Penn Kid: Celebrate The Philadelphia Soul!

Although the Philadelphia Soul won the Arena Football League title, Philadelphians haven’t been rioting in the streets over it. And most people haven’t even been using the tired line of, “Oh, look, a team finally won a title!” Obviously, nobody cares about the Soul, because they do not play one of the four major team sports. Sorry, guys. We’re happy for you, but mostly people only care because Bon Jovi is the owner.

But wait! Penn’s Neil Fanaroff says we should celebrate the Soul like they’re World Champions!

That’s nothing really all that notable, until he gets into a lecture about not supporting our local sports “dynasty.”

The Philadelphia Barrage - of Major League Lacrosse - moved from Bridgeport, Conn. in 2004 and proceeded to win three of the next four championships, including back-to-back titles the past two seasons.

But for some reason, the city never embraced this squad - a squad that has remained at the pinnacle of success in the highest-level league of what is arguably the nation’s fastest-growing sport and in one of the sport’s hot spots. This year, after playing at Villanova Stadium the past four years, the team’s poor financial status forced it to hit the road for the entire season.

Despite five years of success - yes, the Barrage are again in the title hunt despite playing “home” games in places ranging from Cary, N.C., to St. Louis to Hillsboro, Ore. - Philadelphians never opted to support the team enough to keep it.

An MLL Championship never warranted a celebration, or a parade, or even a front-page headline in Philadelphia. Now that the Barrage are gone, any joy Philadelphians could have garnered from the team’s success is gone.

Wait, the Barrage are on the road the entire season? That’s totally awesome. I guess we’ll have to settle for not having any of that joy other cities experience when their outdoor lacrosse team wins the league title.

Update: Oh, yeah, there’s a motorcade at 3-ish today down Market Street. Whoo, Soul!

Hey Philly: beggars can’t be choosers [Summer Pennsylvanian]