wave

[eub]

OED:

e. A wave-like effect produced in a grandstand or stadium by successive sections of the crowd of spectators standing up, raising their arms, and sitting down again. Usu. as human, Mexican, or Mexico wave. orig. U.S.
   This form of crowd participation was publicized through its popularity among spectators at the World Cup football competition held in Mexico City in 1986.

   1984 N.Y. Times 6 Oct. i. 21/1 This undulating human wave..apparently became popular at University of Washington football games a few years ago.

and Wikipedia:

The exact origin of the wave is unclear. It first gained popularity in the United States in the early 1980s, with the Oakland Athletics baseball team reporting that the first appearance of the wave at a Major League Baseball game was led by professional cheerleader Krazy George Henderson in Oakland, California on October 15, 1981, in a American League Championship Series game against the New York Yankees. Others claim that the first wave originated in Seattle at the University of Washington's Husky Stadium on October 31, 1981, at the prompting of cheerleader (later Entertainment Tonight cohost) Robb Weller. The wave was apparently introduced into the soccer community at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, from which the name "Mexican wave" derives.

Comments

[rubricity.livejournal.com]

Well, I remember doing the wave at when i went to Husky football games when I was in middle school around 1981 - 1982. So golly, I was at the start of something famous.

:)