As I attended our last SoCo Sea Hawkers meeting, we had an entertaining guest speaker, Corky Trewin, who has been the Seahawks team photographer since 1978. The main message he left us with: “We need to bring the WAVE back”. As our new coach, Jim Mora, has requested, like it was back in the day, and before that, Husky Stadium, stating that “the added visual distraction would drive defenses crazy."

I stood up and said that could be a problem. Corky asked why, and I said communication and the fact that our new tradition for the most part is the whole South endzone now stands for the whole game, and the WAVE has been lost.

Let me add to this. As some of you know, I have attended every regular home season game since 1976. I was very much a part of the story of the Wave back then. Most know that “Bill the Beerman” started a lot of those waves, but it was the communication that kept them alive back then. Bill was in the North end and I was in the South endzone. We felt very competitive with that North end and Bill, and never wanted the Wave to die on our end or have any of the cheers be weaker on our end. That's what drove us. Bill would also tour around the stadium speaking with a lot of the fans down close to the field teaching the ways of the call and the wave, and from what I could see the fans really liked that, the close communication.

Back then I could stand up and look out over our South end. I would look out to other fans within earshot and ask them to stand and ask, “Are you with me?" They would rise and say YES! They were the Lieutenants, they were the communicators and spark plugs. This was the same for the other cheers, such as "GO!" and answer "SEAHAWKS!" Or "DE!" and answer "FENCE!" You just cannot yell out "SEA FENSE!" with as much volume.

Now we stand the whole game and it would be hard to get everyone’s attention to start a wave at a moment’s notice as back in the day, not to mention the lost effect of rising out of your seat and jumping into the air and shouting out GO! at the crest of the Wave.

What can we do now? Do we lose now what Qwest Field has become famous for, loud fans throughout the whole game, all four quarters?

I think not, but we have some challenges in front of us, more so then in the Kingdome days. We all sat down throughout the whole game, only standing for great plays and the Wave. It was real easy to coordinate our Wave or cheers then. Back then Bill the Beerman worked for the stadium and was allowed to go whereever he pleased throughout the game. As an unofficial mascot we do not have that one individual that can do that to build up the many Lieutenants around the stadium to achieve this task. And that is what I feel is the key for this 2009 Wave success to make a comeback in Jim Mora’s first season as head coach.

Corky felt the Bird's Nest in the North Endzone would be the proper place to start the wave, as it was back in the day, the North vs. the South.

I would like to hear from you all, you the fans that attend every home game that sit or stand in the locations around the stadium. What are your thoughts for motivating your sections for the Wave this year? We need Lieutenants to make this happen. Can we top what we are already doing now and send chills around the NFL, fearing the 12?

Shannon Love “SEA PIMP”