Crazy George Henderson (3:55)

In just a few hours, the A's

Narrator/Announcer (3:56)

are going to play their final game at the Oakland Coliseum. Thousands of fans expected to attend, showing their support for the team, a team

Crazy George Henderson (4:03)

they've loved for years.

Narrator/Announcer (4:05)

In fact, decades for some.

Earlonne Woods (4:08)

This past fall, close to 47,000 people sold out the Coliseum to bid farewell to one of baseball's most storied franchises before the A's abandoned the city of Oakland. In their 56 seasons, the Oakland A's went from triumph to tragedy. A once dynasty which included four World Series titles, followed by years of fielding baseball's lowest payroll. The Oakland A's were more than just a baseball team, though. They were a symbol of Oakland, a source of pride that unified a city. And while the rundown Coliseum may have earned a reputation for its small crowds, sewage overflows, and even possum infestations.

Narrator/Announcer (5:03)

Get me out of here.

Earlonne Woods (5:04)

It was home to a loyal fan base.

Crazy George Henderson (5:09)

This is Crazy George sending A's off. It's a terrible day, but a great day.

Earlonne Woods (5:15)

One of those fans was a man named Crazy George, who saw all of the ups and downs and would create one of the team's most iconic and lasting legacies. He was asked by the A's to be at their last game, to see them off and share in this final memory.

Crazy George Henderson (5:32)

This is the best part of the game for me. I just have fun making people smile. Alright, thank you. Hey, I was there. How you doing? Well, I can tell you I was shy. Well, I'm still shy. I really am. If I'm out of my element and people don't know, I'm Crazy George. And you see me across the room and nobody knows me. I am shy. I'm the quietest person in the room, and that's the way it's always been. But once I become Crazy George, I change my Persona and I'm not shy anymore. All right, you got it.

Earlonne Woods (6:18)

As a young kid, George was not crazy. His voice was not always graveled by his strange line of work, and his name wasn't even George.

Crazy George Henderson (6:28)

All through high school, I was called Mike because my middle name is George Michael and my dad was named George, so I went by Mike. So all my friends through high school, through junior college called me Mike. And it's quite a difference between Crazy George and Mike, I mean, the world of difference. Mike was quiet in high school. I don't think I ever talked to a girl. I never went to a dance. I probably didn't know a girl's name in high school, except if it was one of my best friend's sisters. I mean, I didn't have a date till I was 21 years old. I had like four, three or four intimate friends in high school. And I still keep in touch with two of them. And they really are amazed that I transformed myself like this. Almost everybody didn't expect it. And then they go, now you're crazy. George,

Narrator/Announcer (7:26)

George, can I get a photo with you?

Crazy George Henderson (7:27)

Why sure.

Narrator/Announcer (7:28)

Oh, frickin honor, man.

Crazy George Henderson (7:29)

You're a legend.

Narrator/Announcer (7:32)

Thank you so much.

Crazy George Henderson (7:33)

All right.

Earlonne Woods (7:34)

It was in college, as a student at San Jose State, that that one day something was unlocked. Something deep inside that George never knew he had.

Crazy George Henderson (7:48)

Don Balden, my best friend back then, one day he said, let's go to a football game and a seashore. I'd love to go. And we went and he brought a drum and a bugle. How did that happen, I wonder? Why do it with a bugle? A bugle takes talent to play. I couldn't play the bugle, so he hands me the drum. Well, anybody can play a drum. And I start hitting it. Okay, Spartans, let's get going. This is gonna be a great game. And I was having fun. And I was getting a few people cheering with me. And by the first half I had like 40 people cheering in that section. Is everybody ready? San Jose, Is everybody ready? By the third quarter, I had the whole section cheering. And they're all laughing and enjoying it. And we stood out. San Jose, San Jose.

Earlonne Woods (8:47)

George kept showing up to the Spartan football games. And soon with that drum in his hand, he wasn't so shy anymore.

Crazy George Henderson (8:55)

When I'd hit the drum like three times in a row, I would look up in the stands and 5,000 people would be looking at me. That's what the drum did. I got their attention. Get up, everybody. I adopted the idea that I liked being noticed. I've always wanted to be an extrovert, I guess. And that gave me the perfect excuse. So I started using my personality, carrying the drum. I get up close and personal in the stands with the fans. And that's why they cheer for me. Defense. I'm with them. Defense. Defense. I found out the impact I made on the fans. I can change the face of a game.

Earlonne Woods (9:47)

George became a fixture at San Jose State game and a bit of a local Celebrity. But cheerleading wasn't gonna pay his bills.

Crazy George Henderson (9:56)

I needed a job. A job comes along at bookstore high school. So now I was a regular full blown teacher. And I tell you, that was not my forte, but I was teaching. I don't know if they knew I wasn't cut out to be a teacher or not, but I wasn't getting a lot of joy out of it.

Earlonne Woods (10:21)

At school. He could never seem to find that same control over the classroom that Crazy George had over the crowd.

Crazy George Henderson (10:28)

The image of who I am, and then I have to be a strict teacher. And I was a terrible disciplinarian. So he's like right below out of control. That's the way I felt. It was chaos in the class. The kids just went nuts. And I'd lose control almost. I had nightmares about teaching sometimes. I was just not born for that. And I was born for cheerleading. Oh, there he goes. Oh, you big turkey, you. Dearly. This might be the real George Henderson, alias Crazy George. Cheerleader, have tambourine will travel from the seals to the earthquakes to the San Jose State spot Spartans.

Narrator/Announcer (11:11)

The fans not only love his act,

Crazy George Henderson (11:13)

they obey his crazy demands.

Earlonne Woods (11:17)

George was moonlighting on the weekends as a local cheerleader when he started getting calls from bigger teams.

Crazy George Henderson (11:24)

And that's when there was an indication I might be able to make some money at cheerleading. And I go, well, I'm gonna have to gamble. I'll try it. I just went in and I said, you know, I'm quitting teaching. I'm gonna resign my post. And I started cheering. And then I became professional. Hello, everybody. I'm Crazy George and this is what I do now.

Earlonne Woods (11:51)

Crazy George was traveling all over the country, banging his drum at games.

Crazy George Henderson (11:58)

It was a dream. I was having more fun than anybody. They pay me to do what I was doing for seven years for nothing and having fun with it then. And they start paying me, and they started paying me more and more, way more than I would ever make teaching. And I'm just loving it. So I was happy. But between the uniqueness of my occupation being so unique that nobody else I think in the world's ever done it, my Persona, my personality fit.

Narrator/Announcer (12:36)

This is Crazy George, Mr. Insanity. His ability to instigate fans has captured

Crazy George Henderson (12:42)

the imagination of spectators and sports teams alike.

Narrator/Announcer (12:47)

Back up for the Rockies to center ice. A quick pass.

Earlonne Woods (12:52)

One night, shortly after going pro, George got a gig working a hockey game for the Colorado Rockies of the NHL, who desperately needed his help to get

Crazy George Henderson (13:01)

the crowd into the game that night. It was a smaller crowd. They Hardly ever do more than 7,000 a game. They were just a struggling franchise in the NHL and you know, of course we were probably being beat.

Earlonne Woods (13:17)

So he wanted to start a cheer with three sections of fans to try to wake up the sleepy building.

Crazy George Henderson (13:23)

And so there was three sections that had a lot of people in it. So I took these three sections and I said, okay, I want to start here and I want you to stand up and sit down as I point to you. And I said, I want everybody to just yell, go. This section starts, I just want you to stand, yell, go, go, go. Oh, you're looking over here.

Earlonne Woods (13:43)

When George felt it was time to rally the crowd, he pointed to the section he wanted to stand. Stand first.

Crazy George Henderson (13:50)

Are you ready? Physically, I have the whole section stand up. And as they stand up, they yell, go. And then that next session stands up and yells, go. And I started it. And now it got about was on a curve.

Earlonne Woods (14:07)

Suddenly, as the fans followed George's lead, it was contagious, but started to rise up out of the seat. The sections next to them saw what they did and did the same.

Crazy George Henderson (14:20)

I didn't have to talk to the next section all at once. When I went, they go, go, go. I stopped. But the next session stood up and yelled, go. And they would just throw up their arms and it kept going and it got bigger and louder as it went. And it's going now and I go, all right, this is good.

Earlonne Woods (14:41)

The sections of fans standing up to cheer and sitting down one section at a time in sequence sort of looked like waves in the ocean.

Crazy George Henderson (14:49)

That cheer, after it died or stopped, the place went nuts because they'd never seen anything like it. Neither did I. I was happy too. I knew right then, I knew that's a sure I would keep doing. I knew that. So I had that new cheer in my arsenal.

Earlonne Woods (15:09)

Crazy George started what everyone would soon be calling the Wave.

Nigel Poor (15:20)

When snappy turns. Georgia's new little cheer looks high with a few thousand fans. But how about a sold out stadium? Stay tuned. Welcome back to Snap Judgment, the Wave episode. And last we left, professional cheerleader Crazy George started a never before seen cheerleader at an empty hockey game that sparked a crowd reaction unlike anything he expected. But can George pull it off in prime time? Snap Judgment.

Earlonne Woods (16:13)

Crazy George debuted the Wave in Colorado and would break it out at smaller events like high school rallies. But he never showcased it in a big stadium.

Crazy George Henderson (16:24)

And that's when the time came to go to the Oakland A's game.

Narrator/Announcer (16:27)

Of course, when it came to cheering, no one could ignore the A's 10th man, Crazy George Henderson.

Earlonne Woods (16:34)

During the 1981 season, the Oakland A's hired George to come cheer for 25 of their biggest home games.

Crazy George Henderson (16:41)

I've only done one major league baseball team and that's the Oakland A's.

Earlonne Woods (16:46)

The Swingin A's dominated baseball in the 70s, winning three straight World Series titles.

Narrator/Announcer (16:53)

Oakland has won the 1972 World Series. The Oakland A's have won their second consecutive World Series championship. And the A's have done it. The championship by the Oakland A's.

Earlonne Woods (17:08)

But as the 80s approached, they hit a post dynasty slump. And the once proud A's were now a last place team with rumors spreading that they might leave Oakland. When new owner Walter Haas bought the team in 1981, he knew of Crazy George and his reputation for stirring up Bay Area crowds and thought he could help revitalize the atmosphere at the Oakland Coliseum.

Crazy George Henderson (17:33)

I showed up and after I did one game, they just loved it. Let's go, Wade. I'd do a cheer, then I'd run up the row. I'd run to the next thing in 20 seconds. 30 seconds later, I'm in the next section ready to do a cheerleader. Back and forth cheers, four corner cheers, clapping, you name it.

Narrator/Announcer (17:54)

Crazy George. Crazy George Henderson gets them all going and it's amazing. Think he's not pumped up?

Crazy George Henderson (18:02)

When I would walk in, I could take the fans and get 10 times more reaction than they ever saw before. And the owners, in the general manner everybody players loved, was game changing. The A's win, the way George controlled

Earlonne Woods (18:22)

the crowds in Oakland as if he'd been there for years. And during that 1981 season, the A's returned to their winning ways, finishing with the best record in the American league. So on October 15, in a sold out nationally televised playoff game against the rival New York Yankee, with 47,000 fans in attendance, Crazy George felt it might be time to introduce the wave to the world.

Crazy George Henderson (18:53)

I knew at the start, I knew I wanted maybe to try the Wave, but I just didn't know if I could do it. But when I walked into that stadium, we're playing the Yankees. Such rivalry and it's just we wanted to beat them so bad and we'd already lost two games away, so we had to win or we're out of the playoffs. So I thought that wave, it was needed and I knew what it could do. The energy could add to a stadium. But I'd only been doing it for like six months or a year before that in little venues. But I said If I pull it off here, this could be big.

Narrator/Announcer (19:40)

It is 72 degrees here in Oakland. A good crowd on hand. In the background, I hear, I'm sure you hear the Oakland fans reacting to their Oakland A's. They love them here. The Yankees want to nail it down tonight and go on to World Series. But the Oakland A say, not just yet.

Crazy George Henderson (19:57)

That was an important game, Big, important game. And it was a nationally televised game. I wanted to win that game at

Narrator/Announcer (20:06)

the Coliseum in Oakland. The game is scoreless. Numerous threats by each team. Nobody's been able to push one across the plate.

Crazy George Henderson (20:14)

So the game starts and we just are not scoring. It's a low scoring game. It's depressing. And I go, well, I've got to pull this off because I have a feeling it really could do something. So I'm going, I'm gonna try it now. Remember, nobody had ever seen it before. And so I went into this one section and I said, this is the time. It's about the third inning. I could feel that atmosphere going down at inevitable. We're gonna get eliminated. They're the Yankees. So I get the three sections. I wanted three sections to talk to. And I talked to the three sections and I told them what I wanted. And I said, first you guys stand up, you sit down, then you're going to stand up and you say, nice. But I scream. And I was mean.

Narrator/Announcer (21:06)

These fans are really enthusiastic. And I'll tell you, the way it's been going, it's like it's been boiling and bubbling. A Mount St. Helen feeling here where something's going to erupt.

Crazy George Henderson (21:17)

And then I knew that when we start this, these fourth and fifth section down there probably could hear me easily yelling at them. And I started with these three sections and the energy that's just then was great. And they were having so much fun doing it. And then it went about seven sections. The three were great. The next one was pretty great. And then and just died because everybody's watching the game. And boy, on cue, when that died, everybody booed. And everybody's looking over what's going on.

Narrator/Announcer (21:55)

His crowd really reacting. Just saw one of the most amazing sights, though, as you look at the mezzanine. Each section, as they said go, got up all the way from behind home plate, completely around the stadium, through the bleacher. Looked like it was orchestrated.

Crazy George Henderson (22:11)

I do it a second time and it starts off and now it's like eight, nine sections, really strong. Gets behind home plate.

Narrator/Announcer (22:20)

Here we go again around yokel elevated mezzanine section. Okay, that was right to carry that wild.

Crazy George Henderson (22:29)

And it starts to die. And it died. And I'm screaming, I'm yelling, just keep it going. They said, okay, George, we got it, man.

Narrator/Announcer (22:38)

You just saw in the picture the man who orchestrates that. Well, you gotta believe that's George. That's all I know about George and Crazy George.

Crazy George Henderson (22:49)

Now one third of the stadium has done it. At that point, I think everybody knew what I wanted.

Narrator/Announcer (22:57)

Under the direction of Crazy George out here having themselves a good, good evening and enjoying baseball, enjoying the Coliseum and not hurting anybody. And this guy really works it. I mean, such power he has. He just directs section by section. And you see it. It's a marvelous thing.

Crazy George Henderson (23:14)

The third time, this was it. I started it.

Narrator/Announcer (23:19)

Now the loader off on Bonkers. He really loves it. Look at him. He's got a ball going.

Crazy George Henderson (23:24)

I turned around and I'm watching it. And all three decks are doing it in unison. All three sweeps all the way around, comes back through the outfield and comes to where we are and a place with the. That's

Narrator/Announcer (23:43)

crescendo rising here.

Crazy George Henderson (23:45)

Now every deck is doing it, and they're screaming as it's coming by. And it's like the most intense thing you ever saw. Sounded like a locomotive. It really did. And I mean, they coming towards your massive locomotive. The noise level and just picks up and so you can visually shut your eyes and listen and know where the wave was in the stadium. Just hear it. And you could hear it on the outfield. You're coming around, and it just rips by it. And it kept going, and they loved it.

Narrator/Announcer (24:17)

In the background, you can hear the organized hearing on the eighth fan. Well, they've got a new gimmick here. They start in section, they raise up, throw their arms in the air and yell, go. And just as they start to sit down, the next section gets up and they go all the way around the ballpark doing it. And it's quite a sight.

Crazy George Henderson (24:40)

It impressed me. Even I was unbelievably happy watching it go because I had no idea if I could get 47,000 fans through it. It was the biggest crowd I'd ever worked with. Once it got going, oh, boy, I just felt it. You know, I just sit there watching it, and I'm just taking it in. It was really a nice feeling. In the back of my mind. I was hoping they would have it filmed. It's never been on video. The game was excruciating towards the end. I mean, the fans were just so loyal, and they were Cheering and yelling and supporting the A's. At the end of the game, it would sound like we were winning the game and we were behind. And it was tough, a tough loss. But the joy after the game, the fans reaction to me, they were coming up to me and going, what was that? We loved it. People had never seen it before and I didn't know it at that time. I debuted it to the world because I didn't know it was gonna go around the world. Okay, okay, stand up. Woo. You gotta keep it going. Keep it. Sorry. That's a beautiful wave. It's going on the other side.

Earlonne Woods (26:02)

After showcasing the Wave to a national audience, Crazy George started using it regularly at games as his signature cheer.

Narrator/Announcer (26:11)

I like when he has the A's wave going around. Yeah, that's the best.

Crazy George Henderson (26:17)

That cheer was the staple of me hitting the pinnacle of power. That is what I know. I've got the stadium in the palm of my hand.

Earlonne Woods (26:28)

The big debut of the Wave instantly led to more jobs and bigger contracts for Crazy George. And his celebrity status grew. At first, it seemed like his golden ticket.

Narrator/Announcer (26:39)

His name is George Henderson, although to

Crazy George Henderson (26:41)

most sports fans around North America, he

Narrator/Announcer (26:44)

is best known as Crazy George. Yes, he has fun, but when you take a look at his annual income, you realize that this man is not crazy at all.

Earlonne Woods (26:54)

But not long after George unveiled it at the A's game, the unthinkable happened. George was questioned by a reporter in Canada about whether or not he was actually the original creator of the cheer.

Crazy George Henderson (27:07)

I never heard of it, never thought of it. When I heard a team was trying to challenge me, inventing the wave.

Earlonne Woods (27:15)

The reporter told George that the University of Washington was claiming that they were in fact the founders of the Wave. After fans did it at a football game. Right around the same time George pulled it off in Oakland.

Crazy George Henderson (27:27)

And so he told me that they were taking credit for it and they were claiming they did it on the 31st. Two weeks after I did it and after it was nationally televised during the game I did October 15th. They did it on October 31st. So two weeks later they did it. But I didn't hear they were cleaving it. That's when I called up the University of Washington to find out. Was really. I got. I got mad and I wanted to correct it and I figured it'd be really easy. I call them up and I called the University of Washington, their athletic department, and I was talking to the guy and I said, well, when did you start this? And they gave me the date and all that and I'm going, no, I invented it. I said, I know I invented it. And it took a long process, and I invented it on October 15, I have on video. He says, no. I said, well, I did it two weeks before you, and we get this argument.

Earlonne Woods (28:35)

George reached out to newspapers, radio shows, anybody that would listen. But the claims kept coming in Sports Illustrated.

Crazy George Henderson (28:44)

You know, they're supposed to be like the premier great experts on sports. So somebody in Sports Illustrated did some little article on it and gave Washington credit. And then I heard somebody on Monday Night Football say that Seattle created the wave. I couldn't believe it.

Earlonne Woods (29:07)

The story of the birth of the wave was getting retold across the country and now had a life of its own.

Crazy George Henderson (29:14)

That is the originator of the wave.

Earlonne Woods (29:19)

So he claims.

Crazy George Henderson (29:20)

So he claims, right.

Nigel Poor (29:21)

That is greatly debated.

Crazy George Henderson (29:24)

We're doing the wave. We're doing the wave. Are you ready?

Earlonne Woods (29:29)

Even though his claim to fame as the inventor was being questioned, Crazy George kept leading the wave, and it kept spreading.

Crazy George Henderson (29:38)

I did it at the olympics here at 84, and then Mexico saw it, took it down there, started doing all their venues. Then the World cup comes along. And in every game in the World cup, all the Mexicans did the wave.

Narrator/Announcer (29:55)

And the Azteca Stadium is a mess of. Of flags and jubilant faces.

Crazy George Henderson (30:01)

Now it's televised around the world. So now the whole world sees the wave for the first time, and everybody calls it the Mexican wave. Well, I could fight the University of Washington, but I can't fight Mexico. I'm under guns. So I said, I just like to laugh about it. But everybody calls it outside of this country, it's the Mexican wave. They invented it.

Narrator/Announcer (30:28)

As they get the wave moving around here, boy, they've got a full house. They can get it rocking.

Crazy George Henderson (30:33)

When it finally became like a standard of the world, I mean, I think every sport, every team that's professional, no matter what it is, probably did a wave at their stadium, and it's just gone around the world.

Narrator/Announcer (30:50)

This is a legend. He invented the wave.

Crazy George Henderson (30:53)

I invented it. He invented it. How old were you in 1981. That's what I thought. The guy that invented the paperclip, he invented that. It's a little thing, but he's walking around, he's going by some office, and somebody is slipping that paperclip onto a five pages of something. He gets something out of that. He gets an enjoyment that he invented that. And they're using it, and they're happier for it. It's better than having five sheets of paper flying all over the room and you can't figure out what order they're in. And that's what I do. When I see that wave going anywhere, I just, I feel great about is really my claim to fame. Let me see it again. That's the highlight film.

Narrator/Announcer (31:55)

More than 47,000 fans of the Oakland A say goodbye to an incredible season.

Crazy George Henderson (32:02)

Look at that.

Earlonne Woods (32:03)

Throughout the 43 year debate over who invented the wave, the Oakland A's always stood by George.

Crazy George Henderson (32:10)

The A's were great. And when they heard about the controversy kept back at me. I'm part of the Oakland A's. I'm supporting you guys. I'm part of you. And I'm showing you how much we love you by interconnecting with all the other fans to show the support.

Earlonne Woods (32:31)

So last September, for the A's final game in Oakland, the last in the Coliseum, the send off for the whole city saying goodbye to its baseball team, former president Andy Dolich reached out to George personally and asked him to be a guest of the A's, perhaps the

Narrator/Announcer (32:50)

most popular A's fan of them all. The Coliseum is where Crazy George invented the wave during the 1981 playoffs. So he had to be here today.

Crazy George Henderson (33:00)

It's a happy, sad day. Oh, my God. Gosh, I cannot believe it. The last ace game. I said, well, I'll bring my drum, but I don't know what I'll do. And you know, and then I pull into the parking lot, my drum's there. I get my drum out of the back, and we're sitting in the middle of the parking lot. And within like 10 seconds, there's 15 people around me. And I'm looking around and they're just going crazy, Crazy Georgia. And it's so sad and they're so unhappy, but they all want to support the A's, the team itself. The A's are the greatest baseball team in the world. Why A's? I hope you're fast. Go A's. You invented the wave. I did. I started doing little cheers. I pounded my drum, and the place just all looked up and I'm screaming, yelling. They're screaming, yelling back. And it's getting more and more fun.

Earlonne Woods (34:13)

And then for one last time, Crazy George led the way in the place he introduced it to the world.

Crazy George Henderson (34:23)

When I'm gone, they will be talking about the wave. And so it means a lot to me.

Narrator/Announcer (34:30)

Let's make Crazy George proud.

Nigel Poor (34:51)

A huge snap judgment. Thank you to the man, the myth, the legend, Crazy George Henderson for sharing your story with the snap. At 80 years young, George is still banging the drum at his alma mater, San Jose State for the Spartans. And George just celebrated his 50th season cheering professionally for the Spirit San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. To read more about the life and times of George, check out his memoir, Still Crazy after all these Cheers. You can find the link to the book, as well as all things social media for crazy george@stampjudgment.org this piece was edited by Anna Sussman. The original score is by Dirk Schwartzhoff, is produced by Bo Walsh. Now, if you missed even a moment, know that an entire world of Snap storytelling awaits. Snap's interspecies communication series, Tooth and Claw is on podcast platforms everywhere right now. Eat it up. KQD in San Francisco is our real field of dreams. Snap Us back. Brought to you by the team that really loves sportsball. Except of course, for the uber producer, Mr. Mark Ristich, because growing up, the kids never let him play any reindeer games. No Snap Studio's content may be used for training, testing or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission. On Team snap, the union representative, producers, artists, editors and engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast Employees and Technology Technicians, Communications Workers of America, AFL CIO Local 51. There's Nancy Lopez, Patmosin Miller, Anna Sussman, Renzo Gorio, John Facil, Shayna Shealy, Teo Dicott, Flo Wiley, Bo Walsh, Marissa Dodds. My name is Flynn Washington and this is not the news. No way. It's the news. In fact, you could step up to the plate and your first major league game, take a swing, hit the ball, watch the ball, land in the green, have no one catch it and still have the umpire just decide to call you out because of some lunacy called the infield fly rule, and you would still not be as far away from the news as this is.

Crazy George Henderson (37:19)

But this is prx Sam.