How do WII games get patched?

I was reading about Madden 08 and noticed that there is a patch for it. I haven't played a console game since the original NES and have been (and still am) a computer gamer. Now with PC's and other console games with hard drives I can see how a patch is applied to the software, but with the WII, which does not have a hard drive, how is a game patched? Does the patch go to the memory stick and when the game is played the system uses that patched data on top of the disc data? (I still don't know why they are called "memory sticks"...they should be called "storage sticks...but that's a post for a different forum)

Thanks!!

Eddie G

[#007f7f]cool colors! This is new!

The Wii has 512MB internal Flash memory. I was unaware it was in there untill after I bought it, and shelling out the cash for a Nintendo branded SD card.