Is it Time to Wave “Bye-bye” to the Wave at Baseball Games?

Fans standing up in unison in their section, raising their arms up over their heads, then sitting down again. Then the next section, and the next, until every section of the stadium has done it in order.

We’re talking, of course about the ubiquitous interactive fan cheer, the Wave.

You either love it or hate it.

At Nationals Stadium, a dedicated campaign to end the Wave is gaining more power than Bryce Harper’s bat.

Last September, in speaking with Washington Post writer Sarah Kogod, Nats fan Ryan Mattheus called the Wave “the worst thing in sports. Sit down and watch the game....The thing about it is, you should be into what’s going on on the field, not what’s going on in the stands. It takes away from the game. I definitely understand why people hate it....I definitely vote, kill the wave.”

Now, other fans are joining the bandwagon, printing up #killthewave t-shirts and “Stop the Waves” letters asking fans to end the practice, using adjectives such as “disrespecting,” “insulting,” “distracting” and describing those who do it as “looking like a doofus.”

Some Nationals players are on board with the “anti-wave” movement, with pitcher Drew Storen telling the Post, “I am not a fan of the wave. I get it if it’s like a blowout situation or a slow game — fine, mix it in. But we’ve had a couple of times where it’s been the bottom of the eighth and it’s a close game. Cheer for the game, you know?”

Tracing the origin of the Wave is a bit tougher than participating in it.

Krazy George Henderson claims he started it on Oct. 15, 1981, at an Oakland A’s-New York Yankees American League Championship game.

The Guardian offers a number of theories, including that it began at a University of Washington football game in 1981, led by the marching band.

A WikiAnswers page goes even farther back, referring to it being “created by accident” at an Edmonton Oilers hockey game, while a Wikipedia page states that another group of Canadians started it during the 1976 Winter Olympics in Montreal.

What do you think? Too much hype about a fan activity or do you agree it's a nuisance? Tell us in comments.