-12 in the Orange Bowl in 1967, Tech coach Bobby Dodd told reporters his team lost because, "We didn't have Gatorade ... that made the difference."
Stokely-Van Camp obtained the licensing rights for Gatorade and began marketing it as the "beverage of champions." PepsiCo Inc. now owns the brand, which has brought the university more than $150 million in royalties since 1973.

Cade said Stokely-Van Camp hated the name "Gatorade," believing it would was too parochial, but stuck with it after tests showed consumers liked the name.

Gatorade held 81 percent of the $7.5 billion-a-year U.S. sports drink market in 2006, according to John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.

"Gatorade is the clear granddaddy of those drinks," Sicher said.

Cade said he thought the use of Gatorade would be limited to sports teams and never dreamed it would be purchased by regular consumers.

"I never thought about the commercial market," he said. "The financial success of this stuff really surprised us."

The researcher also said he was proud that Gatorade was based on research into what the body loses in exercise. "The other sports drinks were created by marketing companies," he said.
Since its introduction, Cade said the formula changed very little. An artificial sweetener has replaced sugar.

Instead of the original four flavors, there are now more than 30 available in the United States and more than 50 flavors available internationally.
Born James Robert Cade in San Antonio on Sept. 26, 1927, Cade, a Navy veteran, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

Cade was appointed an assistant professor in internal medicine at UF in 1961. He worked until he was 76, retiring in November 2004 from the university, where he taught medicine, saw patients and conducted research.

Cade and his wife, Mary, had six children. His contribution to the sports world will live forever.

Watch What You Wish For...

Right now, everyone is whining and crying about the status of their favorite team in the BCS standings. A lot of what we are hearing comes from fans of smaller programs... the so-called Cinderella schools. They all demand that their team be placed in the national spotlight. To them I say: Watch what you wish for.

The loudest noise comes from...once again.. Hawaii. Their supporters point to the perfect record thus far, and claim that Hawaii should play in the National Championship game. They have certainly dominated their conference in every statistical category imaginable. But the fact of the matter is that the team is still untested. Their toughest competition this season was against last year's Cinderella story, Boise St. But the fact of the matter is that Boise St. got LUCKY last season in their win over Oklahoma. Their success last season certainly did not translate into a stronger program this season.

The BCS cannot and will not place this Hawaii team in the National Championship picture. To do so would invalidate the entire BCS concept of 'strength of schedule.' While Hawaii cannot help the fact that the rest of their conference is weak, they could help their cause a bit by playing tougher non-conference games. Instead, they continue to roll with a soft schedule all season long.

I understand that its difficult to find quality programs willing to take the long trip to the islands for a game during the season and school year. But that is not a problem for the BCS to solve. Its up to Hawaii to find a way to get legitimate competition for its non-conference games. Until they do that, they will be limited to consolation bowl games.

Hawaii (11-0) moved up to No. 12 in the BCS standings and will earn an automatic major-bowl berth if it can hold that spot through next weekend. If they win, they probably will end up in the Sugar Bowl against the SEC champion, LSU or Tennessee. Then we will see just how good the TEAM really is. And when its all over, we will see if this team is going to remain a viable contender or if its just the next Boise St, unable to sustain its success over multiple seasons.

Thats the problem with Cinderella. They might get the slipper, but their ride still turns into a pumpkin in the end.