OT:  The Wave is 25 years old, and still goin

[Bulls Are We]

Hey, its a bye week...

The Wave is 25 years old, and still going

Krazy George says he started celebration novelty, not Husky football fans

The Associated Press

Updated: 2:12 p.m. ET Oct 26, 2006

OAKLAND, Calif. - Krazy George Henderson has spent the last quarter-century trying to persuade everyone that he debuted the "Wave'' during an Oakland Athletics' playoff game against the Yankees - not those Washington football fans who claim the Huskies first performed the now famous cheer.

Debate aside, the Wave is 25 years old and still going strong.

"It's been really interesting,'' Krazy George said in a phone interview from his home in New Rochelle, N.Y. "I see it at the Olympics. There's a video of Fidel Castro doing it. If it had actually originated in New York at a Yankees game, they would have thought it was sent by the gods.''

Krazy George, now 62, says he spent three years perfecting the Wave. He first pulled off the move - in which fans take turns, by section, standing up and waving their arms - on Oct. 15, 1981, at the Yankees-A's AL championship series game in the Coliseum. Washington, meanwhile, did it two weeks later, on Oct. 31.

Former Husky yell leader Robb Weller had returned to campus for a homecoming game against Stanford. He began a vertical version of the Wave in the '70s, but first did the horizontal Wave that day.

Officials at Washington acknowledge Krazy George as being first, but what they are certain of is that the Huskies popularized the cheer. It soon caught on at a Seattle Seahawks game, too.

It took a year and a half, according to Krazy George, for the Huskies to fess up that they'd seen the Wave on television and given it their own twist. Good thing, too, because he has the proof on tape: The Wave was part of the A's 1981 highlight video shown to potential season ticket holders for the following year.

"That's the best-kept lie in the last 25 years. But now, most of the world recognizes me,'' Krazy George said. "Their theory is that they came up with it in 30 seconds! 'Oh, we just thought it up.'

"They kept doing it the whole football season and of course they were a big national football power with a big budget. I tell everyone to call Seattle and get their side of the story. It's like a war with me.''

Krazy George, known best by that name and for pounding his drum in stadiums across the United States, is a California native who moved north to Napa from Southern California at age 17. He left for New York three years ago.

A former high school shop teacher, Krazy George's lone job the last 30 years has been as a for-hire cheerleader - working all of about three hours a week. Yes, that's it. He averages one game every seven days.

In that first Wave game, the Yankees eliminated the A's 4-0 to reach the World Series. Dave Righetti, now the San Francisco Giants' pitching coach, was the winning pitcher. A crowd of 47,302 was on hand for the first Wave.

"We put it on the map in 1981,'' said Shooty Babitt, a rookie on the '81 A's. "A lot of people wish the Wave would go away now. A lot of people don't understand when you should do it. ... The new-age fan doesn't understand where the Wave originated. But Krazy George still looks the same today as he did 25 years ago.''

Krazy George is a well-known figure at sporting venues, especially in the Bay Area. Mostly bald with blond curls above his ears, he wears his striped athletic socks pulled up and always has a drum in hand.

He has been featured in national magazines and TV programs and has several upcoming interviews with international publications.

That game in Oakland was the biggest crowd yet for Krazy George, who had tried the cheer a couple of times at high school rallies.

A simpler version originated at San Jose State several years earlier. Krazy George would call for the three student sections to chant - one word for each group - "San!'' "Jose!'' "State!'' He would point to each section signaling those students' turn.

He also did something similar for the former Colorado Rockies hockey team, using "Go! Rockies! Go!'' But it didn't work so well with only 5,000 fans in the seats many nights.

He knows there are plenty of fans out there who refuse to participate or become grumpy when their view of the game gets briefly blocked.

"There are always a few people,'' he said.

So, in an era when fads tend to fade quickly in sports, fashion and technology, why has the Wave stood the test of time?

"As a professional cheerleader, I know why I do it: What it does is intensify the energy of the crowd,'' Krazy George said. "It's almost like an accomplishment. It's their own competition, like a contest or video game. You have to participate to make it work. It takes 95 percent of fans doing it to make it great.''

Krazy George says he last got into it with Washington about the Wave before the 20th anniversary. Over the years, he has called the university's athletic director and president, not to mention newspapers and TV stations.

The way things are going, the Wave will carry on long enough for the lore to continue.

"You can start a wave but nobody can stop one,'' Krazy George said. "The only way it stops is if something exciting happens on the field.''

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15428880/

[NormalBull]

Here's a news flash for Krazy George.....I did the Wave in Husky Stadium in 1972.  By then, it was not a novelty in Seattle at Husky Stadium.  There was a long article in the Seattle Times 20 or so years ago describing the antics of Robb Weller who was the Huskies head cheerleader in the late 60's.  Weller would get the students to do all kinds of crazy stuff at Husky games, including the Wave.  Some of you may remember Weller as one of the early hosts of Entertainment Tonight.  Trust me, the Wave is much older than 25.  I guess he is called Krazy for a reason.

Normal

[Triple B]

Whoever started it should be ashamed of themselves .....

OT/OT: If I'm not mistaken, that's the same Krazy George that was hanging with the Tampa Bay Rowdies back in the late 70's or early 80's.

[Sunil]

I hate the wave...it should be banned from our stadium!! The wave is a sign that the game is so boring that fans need to begin entertaining themselves. Even knowing that, I've seen our student body try to start them during the middle of tight games in the second half.  >:(Are you kidding me!?? I think it's disrespectful the home team for the fans to be starting the wave while our own defense is busting it's butt.

During a TV timeout?...possibly. But even then, I think it's best to keep that stuff relegated to professional baseball games where you need to entertain yourself between innings! If you're part of the student body or a cheerleader, PLEASE don't be encouraging it.... Say "NO" to fan disinterest = saying "NO" to the wave!

[I Bleed Awesomeness]

ive seen more heterosexual things than the wave on the Oxygen network.

[flsportsfan83]

I hate the wave............. It pisses me off to see drunk ass people that could care less about the game starting it. They are usually the same people cheering when we are on O.