The Wave

Telegraph

Who invented the Wave? The name of the person credited with inventing the Wave is "Krazy" George Henderson (born 1944). "Krazy" George Henderson is not only famous as the American inventor of the Wave but also as the world’s most famous cheerleader. When was the Wave invented? "Krazy" George Henderson invented the Wave on October 15, 1981, during a major league baseball clash between the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees. The invention of the Wave originated in America and was televised to a large audience who witnessed the playoff game in which the Yankees won 4-0, eliminating the A’s.

Definition of the Wave: The Wave, (also known as the Mexican wave outside North America) is defined as an exciting effect, initiated by a cheerleader, and produced by consecutive sections of sports stadium spectators by standing up, raising their arms, lowering them, and sitting down again so as to resemble the motion of a wave.

 

Who invented the Wave?

 

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Fact File about the Invention of the Wave: Date of Invention: October 15, 1981 *** Name of Inventor: "Krazy" George Henderson ***  Nationality of Inventor: American *** Category: Sports *** Country of Origin: America *** Facts about the Inventor, "Krazy" George Henderson, and his invention***

Fact 1: Who invented the Wave? The Wave was invented by cheerleader "Krazy" George Henderson on October 15, 1981 during a major league baseball game to energize the crowd of spectators and produce an effect around the sports stadium like the motion made by waves.

Fact 2: Who invented the Wave? The inventor of the Wave, "Krazy" George Henderson,  was born in 1944 and raised in California.

Fact 3: Who invented the Wave? The early years of George Michael Henderson, later known as "Krazy" George Henderson, were spent with his family. In 1968 he left High School and was educated at San Jose State University, commonly referred to as San Jose State.

Fact 4: Who invented the Wave? George Henderson was a shy young man who found his confidence when he found success as a member of the National Championship winning judo team. He began his involvement with cheerleading in 1969 when he started doing a section cheer at San Jose State. 

Fact 5: Who invented the Wave? The idea of using a section cheer was not a new one. It had its routes in old Vaudeville shows where entertainers orchestrated highly interactive shows in which the audience were divided into sections and participated in singing different parts of a song as directed by the performer.

Fact 6: Who invented the Wave? George Henderson used a similar method when leading a section cheer at San Jose State. He would point to different sections and they would shout out or chant "San!" "Jose!" and "State!" as he pointed at each group.

Fact 7: Who invented the Wave? George Henderson had a strong gravelly voice but as a microphone was not allowed he needed something to attract the attention of the crowd of spectators. He began to use a hand drum to help him grab the attention of the crowd and manipulate the chants and actions of the sports fans. He also acquired a new outgoing persona and the nickname of "Krazy" George Henderson.

Fact 8: Who invented the Wave? George Henderson graduated from San Jose State University and began working as a high school teacher at Buchser High School in Santa Clara, California although he continued his hobby as a section cheerleader.

Fact 9: Who invented the Wave? In 1975  "Krazy" George Henderson was hired by the San Jose Earthquakes (a professional soccer club) and the California Golden Seals, a National Hockey League Team, to be a cheerleader. He never looked back and became a professional cheerleader.

Fact 10: Who invented the Wave? "Krazy" George Henderson wanted to increase crowd participation to drive up their energy levels and increase reaction to the teams. He started by getting the crowd to jump up when they cheered.

Fact 11: Who invented the Wave? "Krazy" George Henderson found that once he had initiated this type of action that the spectators would adopt the reaction automatically, without George needing to point.

Fact 12: Who invented the Wave? This type of automatic spectator reaction lead to the  invention of the Wave. "Krazy" George Henderson realized that he could create not only energetic crowd reaction but also a stunning, moving visual effect.

Fact 13: Who invented the Wave? "Krazy" George Henderson practised a few trial runs of the 'wave' at small high school venues and decided to try it at the nationally televised major league baseball clash between the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees.

Fact 14: Who invented the Wave? The playoff game took place on October 15, 1981 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. The dramatic and unusual  'wave' worked surprising and increasing the enjoyment of tens of thousands of television spectators.

Fact 15: Who invented the Wave? The invention of the Wave spread to many other sporting events in the United States. The 'wave' reached Global proportions in 1986 during the FIFA World Cup in Mexico (hence the alternative name given to the wave). The reaction to the 'Mexican Wave' was one of excitement to the millions of people who watched the biggest event in soccer.

Fact 16: Who invented the Wave? The invention of the Wave was viewed by some as a short-lived fad but it continues to be enjoyed at major sporting events to this day. 

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