Wave (stadium)

1970-1980s

Despite the lack of a common opinion about the origin of the wave in the stadium, most researchers of the phenomenon suggest that the wave first appeared in North American sports in the late 1970s . - early 1980s October 15, 1981, the famous cheerleader Crazy George Henderson forced the audience to spend a wave at the MLB game in Auckland , California ^{[2] [3] [4]} . This wave was shown on television, and George used the video of the event to confirm that he was its inventor. October 31, 1981, the wave was organized at the University of Washington in Seattle , and continued to appear in the rest of that football season. ^[2] Although the people who created the first wave in Seattle recognized Crazy George’s wave at a baseball stadium, they claimed to have popularized the phenomenon since Crazy George’s wave was a one-time event.

Crazy George believes the wave idea came about by chance when he was a fan at the NHL game in the Northlands Colesay in Edmonton , Canada . His goal was to make one side of the arena jump and rejoice, after which the opposite side reacted to it. One night, at the end of 1980, a reaction came from one section of the fans with a delay that led them to stand on their feet a few seconds later than the section next to them. The next section of fans followed suit, and the first wave rounded the Northlands Colesia on its own initiative. ^[5]

University of Washington

Robb Weller, a fan of the University of Washington from 1968 to 1972 and later co-host of Entertainment Tonight, indicated in September 1984 that in the early 1970s, a school support group developed a version of the wave that ran from the base to the top of the arena, instead of side to side , as a result of which there were difficulties in obtaining timely movements of the hands of a drunk audience: “In fact ... there were two waves. I was a fan at the University of Washington from 1968 to 1972, when we created the first wave. We tried to do such tricks, but the punks would have drunk too much, and everything would have turned out in vain. Finally, we tried a wave in the student section, and it worked out there, but that wave is different from this wave. She walked from bottom to top, and not from side to side. " ^[6]

The first wave at the University of Washington at Husky Stadium occurred on October 31, 1981, ^{[7] [8]} it was led by Dave Hunter (Husky trumpeter) and Robb Weller. ^[9]

University of Michigan

In the early fall of 1983, the Michigan Volverins played with the Husky in Seattle and brought a wave to their Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor . A letter to the sports editorial board of The New York Times states: “There are three reasons why the wave appeared at the Michigan Volverins games: This gave fans the opportunity to do something when the team leads their opponent with a margin of 40 points; it was exciting and exciting to see how 105,000 people in the stands move and support the team; and Bo Shembekler [team coach] asked us not to do this. ” ^[10] Fans answered his request by creating more varieties of waves, including Silent Waves (fans stand silently and wave their hands), ShSh Waves (replacing voice support with shh sound), Fast Wave, Slow wave ”, and two waves simultaneously moving in opposite directions. The following spring, fans who enjoyed the wave at Ann Arbor brought it to the nearby Tigers Stadium in Detroit . The Detroit Tigers won the World Series this year and appeared on many television games throughout the year, so people across America saw these waves.

Monterrey Wave

According to the BBC , in the early 1960s viewers launched a wave during a football match between the Mexican teams Monterrey and WANL Tigres , this happened at Monterrey Stadium. After a break between the two halves, the players returned to the field longer than usual, and the crowd began to worry. The organizers of the match, trying to entertain people, began to throw game balls into the stands as gifts. People began to more and more creatively support their team and, thus, the “La Ola" ("wave") arose, which, after several attempts, went around the stadium ^[11] .

In Mexico , the Mexican Wave became popular after the show, entitled "Always Sunday."

Global Broadcasts

The wave was broadcast all over the world at the 1984 Olympic Games final between Brazil and France on August 11 with 100,000 spectators attending the Rose Bowl , Pasadena . ^[12]

In June 1986, the wave reappeared at the world level during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico . ^{[13] [14]} Many people living outside of North America first saw this phenomenon. As a result, native English speakers outside of North America called the Mexican Wave phenomenon. ^{[13] [14]} In Germany, Italy and other countries, the wave is called “La Ola” (or simply “Ola”), which comes from the Spanish word “wave”, ^[15] while in Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil , it is alternatively translated as Onda, but “La Ola” is also used.

Singapore

In Singapore, the wave is known as the Kalanga wave, and is often regarded as a symbol of the Singapore national team . It is usually performed at football matches involving the national football team or LyonsXII . The Kalang wave was named after the Kalang district in which the National Stadium is located.

Today, the wave can often be seen during the World Cup , when viewers want to show appreciation for the match or during a lull on the field to amuse themselves. There is some controversy as to what situations the wave is suitable for during sporting events. ^[16] Many fans believe that the wave should not pass during important situations during the game.

Prior to the reconstruction in Melbourne Cricket Ground between 2002 and 2006, spectators seated in seats reserved for members of the Melbourne Cricket Club did not participate in the Mexican wave, and were booed by other viewers until the wave continued on the other side. ^[17] Sociologist John Carroll described the practice as dismissive of power or people with a higher social status, although it was done good-naturedly and based on the nature of equality when watching sports. ^[18] This feature is also seen on Lord's Cricket Ground .

Metric

In 2002, Tamas Wiszek from the University of Budapest , Hungary, along with his colleagues, analyzed a video of 14 waves in large Mexican football stadiums, developing a standard model of wave behavior (published in Nature ). He found that only a few dozen fans needed action to trigger a wave. After the wave began, it usually moved clockwise at a speed of about 12 m / s, or about 22 places per second. At any given time, the wave is about 15 places wide. These observations are applicable to various sports, although the details differ in individual cases. ^[19]

Records

In 2010, as part of The Rally to Restore Sanity and / or Fear, 210,000 people took part in a wave led by the Leading Destroyers Jamie Heineman and Adam Savage . ^[twenty]