The meticulous coach was riding in a convertible during yesterday's championship procession - with the ArenaBowl trophy glistening in the back seat, no less - when the driver made a right turn off 6th Street and onto Market.

The sea of Soul fans lining Market Street caught him completely off guard.

"This is unbelievable," the normally understated coach said. "I had tears in my eyes."

There was a level of uncertainty surrounding yesterday's Soul championship parade/procession/rally. The most frequently asked question was, what kind of a turnout would the team get for a weekday in the summer?

Co-owner Jon Bon Jovi said from the day he got involved in the Soul that bringing a championship to Philadelphia was the No. 1 goal. But even Bon Jovi, who has performed in front of millions of fans, was impressed by the crowd's exuberance.

"I'd be lying if I told you 6 years ago that I would have envisioned 100,000 people on Market Street and helicopters flying overhead," he said.

The city made no official estimate of the crowd, but one high-ranking police official told a member of the Soul's front office there were approximately 10,000 fans and onlookers lined along Market Street and gathered with the team at City Hall's Dilworth Plaza.

Mike Hollenbach, 34, of Bensalem, was there sporting a Soul tattoo on a forearm. Not one of those fake jobs, either. Soul co-owner Craig Spencer said he would upgrade Hollenbach's season tickets from Section 219 if he went through with it.

Gary Lower, of Juniata Park, was leading the cheers before the rally. In true Philadelphia fashion, he didn't have an elaborate prop, but rather had written "Got Soul?" on the back of a SEPTA "Temporary Detour" sign.

"Someone's got to stand up and be the conductor and I'm more than glad to do it," he said. "I want to give back to the community like Jon Bon Jovi gives back."

The procession featured 11 vehicles, including three flatbed trucks. Tony Graziani, who was supplanted as the starting quarterback in midseason, did not attend. He was in Oregon preparing for a charity golf outing but reflected, "It was a great run."

Kensington teenagers Patrick Huggard and Julian Green were the first to hit Matt D'Orazio, Graziani's replacement, with chants of "M-V-P." D'Orazio, a free agent, said he has had preliminary talks of re-signing with the Soul and that yesterday's display only strengthened his desire to return.

"I'm blown away. I'm choked up. I'm speechless," D'Orazio said. "This exceeded our expectations tenfold."

D'Orazio won his first championship game MVP with Chicago in 2006. He said Rush owner Mike Ditka threw the team a nice party the following night and the next day he was home with his family. The Windy City had nothing like yesterday.

"This is incredible to me. I'm in a minor state of shock," D'Orazio said. "I'd be surprised if there's any other city that has won an arena championship and had something like this. This is unbelievable." *

Staff writer Jennifer Barkowitz contributed to this report.