Wii sports for senior citizens

Above: a resident of the Lutheran Home in Topton, PA--a senior citizens facility near my childhood home--participates in the popular Wii bowling league:

Senior citizens, who are sometimes presumed to be averse to technological innovation, are embracing Nintendo's video game system.

"It's surprising how they've taken to the Wii technology," said Sue Fogel, activities coordinator at The Lutheran Home. "Once they got the knack of it, they were hooked."

On the Nintendo Wii console, seniors are bowling, golfing and playing baseball and tennis without venturing outdoors. . . .

When it comes to moves, few can match 83-year-old Ted Jentsch's sidewinder-style body language.

Coaxing the ball into the groove with a nod here and a nudge there, Jentsch nailed three strikes in a row - called a turkey - and finished a round with an impressive 193.

The performance made his day.

"I was feeling lousy all weekend, and I almost didn't make it," said Jentsch, a retired pastor of St. John's Lutheran in Sinking Spring. "Playing like this, though, gets me energized."

Jentsch, who once taught sociology and anthropology at Kutztown University, offered an academic's view of Wii bowling.

"This is an interesting way that modern technology has made it possible for people who can't perform vigorous physical activity to have a social experience and enhance their feeling of self-esteem," said Jentsch, who walks with a cane.