That's how Wii roll: Video bowling big hit with local seniors
By BILL SPELTZ of the Missoulian
Take away the funky rental shoes and back-straining urethane ball and bowling just wouldn't be the same.
Actually, it's better.
At least that's what the seniors say at Clark Fork Riverside retirement apartments in Missoula. They've caught Nintendo Wii bowling fever, and it's highly contagious.
Hilde Irriger reacts to throwing a strike in Nintendo Wii bowling at the Clark Fork Riverside retirement apartments last week. She is one of 25 residents competing in a league that started in June. The popularity of the video game continues to skyrocket in retirement communities nationwide. Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian
“I mean like five minutes is all it took to catch on here,” 73-year-old Frances Hofman said. “I had no idea to participate or anything and they said, ‘Well try this!'
“Of course I had beginner's luck, you know. I threw a good game and they said I have to be on a team. But since then I haven't bowled worth a darn. When it doesn't count I bowl over 200, when it counts ... I'm basically a very shy person (laughter erupts from her league peers). Hey, it's MY interview! Stay out of it! (more laughter).”
The idea of elderly folks congregating around a big-screen television to play a video game seems almost far-fetched. But this isn't Donkey Kong or Halo. This is bowling.
“Historically, I bet everyone in here has bowled,” said Clark Fork Riverside activities director Hilda Zouhar, who organized the five-team Wii league in June. “Even from rural Montana there was a bowling alley somewhere. Even if it was those little old duck pins. I used to bowl with duck pins.”
Ninety-one-year-old Alice Gager - “like a gas gauge,” she playfully suggests, “not GAG-er” - dresses to the hilt on league days. On Wednesday, she wore a wood-carved bowling necklace first given to her mother 88 years ago.
“This is a lot different than rolling that real big heavier ball,” Gager said. “My mother was the first bowler in our family. She started in 1920 and bowled for 67 consecutive years. She was one of the five ladies that came to Missoula in 1922 to form the first state tournament, which they called Interstate.”
With a wireless controller that translates a player's motions onto a screen, Wii has captured the essence of bowling and eliminated some of the hassles. Purists may dismiss the game as a pale imitation, but it's a welcome form of exercise for the elderly.
“There's a few women in here who exercise, but most were saying, ‘Hey, we're using muscles we haven't used for a while,' ” Zouhar said. “We look forward to getting down here. We always have the Wii out for practicing.”
For some, the game is even therapeutic.
“You know I use a walker,” Hofman said. “In the beginning I sat down, but I am now to the point that I don't use the walker. This really improves the balance.
“Plus I like that people don't get drunk around me bowling this way. That's a benefit.”
The bad news for Missoula's male bowlers is that only one has found his way into the Clark Fork Riverside League. He does his best to hold his own against 24 women.
“I'm the one they pick on all the time,” joked 76-year-old Lee Wilson, who fancies himself more of a table tennis player. “I get a lot of hugs and sweet talk occasionally. We have a lot of fun together and teach each other.
“The big trick is lining the ball up right, throwing a straight ball. You throw a curve it doesn't always curve the right way every time because you twist your wrist to get the curve.”
Wilson has become quite attached to Wii bowling. In addition to league play once or twice a week, he plays three practice games every afternoon to stay sharp.
“I bowled in (a conventional) league last winter and I was lucky to get 100,” he said. “My highest score on the Wii is 237, but a lot of times my practice games are better than my league games.”
Since Wii hit stores in November of 2006, more than 13 million consoles have been sold in North America. Clark Fork Riverside purchased its console in May and within a month a league was formed, complete with team shirts with numbers on the back.
The popularity of Wii bowling continues to grow in senior communities nationwide. Besides Clark Fork Riverside, Missoula's Griz Peak and Helena's Hunters Point also have leagues.
The main objective is healthy entertainment, but the competition is real.
“Everybody roots for everybody else and everybody is screaming and yelling and rooting, hoping their team wins,” said Charlotte Wevers, 72. “Sometimes it's a little nerve racking because everybody wants to do well. But most the time we're just here to have fun. I think it's just fun watching everyone do what they do.”
As is the case with conventional bowling, Missoula's Wii-leaguers have their own little idiosyncrasies. Some interpret a leg kick into their technique. Others use a red yarn marker stitched into the carpet to line up their shots.
According to Marcie Durando, 75, league time may not be the best time for Clark Fork Riverside's non-bowlers to be napping.
“It's difficult to get a split, but you should hear it when one of these gals gets one,” she said. “We probably raise the roof.”
The local Wii-leaguers range in age from 60-something to 95. Game scores have reached the mid-260s.
Zouhar has a special banquet planned for early September. The best bowlers will be honored along with the worst, the cutest and the funniest.
Zouhar expects even more bowlers for Clark Fork Riverside's second league season.
“They're already champing at the bit, those who didn't sign up because they waited too long,” she said.
Sports writer Bill Speltz may be reached at 523-5255 or bill.speltz@lee.net.
