Matt D Orazio

NEW ORLEANS - When the Soul signed Tony Graziani in 2005, they not only made him their highest-paid player, but also the face of the franchise. SEPTA buses and highway billboards were splashed with Graziani's image. He was at the front of promotional rallies and television commercials. But those days are over. Graziani suited up for the Soul for the final time yesterday. He's a free agent, looking to move on. "I would have loved to walk out of here with a [championship]

IN A CITY that's home to four major sport franchises, the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League has had a tough row to hoe. Since the team came into the league five years ago, it has been virtually ignored by sports-talk radio, and newspapers have mostly confined Soul coverage to the inside sports pages. Yes, we know the Soul's president, Ron Jaworski (former Eagles quarterback/sports analyst), and a co-owner, Jon Bon Jovi (rock star/babe magnet), but not much about Soul players like Chris Jackson or Matt D'Orazio.

The Soul doesn't have a coach yet, but it might soon. The word around Arena Football League circles is that Mike Hohensee is going to leave his position as head coach of the Chicago Rush as soon as today. If that happens, Hohensee immediately becomes a prime candidate to take over the Soul, which will resume play in 2011. Citing tampering rules, officials from the Soul could not comment. Hohensee, 49, has coached Chicago's franchise since its inception in 2001 and was 10-6 this season.

Connor Hughes' 43-yard field-goal attempt at the buzzer was wide right last night as the Soul fell, 63-62, to the Georgia Force in an Arena Football League game at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Force (5-5) scored 22 straight points in the last 2 minutes, 27 seconds. Chris Greisen hit Troy Bergeron with an 11-yard touchdown pass and did it again for the go-ahead two-point conversion with 16 seconds left. Bergeron had 12 catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Tiger Jones had seven catches for 82 yards and one score.

A spectacular play by Chicago Rush defensive lineman John Moyer dashed the hopes of the upset-minded Soul last night in an Arena Football League game before 14,529 fans at the Allstate Arena. One play after Philadelphia's Idris Price busted through the line and blocked a 25-yard go-ahead field-goal attempt by Dan Frantz, Moyer batted quarterback Juston Wood's pass into the air at about the Chicago 20-yard line. The ball caromed off the helmet of defensive lineman Curtis Eason and right back to Moyer, who ran 39 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes, 17 seconds left in Chicago's 54-43 victory.

The difference between the Soul and their ArenaBowl opponents, the San Jose SaberCats, is quite simple for Bret Munsey. The Soul head coach and most of his players have not been in this position before. San Jose has. Plenty of times. "They've got a lot of players that have won the big game," Munsey said. "They're the team that has been up at the No. 1 spot for a number of years. That's what we're striving to do here in Philadelphia. " Munsey will lead the Soul to their first ArenaBowl on July 27 against San Jose in New Orleans.

It has been almost 11 months since Matt D'Orazio had to leave an Arena Football League playoff game with a herniated disc, an injury that eventually cost him his job, caused almost the entire league to decline his services, and led him to accept a job as the Soul's backup quarterback. D'Orazio had doubts about how he would hold up. "You never know until you get hit a couple of times," he said. He has passed that test. A healthy D'Orazio is the stabilizing force for the Soul (11-3)

Tony Graziani didn't last two quarters before suffering the latest injury that will force him out of the Soul's starting lineup. Again. The concussion he suffered last weekend in a 71-64 win at Dallas will keep the quarterback out of the lineup for the 10th time in 15 games this season. He underwent additional tests this week. "We're going to hold him out," Soul coach Bret Munsey said. "It'll be wait and see. " The Soul (11-3) can clinch home-field advantage through the conference playoffs with a win against Cleveland at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Wachovia Spectrum and a Dallas loss.

Eddie Moten was step-for-step with Cleveland wide receiver Otis Amey in the corner of the end zone. Until he tripped. Touchdown Cleveland. "After that, I knew I had to make the play," Moten said. Yes, a second chance. Cleveland burned Moten with five seconds remaining to cut the Soul's lead to one point. But the Gladiators went for the two-point conversion and the win. They even called for the same play, a fade, this time to the opposite corner of the end zone.

Familiarity bred more success for Matt D'Orazio. The Soul's substitute quarterback, the league's top-rated passer, returned to the city where he played his college and high school football and did not disappoint the throng of family and friends in attendance last night at Nationwide Arena. D'Orazio, who fills in on a sports talk-radio show in Columbus in the off-season, relieved Tony Graziani and threw five touchdown passes to lead the Soul to a 76-55 win over the Columbus Destroyers.

The Soul will take the field tonight for a home game for the first time in almost 3 years. Just about everything has changed except the high expectations of success. For example, a sluggish start to the season already has caused new coach Mike Hohensee to bench his starting quarterback. "I thought we needed a spark," Hohensee said. Backup Ryan Vena gave the team a glimpse of life in his first start last week against Orlando, but the result was a third consecutive loss.

The Soul doesn't have a coach yet, but it might soon. The word around Arena Football League circles is that Mike Hohensee is going to leave his position as head coach of the Chicago Rush as soon as today. If that happens, Hohensee immediately becomes a prime candidate to take over the Soul, which will resume play in 2011. Citing tampering rules, officials from the Soul could not comment. Hohensee, 49, has coached Chicago's franchise since its inception in 2001 and was 10-6 this season.

IN A CITY that's home to four major sport franchises, the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League has had a tough row to hoe. Since the team came into the league five years ago, it has been virtually ignored by sports-talk radio, and newspapers have mostly confined Soul coverage to the inside sports pages. Yes, we know the Soul's president, Ron Jaworski (former Eagles quarterback/sports analyst), and a co-owner, Jon Bon Jovi (rock star/babe magnet), but not much about Soul players like Chris Jackson or Matt D'Orazio.

When Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi left his seat Sunday to head down to his team's locker room and celebrate the franchise's first ArenaBowl title, it was before the San Jose SaberCats scored 14 points in 11 seconds to suddenly put the outcome of the game in doubt. Once he got to field level at the New Orleans Arena, Bon Jovi was handed the commemorative hat and T-shirt that went to the winners of the game. "It was heart-wrenching," Bon Jovi said after the Soul held on for a 59-56 victory.

With 39 seconds remaining in yesterday's ArenaBowl, the Soul appeared headed to their first Arena Football League championship with plenty of points to spare. But in a game in which touchdowns come one after another and the points usually keep piling up, it was not that easy for the Soul. Before they could finally claim a 59-56 victory over the San Jose SaberCats, the Soul had to sweat it out as the defending champions erased all but three points of a 17-point deficit. "All I could think about was the Philadelphia curse," Soul coach Bret Munsey said afterward with a laugh.

NEW ORLEANS - When the Soul signed Tony Graziani in 2005, they not only made him their highest-paid player, but also the face of the franchise. SEPTA buses and highway billboards were splashed with Graziani's image. He was at the front of promotional rallies and television commercials. But those days are over. Graziani suited up for the Soul for the final time yesterday. He's a free agent, looking to move on. "I would have loved to walk out of here with a [championship]

When the Soul take on the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII on Sunday in New Orleans, they will be out to earn the franchise's first league title against a defending champion that has claimed the crown three times in the last six years. "You're going against the defending champs, and there's a respect level there," Soul coach Bret Munsey said after a recent practice. "San Jose, we feel, is one of the best organizations in the league, and we also feel that for the first time in a long time, the two teams that are probably playing the best football are playing for the championship.

Tony Graziani knows how weird next weekend will be. Four years ago, he came to Philadelphia as the Arena Football League's richest man. He's been the face of the Soul, the team's starting quarterback, handpicked by owner Jon Bon Jovi as the man to lead his team to a championship. Now, as the Soul prepare for their first-ever ArenaBowl next Sunday, Graziani is on the bench, the backup to Matt D'Orazio. While Graziani missed time this season after tearing his MCL and later suffering a concussion, D'Orazio emerged as the league's top-rated passer.

The difference between the Soul and their ArenaBowl opponents, the San Jose SaberCats, is quite simple for Bret Munsey. The Soul head coach and most of his players have not been in this position before. San Jose has. Plenty of times. "They've got a lot of players that have won the big game," Munsey said. "They're the team that has been up at the No. 1 spot for a number of years. That's what we're striving to do here in Philadelphia. " Munsey will lead the Soul to their first ArenaBowl on July 27 against San Jose in New Orleans.

It all came down to one play for the Soul last night in an Arena Football League postseason game against the New York Dragons. And the Soul delivered. On a play that began with 7.1 seconds remaining in the game, Soul quarterback Matt D'Orazio found wide receiver Larry Brackins on a crossing pattern, and the 6-foot-4, 221-pound second-year man barreled toward the end zone and just managed to reach across the goal line. Only after the officials had reviewed the play was it allowed to stand, and the Soul had a 49-48 victory in the divisional playoff game that put them in the National Conference championship game for the first time.