Talk:Audience wave
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I admit I was 8, but I remember doing the wave at an Olympic soccer game in 1984 at Stanford University, between the United States and Brazil, I think. I also remember the torch being run into the stadium, which means it was the first game of the tournament. Simple math makes that 2 years before the 1986 world cup mentioned in the article text. Gentgeen 23:28, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- I looked it up, it was USA vs. Costa Rica. Gentgeen 09:45, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Australian here... in my recollections, all waves I've seen have been anticlockwise... is this an australian or southern-hemisphere quirk? Some more opinions requested before adding to the article proper... Nemo Mon, 27 Dec 2004 01:45:59 +1100
Yeah I've noticed that it goes in an anti-clockwise direction at the MCG. Is this what you are referring to, or is it like this australia wide? I've refixed the article to reflect the change anyway..
- Unfortunately, I've had to reword that into a much more vague statement. The paragraph you added that line to was describing the findings of Tamás Vicsek's study which as far as I know didn't mention the MCG as a notable exception. The paragraph does say that it's usually clockwise, which does imply that it's sometimes counterclockwise. If there's a study somewhere that shows a particular pattern to these exceptions then by all means it should be mentioned here, but we need to avoid anecdotal original research otherwise. Bryan 06:35, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
why is the reference to to German name so necessay- its out of place Mexaguil 05:27, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- It doesn't look too out of place to me. Right after the line mentioning that the wave was introduced to the soccer community in a Mexican stadium and is sometimes called the "Mexican wave" it says that the Germans use the Spanish words for "the wave" to refer to it. Spanish is the language spoken in Mexico, so it's another point in support of that. Bryan 05:52, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)
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- As a German reader, I found it interesting, that this fact is mentioned here. Every Spanish speaking reader will find it interesting too, that a term of their language is used in our language. Furthermore, it may be happen, that even English speaking readers come to Germany this year to visit the World Cup. So they know exactly what's going on, when the people prepare a "la ola" - gives much sense and is thus relevant, because in the dictionary one will search for a "wave" and find "Welle" - which is not used for it as a single term "die Welle", but "La-Ola-Welle" or "Stadionwelle", but "La Ola" is very common, because it was a title of a TV sports magazine (or so). -- Arne List 16:20, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] origins of the wave
I'd like to submit that the origins of the wave are slightly earlier than the article suggests. I recall participating in the wave here in Canada at Vancouver Whitecaps soccer games as early as 1978/1979. Crazy George worked both BC Lions (CFL) and Whitecaps (NASL) games back in the old Empire Stadium, so I would say that it's likely that he came up with the idea.
Another possible origin:
I participated in "the wave" at Michigan Stadium in the late '70s.
[edit] article name
I don't believe Audience wave is a good name for the article. Almost the only googlehits for it are wikipedia mirrors. "Audience" is an inappropriate word as it is rarely used for stadium crowds; usually (as in the wikipedia article "audience") it refers to those attending a performance (film, music, theatre, etc) rather than a sports event. While there have probably been waves at some stadium concerts, it's not the norm. That said, I haven't (yet) requested a rename as I can't think of a definitive alternative: replacing "audience" with "spectators" hardly works, as it's not a collective noun; using "crowd" seems a little too vague (pas de pun intendé). Does anyone have any thoughts? Let me toss out some random suggestions:
- Mexican wave; The wave; The Wave; Crowd wave; Spectator wave; Stadium wave; Wave (crowd); Wave (stadium); Wave (spectators); La Ola; Doing the wave; Doing the Wave;... jnestorius(talk) 16:26, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
- Who the hell calls it an 'audience wave'?! I've only ever heard 'Mexican wave'. Yes, generically, it is a 'wave' done by the 'audience' of a sport, but it has a specific name: Mexican wave. Ben davison 22:00, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
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- I never heard the term "Mexican wave" until today. Here in the US I believe it is only ever referred to as "The Wave". This is for the obvious reason that almost nobody in the US watched the World Cup of 1986, and prior to 1986 it was a very widespread practice at US football matches and baseball games. I agree that "audience" isn't so great, but maybe Stadium Wave is better as a generic term that Wikipedia could use?
I agree the name should be changed, but stadium Wave is a neologism like audience wave. I think the best options are either The Wave or The Wave (sports). "Mexican Wave" is probably a poor title, since the term is not used in the U.S., the birthplace of The Wave. -- Mwalcoff 01:17, 7 September 2006 (UTC) Everyone knows what a Mexican wave is. Audience wave is a lame title it is not even used in the US as there it is simple 'the wave'. The practice definitely became more famous and international after the Mexico World Cup of 1986 which popularized it. The wave must have predated that event and been well established in Mexico to be as impressive as it was. I doubt the Mexicans were watching many Ice Hockey games from Canada to have learnt it from there. There is good evidence to suggest that it was common in the 1970s in Latin America. The North Americans probably borrowed it from there and usurped ownership. No one has explained how the transfer from US to Mexico may have occurred. Even if the wave is from the US it is commonly known as the Mexican Wave and it is clear what every one is talking about when its called that.150.101.204.22 03:59, 22 January 2007 (UTC) It should be mexican wave, because thats what it's most commonly known as. 149.135.29.62 22:31, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
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- Mexican Wave seems to be the most popular name, despite US users being obvlivious to it. Additionaly, theo page states "The Wave" for America and "Mexican Wave" for British Commenwealth...there are more countries in the the commonwealth, whith only one country calling it The Wave, therefor, to call the page "The Wave" or similar would be catering to America, whereas re-titiling it to The Mexican Wave would be more universally accepted. -- Evilio, 17:29 5 Febuary 2007
[edit] Complications
As discussed in the Largest Recorded Wave section, the execution of the wave can get pretty complex. Taking it one step beyond the University of Michigan is the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The order is as follows: regular CCW wave, slow CCW wave, fast CCW wave, regular CW (reverse) wave, split wave (ie: one CCW and one CW). I only offer this as the most complex that I've seen. Is it more complex anywhere else? Might this merit inclusion in the article?
IF wikipedia is a Global Encyclopedia it should be called the "Mexican Wave", the name that almost the whole world knowns, but if Wikipedia is only for U.S. residents, you can call it whatever you wish.
[edit] Commonwealth English
I'm not happy with the current wording of the opening sentence:
- A packed crowd in a stadium does the wave (North American English) or the Mexican wave (British and Australian English) when ...
The intro could say that people "do the wave" in the U.S. and Canada; they do the "Mexican wave" in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and possibly elsewhere (Serbia?). I don't like the singling out of British and Australian; are we meant to extrapolate the others or are they specifically excluded? Or should the list be lengthened? My preference would be for:
- A packed crowd in a stadium does the wave (North American English) or the Mexican wave (most other English-speaking countries) when ...
or even:
- A packed crowd in a stadium does the wave (U.S. and Canada) or the Mexican wave (most other English-speaking countries) when ...
I don't want to get into a lame edit war, and I accept that Commonwealth English is a poorly-defined neologism to be avoided. I think there needs to be some generic discussion in the Wikipedia: namespace about how to avoid using it: not for policy-profileration, but maybe someone has a good idea we could all benefit from in these situations. jnestorius(talk) 17:56, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
