Nintendo Wii: love it, hate it

Mark Briley, formerly of Hermiston, gets ready
to tee off while playing Wii Sports Resort.

2/11/2011

BY TAMMY MALGESINI

East Oregonian

Inside my shoes

My Nintendo Wii irritates me. But, it’s a love-hate relationship.

See, I really, really like Wii Fit Plus, but it talks to me in ways that even my best friends don’t.

Wii knows I’m a night owl and chastises me for messing up my body’s natural cycle. 

“It also doesn’t make waking up in the morning any easier,” it tells me.

“Thanks, but you’re not my mom,” I say to the TV screen.

It tells me I’m overweight and I should exercise more and not eat late-night snacks.

And when I laid off the Wii after an injury this past summer, I thought it would be more encouraging when I returned.

“Well, if it isn’t Bwana. Nice to see you again. It’s been 133 days since I saw you last,” it said sarcastically.

Then it continues to rag on me about the need for regular exercise.

“I broke my flipping shoulder,” I said. “By the way, I have been doing physical therapy. That’s right, I don’t need you.”

Ah, but I do. I love my Wii. The relationship began last February when Mark and Teri Briley, my friends in Florida, introduced me to their Nintendo Wii.

After frolicking in the Florida sun and wading in Gulf waters during the day, we played Wii at night. Typically the three of us would play a few games after dinner and then Teri would call it a night.

“Now don’t stay up all night playing that, we have things to do tomorrow,” Teri would say as she retired to the bedroom.

Like a couple of kids, we shook our heads and said we wouldn’t.

Time ticked away while we were transported to a place where the sun always shines — Wii Sports Resort. Night turned to early morning and before we knew it, it had been hours since the mouse ran down the clock.

After a full week of this routine, I went through Wii withdrawal after returning to Hermiston.

To get a fix, I’d go to Walmart or Game Crazy and play at their demo stations. If a kid was playing, I’d stand there with my arms crossed until they moved along.

Finally, I bought my own and happily golfed on exotic courses, sword fought with enemies, slam-dunked over players smaller than me, went wakeboarding when it was raining outside and tossed a Frisbee for a stupid virtual dog that just looked at me and barked.

It was during a phone conversation that Teri told me about Wii Fit and how great it was as an exercise program. Evidently they had upgraded it to Wii Fit Plus. I think the “plus” means it gets personal and provoking.

All I gotta say is: Don’t push it, because I can unplug you.

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Tammy Malgesini is the EO community editor. Her column, Inside my shoes, includes general musings about life. You can reach her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.

Some golfers will play rain or shine

Some golfers will play rain or shine

By TAMMY MALGESINI The East Oregonian

When I first started golfing, the two words I used the most were "fore" and, well, the other one isn't suitable for print.

I was late hitting the links for the first time, because I was appalled that players on TV wore slacks and collared shirts. How could that be a sport? I played softball, basketball, field hockey and ran hurdles - real sports where you sweat and get dirty.

I picked up my first club as a freshman in college. I figured it would be a fluff class and I could work on my tan.

Ah, but soon I found chasing a little white ball around was harder than it looked. But it quickly became a social activity for me, as I often visited other fairways on my quest to hit my ball to the right green.

So when I recently worked on a story about women and golf, it was painful to hang out on the course, drive a golf cart and watch others tee off, chip and putt. I desperately wanted to take a few swings.

Anyway, last Tuesday I hung out with women from the Big River Golf Course ladies league - the weather was pretty decent. But I gotta tell you, my hat's off to Carol Neely, Sharon Edgerly and Lisa Hagerman - those three ladies hit the links Wednesday at Echo Hills Golf Course. The wind was blowing and it was downright cold.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily a fair- weather golfer. Just ask Bonnie Gracia. I insisted on plodding forward to "get our money's worth" while golfing one time at Kinzua Hills Golf Club.

The quaint little course near Fossil is played on the "honor system." The whole honor thing and golf cracks me up. The little scorecard pencils don't even have erasers. Anyway, it was $5 for each time around the six-hole course. Yes, for five bucks I risked life and limb as the sky became foreboding.

It began to sprinkle as we played the first hole, but I was ok with that. By the time we got to the second hole, I would describe the precipitation as raining lightly. Bonnie, who looked disturbed that I would forge on, interpreted the weather on the second hole as a torrential downpour. Not even - that was to come later.

As we headed towards the third hole I thought I heard thunder, but I didn't see any lightning, so I figured it was no problem.

By the time we had teed off, I was delusional in thinking the sky looked like it was clearing up. The deer - who were munching on a hole earlier - were heading for cover.

As it started to rain again, I acted like I couldn't hear Bonnie as she made an observation about the weather.

Leaving my bag behind, I made my way to the fourth tee box with a couple of clubs. And just as I was about to address the ball there was a thunderous boom. Since I didn't see any lightning, I re-addressed my ball and hit my best shot of the day.

As I headed down from the tee box I met Bonnie, who was hunkered down in a crevice. And then there was a loud crackle and I saw it - the biggest, baddest bolt of lightning. With sheer panic on my face, I yelled, "Do you want to leave now?"

While her mouth merely said, "Yes," her face said, "I wanted to leave a long time ago."

Rather than heading to the clubhouse, I ran the opposite way. Bonnie screamed over the storm, "Where are you going?"

I pointed to my lightning rods, I mean golf clubs.

As we ran dragging our pull carts behind, I thought, "Who says you don't get a cardio work-out while golfing?"

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Tammy Malgesini is the EO community editor. Her column, Inside my shoes, appears twice a month. You can reach her at tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4539.