Does the City Have Any Soul?

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Soul won ArenaBowl XXII and the AFL championship. (This Phillyist has to constantly remind himself that AFL = Arena Football League, not American Football League, which he wasn't even alive to see before it became part of the NFL.) The Soul beat the defending champs, the San Jose SaberCats, jumping out to a sizeable lead, and then, in true Philadelphia fashion, doing their best to cough it up. But, the Soul managed to hang on, eke out a 59-56 win, and claim their first AFL championship.

Of course, if the Metro is to be believed, the city couldn't have cared less. In fairness, it's been easy to look over the Soul because our other sports teams have racked up so many championships as of late. The Wings have won six championships in the last twenty years. The Phantoms have two titles in the past ten years. And the Kixx have won two titles this decade. We're actually still recovering from the hangover we developed celebrating the team's 2007 win. So the city really doesn't need another championship team, but hey, who are we to turn down a trophy?

We know what you're thinking. "Holy crap, Phillyist, I'm going to have to ask my boss for a day off from work to go to a sports championship parade again? She let me slide for the Kixx party because it had been a couple years since the Phantoms won, but two years in a row? I don't know if that's gonna fly." We understand, and if you miss the victory parade, it's no big deal. If history is any indication, one of these teams will win yet another title pretty soon, so just make it out to the next celebration. If you even notice.