Krazy George celebrates starting the Wave cheer 25 years ago
By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer
October 25, 2006
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- 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."
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