By Monty Siekerman
There’s a new sports cheer and it was devised by none other than a member of the Ottawa-Glandorf school board.

The antics were displayed at the O-G girls basketball game on Tuesday at King Horn Gym in Ada. Will this catch on nationwide like The Wave did a few years ago? Maybe...

The “inventor” says the cheer doesn’t have a name yet. The Ada Icon suggests calling it “Bowling for Baskets” or “The Wobbler.”

Here’s how it works:

Mrs. Beth Hempfling, the developer of the craziness, calls the student rooting section together at halftime. The students stand, she rolls a ball (more like a tennis ball instead of a bowling ball) toward the crowd. Like good pins at the end of a bowling lane, the students slowly fall over backwards. But one pin remains...in the center...it wobbles back and forth,...then finally falls over.

The high schoolers get a kick out of the silliness. And it’s unique to O-G, at least for now. O-G won against Liberty-Benton by 11 points. L-B had lost only one game all season. Maybe the cheer does bring good luck...plus good coaching, talent, and playing.

Photo series:

First - Mrs. Hempfling motions to the students to organize them for “Bowling for Baskets” or is it “The Wobbler?”

Second - Mrs. Hempfling shows perfect bowling form as she tries to knock down a couple of hundred “people pins.”

Third - We all fall down. Mrs. Hempfling rolls a ball, students fall over, but one in the center remains standing briefly, wobbles a bit, then falls over.