Do you know...when the audience wave was started

So this past week I went to a double header baseball game! There wasn't a better way to spend the day during the summer in my opinion. Yes, it would have been nice if either team would have won the game, but that wasn't the case. Half through the second game there was a man who wanted to start the the wave. The fans really got into it. The whole stadium got into it. That I don't think anyone was paying attention to the game anymore. The wave continued on for at least ten times without stopping. I was shocked and did have a blast.

So I thought to myself who came up with this stuff. Who decided it would be fun to get people to stand up from their chair and wave their hands in the air? I mean seriously if you think about it, it is a funny concept. So I googled it and wikipedia told me this...

• Some claim that it was created (by chance) at a National Hockey League game in Canada in 1980, and introduced to a wider audience (intentionally) in October 1981 at a Major League Baseball game in Oakland, California, and at an American football game in Seattle, Washington.^{[citation needed]}

• The wave is also believed to have been created in Vancouver, British Columbia by a marketing campaign for the local soccer team the Vancouver Whitecaps, in which they got the crowd to perform this for a commercial in which their slogan was "Catch the Wave."^{[citation needed]}

There are other reports that claim that in the 1960s, in Monterrey Mexico, during a game between Tigres and Rayados, the wave was created in the half time. The crowd was anxious, and the organizers were doing games and throwing football balls as presents in the half time because players took a lot of time returning to the field. That made people start doing the wave.

Whatever its origin, by the mid-1980s the practice was widespread throughout North America. Finally, it gained worldwide notice, and the specific name Mexican wave, during the FIFA Football World Cup in Mexico at the Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, 1986.

Looks like too many people want to take the credit, so we will never know!

"Today, the wave is generally seen during a lull in the action on the sports field, as spectators seek to amuse themselves to fend off boredom. There is some controversy as to when the wave is appropriate to perform during a sporting event. Some feel that the wave can be performed at any time, and is often done so for either entertaining the audience or distracting the opponent. Others feel the wave is only appropriate when the home team has a sizable lead such that the opponent has little or no chance of winning. Still others feel the wave is always disrespectful to the home team athletes and should never be performed."

I am not sure how I feel about this. However, I would semi agree it was a little disrecpectful when we stopped paying attention to our hometown boys. But, they should play better ball if they want us to cheer for them right? Thoughts???

(Of course this is a wikipedia, audience wave, so you can believe it or not)