From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Krazy George at a San Jose State Spartans home football game.

Krazy George Henderson is the self-proclaimed World's Sexiest Professional Cheerleader, and the most commonly accepted inventor of the audience wave.

Krazy George began cheerleading while a student at San Jose State in 1968, where he was also a member of the National Championship winning judo team. After graduating, he continued cheerleading for free at local sporting events, where he became known for leading sectional cheers, accompanied by his hand drum. In 1975, while working as a high school teacher, Krazy George was hired by the San Jose Earthquakes and the Oakland Seals to be a cheerleader. Later that year he was hired to be a cheerleader for one game by the Kansas City Chiefs, team owner Lamar Hunt then extended his contract for the remainder of the season, and each year through 1979 (when the Chiefs lost a bidding war to the Houston Oilers); he has been a professional cheerleader ever since.

Krazy George is the person most often credited as the inventor of the "the wave". He first used it as part of his cheerleading routine on October 15, 1981, while at a nationally televised Oakland Athletics American League Championship Series game against the New York Yankees. According to Krazy George's website, he had thought up the wave earlier, but needed a full stadium for it to be effective, and the A's/Yankees game combined a full stadium with an energetic crowd, the ideal situation for a wave. After a few false starts, the crowd understood what Krazy George was trying to accomplish, and the wave circled the Oakland Coliseum, followed by several others during the game.

In the summer of 2000, supporters of the University of Washington demanded that Krazy George's website be taken down, as they claimed to have invented the wave at their homecoming game against Stanford University in 1981. However, as that game took place on October 31, more than two weeks after the nationally televised A's/Yankees game, Krazy George has refused to remove his site, and continues to claim the invention of the wave.

Krazy George is regularly seen on Northern California television where he appears on many local commercials.

During his career, Krazy George has worked for a number of teams in many different sports, including:

• Ball State Cardinals (NCAA)
• British Columbia Lions (CFL)
• Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
• Colorado Rockies (MLB)
• Dallas Tornado (NASL)
• Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
• Houston Oilers (NFL)
• Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)
• Minnesota Vikings (NFL)
• New Orleans Saints (NFL)
• Oakland Athletics (MLB)
• Oakland Seals (NHL)
• Oklahoma State Cowboys (NCAA)
• San Jose Earthquakes (MLS and NASL)
• San Jose Giants (California League)
• San Jose State Spartans (NCAA)
• Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL)
• Tennessee Titans (NFL)
• The United States men's and women's national soccer teams at the Football World Cup
• Vancouver Giants (WHL)
• Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

• Krazy George's website
• Still 'Krazy' after all these cheers
• The WAVE magazine article Somebody's got to do it