Bowling for bones.

How annoying! I spend months planning the world's largest seniors Wii bowling tournament, only to discover a Texas HMO beat me to the punch. According to CNN:

The event, put on by TexanPlus -- the Houston area's largest Medicare HMO -- drew more than 1,500 supporters and 600 senior bowlers to break a record but also to have fun and dish out a little bit of Texas-style competition and a side helping of health information.

I've been on the fence about video games for years. I've had enough slack-jawed, asocial, PSP-addicted nieces and nephews to want them all collected and burned in massive piles. (The PSPs, not the kids.) Furthermore, a new study suggests too much gaming might actually be damaging to kids' wrists.

On the other hand, full disclosure, I played them too much as a kid too and actually still have my old Atari 2600 and my Gameboy Color. Also, I was given a Wii for my birthday last year and I think it's a hoot. On rainy days, Wii Bowling gives my 5-year-old and I some much needed jump-around time. And when she gets going on Sing It: High School Musical 3, look out!

I don't like the idea that some seniors needed to be prodded to do simple activities merely to keep their hips from shattering, but it's a fact of modern life. With this in mind, I'm stoked technology is working to help them.

And by the way, you don't need to be old to benefit from getting off the couch. I'm in the planning stages of the world's largest middle-aged Wii Guitar Hero tournament. Clapton, anyone?

Photo: CNN