Christian Johnson played at the University of Kentucky before playing for the Dallas Vigilantes of the AFL. He is now a member of the Philadelphia Soul. (James Crisp/AP)
Thirteen games into their return as a member of the Arena Football League, the Soul are fighting an uphill battle to reach .500, and trying to rebuild the fan base the team enjoyed during its previous existence.
Video: Behind a milestone game for Donovan Morgan, the Soul overcame a slow start to put away the New Orleans VooDoo, 70-49, at the Wells Fargo Center Friday night. The Daily News' Ed Barkowitz has more.
Video: The Philadelphia Soul held practice on the streets of Philadelphia on Thursday, working out on Market Street in preparation for Friday night's showdown against the Jacksonville Sharks.
Arena Football is coming back!
Just not back to Philadelphia.
At least not yet.
After being dark for a season, the AFL will resume in April with 15 teams. There are no teams in the Northeast section of the United States, but commissioner Jerry Kurz hopes a franchise could be in Philly by 2011.
As the Philadelphia Soul, the newly crowned champs of the Arena Football League, paraded from Independence Hall to City Hall, several thousand fans wound up gathering to hoist their cell-phone cameras in the air and cheer.
A published report that the Arena Football League was on the verge of folding seemed premature yesterday, but very little information was forthcoming, either from the Philadelphia Soul or from league headquarters in New York.
THE RUMORS THAT ARE flying around the Arena Football League aren't pretty.
They range from suspending operations for a year to folding the league completely. At this point, though, they are just rumors.
With a little help, there could actually be a 2007 playoff game in the poor, neglected Wachovia Center.
If you're not feeling that the Soul can atone for the 76ers and Flyers, well, that's kind of the way things are. An arena has a ceiling, and the local Arena Football League team seems to have bumped up against it.