A Nerd Bonanza

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So as a courtesy I have an advanced copy of the story NPR is going to be running about the bolg. They did a fair job, I think. Look for it on Morning Edition and All Things Considered in the next week or so.

From NPR member station WVPS in Burlington, Vermont Emily Weldhelm reports:

Zoowithroy.com is just your run of the mill sports fan blog... that is, your run of the mill sports blog if you like amateurish, childlike drawings, groundless videos, and a dizzying array of non sequiturs. Founded in January, Zoo With Roy, or "ZWR" as its legions of fans like to refer to it, has spun up quite a bit of interest, all surrounding one simple, if not surreal, thought: a man wanting to go to the zoo with Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay.

(VOICE OVER, Phillies coach) "I've never seen anything like it."

Milton Thompson isn't alone. With the anticipation of Major League Baseball's biggest offseason acquisition's arrival reaching, to pardon the pun, a fevered pitch this winter, a life-long Philadelphia fan (they like to refer to themselves as "Fightin Phils", echoing the long-distant images of Sylvester Stallone's famed cinematic pugilist Rocky Balboa and owing to the city's notorious blue collar roots) took a rather unique step in declaring, publically, his wish for the simple outing. And it seems to have resonated. At a pre-game cocktail party before the Phillies home opener against the Washington Nationals, one fan- wearing a ZWR shirt reading the site slogan of "So Cuttered"- summed up the prevailing sentiment:

(VOICE OVER, Fan) "Yeah, I don't get it. But I like it- I mean, it's funny, and in a deep down way totally true. Who wouldn't want to go to the zoo with Roy Halladay? And why can't we just tell people about it?"

A fair question, even if asked by a man drinking his spirits from a jug.

Whether it ever comes to pass remains to be seen, but a few miles from the Walt Whitman bridge, in a South Philadelphia parking lot, we are reminded of the great poet's words: “Simplicity is the glory of expression”.

Reporting from Philadelphia, I'm Emily Weldhelm, WVPS