The Lunatic Fringe

Ah, the wave.  Something that truly divides sports fans.  Few things divide hardcore fans from the rest of the sports-going public like the wave.

I’m not truly one of those ‘Kill Those Who Do The Wave’ people, but it does annoy me.  When it’s going, it gets in my way of watching the game more often than people walking up and down the aisle.  And my season tickets are on the aisle.

That’s really my thing against it.  When the wave gets going, people stop watching the game.  They spend more time watching people stand up and sit down in tandem than they do what they paid way too much money to watch.  And they get in the way of people who are enjoying watching the game.

Short of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, I’ve never seen the wave in a theater.  So why do it in a stadium?

I get that it feels good to be a part of a large group, all doing things in unison as if we had one mind.  That’s part of being a fan and going to games.  But the wave is no longer one of those things.  Want to do that?  Be a part of a flash mob.  Do the Valentine’s Day pillow fight in San Francisco.  Join Improv Everywhere.  But please don’t do the wave.

Unless you’re in Oakland.  I give them a pass since they did invent it.  (And it did start in Oakland with Krazy George, not at some college in Washington.)  Of course, that’s a worthless pass, since they never have enough fans to do it.  The only wave going on at the Coliseum is when the wind blows the tarps along the upper decks.

PS – Krazy George, you’re cool with us.  I loved seeing you at San Jose Giants games, and I wish we saw you more often there.