03-30-2017, 11:55 PM
In the early days (over 100 years ago) the football players worked on farms over the summer to earn money for tuition. At that time wheat was cut and dropped where it was cut. Farm laborers then gathered up the cut stalks and grouped them into "shocks" 2' to 3' in diameter for further processing.
Those farm workers were called wheat shockers. Wheat shockers were some of the hardest working people in difficult situations. It's hot, humid, and nasty work. The football team was named the Wheat Shockers.
Wheat Shockers no longer has any meaning in current language, so the name has been shortened to just "Shockers", which is one of the more interesting nicknames in college sports. WSU has literally "shocked" the basketball world, which is nothing more than a happy coincidence for the name.
There's been a curious twist on the name. Some HS kids on the East Coast came up with a term, "The Shocker" that has produced some interesting comments on message boards when WSU has played East Coast schools.
For many years a website, College Humor, sold yellow foam hands with a hand gesture and the words (letters in black) "Give 'Em The Shocker". The hand gesture was the East Coast hand gesture for the obscene term. The WSU "W" hand gesture differs from that by the fact that WSU's "W" hand gesture has an extended thumb.
Well, "Give 'Em The Shocker" on a yellow and black foam hand was incredibly popular. That foam hand was everywhere in the student section and we had little old gray-haired ladies in the stands waving it - before the administration at WSU figured out the foam hands had not been made for WSU fans.
Those farm workers were called wheat shockers. Wheat shockers were some of the hardest working people in difficult situations. It's hot, humid, and nasty work. The football team was named the Wheat Shockers.
Wheat Shockers no longer has any meaning in current language, so the name has been shortened to just "Shockers", which is one of the more interesting nicknames in college sports. WSU has literally "shocked" the basketball world, which is nothing more than a happy coincidence for the name.
There's been a curious twist on the name. Some HS kids on the East Coast came up with a term, "The Shocker" that has produced some interesting comments on message boards when WSU has played East Coast schools.
For many years a website, College Humor, sold yellow foam hands with a hand gesture and the words (letters in black) "Give 'Em The Shocker". The hand gesture was the East Coast hand gesture for the obscene term. The WSU "W" hand gesture differs from that by the fact that WSU's "W" hand gesture has an extended thumb.
Well, "Give 'Em The Shocker" on a yellow and black foam hand was incredibly popular. That foam hand was everywhere in the student section and we had little old gray-haired ladies in the stands waving it - before the administration at WSU figured out the foam hands had not been made for WSU fans.
