The Nintendo Wii

OK, so about a week ago, Rachelle finally broke down and agreed that a Nintendo Wii could enter our home if I paid for it out of MY fun money (a monthly budgeted amount that is like an allowance for each of us). In anticipation of the fall of the great "No-Wii Wall" that Rachelle had erected, I had been saving my pennies to facilitate such a purchase.

After a bunch of phone calls and numerous outbids on eBay, I found the coveted item at my local Best Buy.

Since the children are not allowed to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of the Wii-tree (they don't know we have it) we play at night only. Remember, this is a ministry thing, so that's when the Young Life high school kids are over anyways.

The Wii comes with a 5 sport game pack. Boxing (Lame), Golf (pretty solid), Bowling (my favorite), Baseball (fun, but lacks realism) and Tennis, which is where the story begins. As you know Rachelle was state champion and All-American tennis player in high school (OK, not really, but she could whip my butt--she was captain of her team) the tennis game intrigued her.

The Wii system is played with realistic movements, so to hit a forehand, you swing the Wiimote like a forehand, if you swing wrong, so does your player. The controller also picks up speed and timing, making it challenging but fun.

So, she plays the Wii for the first time. I show her how to play and in a controlled motion, "swat" the Wiimote back and forth and have some level of success. Rachelle then takes the controller and immediately assumes what I call the "ready position" for tennis. As the ball is returned back to her, I can see the glory days of high school rushing back like the wind as she quickly sets her feet for an appropriate forehand, quickly she is back to ready and then switches feet to return a backhand, then jumps and swings the killer overhead shot that whizzes by the opposing player.

I am sitting and enjoying the show (I'm not even watching the TV) and Rachelle zings a killer cross-court forehand and the sweat she had built up caused the Wiimote to slip from her hands and fly across the room! A complete crackup. A few minutes later while doing some of her fancy footwork, Rachelle comes up limping from a masterful backhand winner with a twisted knee! She was able to go on and finish the match in style, but not without another twist or two to the knee. I am envisoning the conversations at church the next week. "So what happened to your knee, Rachelle?"..."Oh, I tore my ACL playing tennis...........on..........the........Wii."

Here's the funny part. The next two days Rachelle refuses to play, due to the fact that her arm muscles are sore from playing Wii tennis.

I love this thing.