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The stadium wave is a coordinated and lively phenomenon that occurs in the stands, among those attending sports or mass events; it is known as “the Mexican wave”, since it rose to fame during a 1986 World Cup game in Mexico. An excited crowd watch-ing a match at the Monterrey University Stadium un-leashed the impulse that triggered the wave, which was seen by millions of spectators.
More than 30 years later, the Mexican wave is a classic celebration that takes place in stadiums around the world and that the Oxford Dictionary defines as “an effect resembling a moving wave produced by successive sections of the crowd in a stadium standing up, raising their arms, lowering them, and sitting down again”.37
With fame came controversy as several countries claimed the invention of the wave. Cheerleader “Krazy” George Henderson proved to have started the first wave of history in Oakland, during a baseball game in 1981. However, he acknowledged “the 1986 World Cup was its great showcase. It was done with every game, and I watched on TV and saw pictures of the impact it had. Stadiums as majestic as the Azteca served as its home. The wave there took on dimensions that I couldn’t imagine in my wildest dreams”.38
