Soul

A raid of two clubhouses under the Market-Frankford El this morning was part of a federal crackdown today on a motorcycle gang whose "Mother Chapter" is alleged to be based in Philadelphia. About 6 a.m., agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms entered two Wheels of Soul buildings that sit across from each other in the 6100 block of Market Street. A federal indictment unsealed in St Louis this morning alleged that 18 Wheels of Soul associates from seven states - Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Wisconsin and Kentucky - are suspected of involvement in murder, kidnapping, drug distribution and racketeering.

ONE OF THE first things the Arena Football League needs to change is that all players receive 1-year contracts. Since the lockout killed the 2009 season, owners have done everything they can to keep costs down. One-year deals are hardest on the players, but they also make it difficult for fans to form bonds and for franchises to maintain identities. But if there is a benefit to so much roster upheaval, it is that teams that are miserable one year can start from scratch the next.

The Soul announced their 2012 Arena Football League schedule on Thursday. They will play at the Wells Fargo Center and be in the American Conference Eastern Division with the Cleveland Gladiators, Milwaukee Mustangs, and Pittsburgh Power. Home games in bold   BYE March 18 at New Orleans, TBD March 23 at Pittsburgh, 8* April 1 Cleveland, 6:05 April 7 at Georgia, TBD April 15 San Jose, 6:05 April 20 Tampa Bay, 8* April 28 at Orlando, TBD May 5 Milwaukee, 7:05 May 12 Jacksonville, 7:05 May 18 at Spokane, TBD May 27 at Cleveland, TBD June 2 Orlando, 7:05 June 8 at Milwaukee, TBD June 16 at Jacksonville, TBD June 24 Pittsburgh, 6:05 June 30 at Tampa Bay, 7:30 July 8 Spokane, 6:05 BYE July 22 Utah, 6:05 p.m. Times subject to change * NFL Network

What: Soul (7-2) at Spokane (4-4) When: Friday, 11 p.m. Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena TV: The Comcast Network.   Internet: www.PhiladelphiaSoul.com or www.UStream.com . About the Soul: Defensive lineman T.J. Langley, acquired in a trade with Jacksonville on May 12, will make his debut. Langley is an AFL rookie who spent time in the training camps of the Panthers and Bills last summer. . . . Phil Marfuggi will be the kicker this week.

The Soul's game against the SaberCats in San Jose, Calif., has been moved to Friday at 10:30 p.m. The game originally was scheduled for Saturday. The game will be televised live on WMCN.

Soul at Chicago Rush Records: Soul 4-3; Chicago 6-1 When: Tonight, 8 o'clock Where: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Ill. Line: Chicago by 8. Over/under: 96. TV: ESPN2. Radio: WPEN (950-AM). All-time series: Soul leads, 2-1, with the home team winning each time. What's at stake: The Soul have dropped three in a row and would fall farther out of contention for the AFL East Division title with another loss. Front-running Dallas leads by three games after eking out a last-second win over Nashville on Friday.

Sunday at 6:05 p.m., Wells Fargo Center   Radio: ESPN (950 AM) Gladiators update: Cleveland (1-1) picked up its first Arena League win of the season last weekend. The Gladiators are coached by Steve Thonn, who was an offensive coordinator under Doug Plank in Georgia. . . . The team is owned by Dan Gilbert, the Cleveland Cavaliers' majority owner. . . . A wide receiver named Joe Horn is on the roster, but he's not that Joe Horn. Soul update: It's only Week 4, and the Soul (2-0)

What: Soul (1-0) at Pittsburgh (1-0) When: Friday, 8 p.m. Where: At Consol Energy Center (16,280) TV: NFL Network Radio: ESPN (950-AM) Soul update: Won its season opener at New Orleans when Donovan Morgan scored a late touchdown and Bryan Robinson blocked a potential game-winning field goal. Power update: Won its opener at Orlando even after half the team was fired for threatening a strike just before kickoff. Leaguewide, players are disgruntled about the AFL's lack of benefits and a pay scale in which everyone except the starting quarterback earns $400 per game.

IT WAS A LITTLE noisier at Soul practice on Wednesday morning and the coaches couldn't have been happier. Wide receiver Donovan Morgan was back for his first day of on-field work since fracturing his left wrist on April 1. "Sitting out was very difficult," said Morgan, who chatted up and encouraged teammates as usual during Wednesday's preparations. "It was like seeing your troops go to battle and you're not able to go out on the front lines and be there with them. I'm one of those guys that wants to be on the front lines with my troops and lead the way. Sitting on the sidelines was killing me. " Morgan, a team captain, had 23 catches and eight TDs in two-plus games before getting injured.

It was a little noisier at Soul practice on Wednesday morning, and the coaches couldn't have been happier. Wide receiver Donovan Morgan was back for his first day of on-field work since fracturing his left wrist on April 1. "Sitting out was very difficult," said Morgan, who chatted up and encouraged teammates as usual during practice. "It was like seeing your troops go to battle, and you're not able to go out on the front lines and be there with them. "I'm one of those guys that wants to be on the front lines with my troops and lead the way. Sitting on the sidelines was killing me. " Morgan, a team captain and the most popular player among fans, had 23 catches and eight touchdowns in two-plus games before he was injured.

The Soul fell behind by three touchdowns early and never recovered Friday in a 65-47 loss to the Spokane Shock in Spokane, Wash. The Soul, now 7-3 and still in first place in the Arena Football League's East Division, struggled to move the ball. The teams traded touchdowns during the final three quarters but the Shock (5-4) never let the Soul get too close. The Soul's next game will be next Sunday at the Cleveland Gladiators in a 4 p.m. start.  

ONE OF THE first things the Arena Football League needs to change is that all players receive 1-year contracts. Since the lockout killed the 2009 season, owners have done everything they can to keep costs down. One-year deals are hardest on the players, but they also make it difficult for fans to form bonds and for franchises to maintain identities. But if there is a benefit to so much roster upheaval, it is that teams that are miserable one year can start from scratch the next.

What: Soul (7-2) at Spokane (4-4) When: Friday, 11 p.m. Where: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena TV: The Comcast Network.   Internet: www.PhiladelphiaSoul.com or www.UStream.com . About the Soul: Defensive lineman T.J. Langley, acquired in a trade with Jacksonville on May 12, will make his debut. Langley is an AFL rookie who spent time in the training camps of the Panthers and Bills last summer. . . . Phil Marfuggi will be the kicker this week.

By Len Davidson Today marks the resumption of the historic battle of Soul vs. Bureaucracy, also known as Good vs. Evil or Sixers vs. Celtics. Since some of you may know only a bit about this battle, here are a few points to consider: Philly history was and will always be about positive, rootsy soul, as in the Lenni Lenape, a cappella street corner harmony, Hall and Oates, Julius Erving, and the greatest soul basketball team ever: Wilt Chamberlain, Wali Jones, Chet Walker, Hal Greer, and Luke Jackson, with Billy Cunningham — that's right, the Kangaroo Kid!

Jeff Hughley dropped to one knee and spread his arms wide in celebration. The wide receiver's 36-yard touchdown catch and run down the right sideline provided the insurance the Soul needed as they dropped the visiting Jacksonville Sharks, 56-38, on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Hughley finished with 121 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The 36-yard touchdown was the Soul's longest completion of the evening. The Soul led by just four at the half before they rallied for five second-half touchdowns.

LAST WEEK'S disappointing loss to Milwaukee still has Soul coach Doug Plank fuming and the general manager working the phones. "Everytime you lose," Plank said following Thursday's practice, "there is an opportunity to make changes. " The Soul traded a defensive starter for a d-back, added a free-agent defensive lineman and will rotate their kicker once again. Justin Warren, who registered 12 sacks over the last two seasons for Dallas, is the free agent. "He's a very active player," Plank said.

GIVEN THE teams' records, one would have to say the 6-1 Soul was the big favorite going into Saturday's Arena Football League home game against the 2-4 Milwaukee Mustangs. But the Soul, which took a four-game winning streak into the game, finds itself needing to bounce back after the Mustangs' 64-63 win in a back-and-forth battle in which neither team was ever more than a touchdown behind. The Soul failed to answer a final touchdown by Josue Paul on a 45-yard reception with 44 seconds remaining.