This is a post that was made by a Bon Jovi fan (well, I'm thinking they are a fan if they have a Bon Jovi blog) ... and well, I just couldn't help myself from responding. I hope you will do the same.
Does Anyone Really Miss the Philadelphia Soul?
I was reading Joe Brescia’s blog post about the Philadelphia Soul today, and it occurred to me–I haven’t even thought about the Soul in months. I used to be fairly up-to-date on the Soul. (Once upon a time I had to suffer the embarrassment of confessing that the last football game I watched was a Soul game during the office Super Bowl pool.)
But here’s the thing: I only ever thought about the team because the Soul was Jon’s pet project. If he hadn’t been involved, I probably wouldn’t even have known that Philadelphia had an arena football team. If I had known, I would have just wondered why they bothered when Philadelphia has the Eagles. (Granted, the Soul was the only sports team in Philadelphia that didn’t completely suck back when they were still playing.)
Other confessions: I have never been able to sit through an entire Soul game. I usually get bored and start playing Xbox instead. Also, the most entertainment I have ever gotten out of a Soul game was watching the news media fuss over the ‘Finger Incident’.
I can’t be the only one in this situation. Actually, I’d guess that Bon Jovi fans probably outnumber actual fans of the team. I’ve never seen a Soul t-shirt on anyone other than Bon Jovi fans. And you’re definitely far more likely to see a Soul jersey with ‘Bon Jovi’ on it than a player’s name. I don’t even know if they even sell them with players’ names on them.
But here’s the question: other than Jon’s fans, will anyone miss the Soul if the Arena Football League folds?
Here was my response:
I can say emphatically “yes” — without a doubt that people will miss the Soul.
I will admit that I was introduced to the Soul because I am a Bon Jovi fan. That was simply how I found out about the team - as did other people. That is where the Bon Jovi connection ends for many of us.
Over the past five years, fans have gotten to know the players (yes, there are jerseys with players names … duh!) and have embraced and supported the many community initiatives that the Philadelphia Soul organization has spearheaded.
Jon Bon Jovi didn’t have anything to do with why fans worked to spread the word about the team or why they traveled down to New Orleans to watch the Soul win the ArenaBowl. Its not the reason I spent countless hours on a bus back and forth from Ohio to see every home game. And, Jon Bon Jovi is not why kids waited anxiously by the rails to get the autograph of their favorite player.
So, yes. People DO miss the Soul and will continue to hopefully wait for its return. Perhaps when they come back you should go to a game IN PERSON – my treat! Then, you, too, can see why it is missed.
I hope you will consider showing your support of the Soul ... to do so, here's the link.
P.S. I will admit that I was so impassioned typing my response that I'm not sure I TOTALLY made my point ... but I just HAD to respond right away.
