WASHINGTON – A group of Washington Nationals fans want to end the fan tradition of doing the wave at Nats Park. But the effort, called “Kill The Wave,” is getting mixed reviews from Nats fans.
Nationals fan blog, Nats101.com, is one blog behind the push to end the wave. In fact, “No Waves” is listed as the second of four rules on the Nats 101 website under “Class Ground Rules.”
Blog Editor in Chief Frank Lattuca says while the wave is traditionally something fans do during a slow game, it has become a distraction during Nationals game action.
“Lately, it just sort of seems to be a thing that — come the sixth inning — somebody wants to do the wave, regardless of the situation in the game,” Lattuca says.
The “Kill The Wave” effort is really about respecting other fans at the ballpark, he says.
“It is a fun thing to do … But it indicates you’re not really paying attention to the game that’s going on, and it distracts other people too,” Lattuca says.
The wave is traditionally done in the second half of the game — in the sixth or seventh innnings — as fans stand and throw their hands in the air, mimicking a wave.
Some fans enjoying the game against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night were disappointed to hear about the effort to end the stadium tradition at Nats Park.
“I think the wave is kinda like a symbol of baseball and everybody does the wave at every single park. I think it’s a dumb petition to have no wave,” says 13-year- old fan Paul Huddleston.
His dad agrees.
“We had to wait 30 years to get baseball back, so let’s have the wave,” Bill Huddleston says.
But fan Greg Dick disagrees, calling it a distraction.
“Just watch the game. We came to the baseball game to watch baseball not to do the wave,” Dick says.
Does banning the wave change the fan experience? Lattuca says no.
“It’s not as if we’re doing the wave in between innings when nothing is going on, like we do the Presidents’ Race and other things. It’s happening during the game when action is taking place,” he says.
Nats101.com is one of a handful of Nationals fan groups taking action against the wave, most expressing their displeasure with the tradition on Twitter:
It’s awful RT @northcarolinats: Every time you do the wave, a handful of @jwerthsbeard falls out. #KillTheWave
— Jayson Werth’s Beard (@JWerthsBeard) April 11, 2013
Seconded. #KILLTHEWAVE RT @fakefp: Denard says stop doing the wave.(@nextyeardc) twitter.com/Fa keFP/status/
