Soul is born again with 18-game schedule

The baptism of the reborn Philadelphia Soul will begin near the nexus of three rivers - in Pittsburgh.

On March 11, the local Arena Football League franchise will take to the indoor carpet for the first time since winning the league title in July 2008, according to the team's newly released schedule.

George W. Bush was still president back then.

Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi was still one of the Soul's co-owners.

Then the league tanked worse than the American economy, taking a year off, and then going bankrupt, before re-emerging with a mix of old and new teams for this year's season.

But without a Soul.

In June, the franchise announced that ex-Eagles quarterback / ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski would be back as one of four co-owners of a resurrected franchise - but that Bon Jovi and bandmate Richie Sambora were giving up the gig.

The team has a new head coach and a new quarterback. Former player Mike Hohensee is one of the league's winningest coaches, and just a couple of weeks ago, the Soul signed 6-foot-2, 240-pound Justin Allgood, who threw a league-high 109 touchdown passes with Tulsa Talons in 2010. Also signed is Donovan Morgan, who caught 52 of Allgood's TDs with Tulsa.

On April 15, always a day of reckoning, the new Soul will finally be home, taking on the Tampa Bay Storm.

The mascot, SoulMan - "the annoying Blues Brothers character," according to some uppity New York City paper - will be there, along with the SoulMates dance team, which will have tryouts on Dec. 12.

Open tryouts for players were scheduled for Oct. 30.

Here's the full 18-game slate, with home games (all at 7:05 p.m.) in capital letters:

March 11, at Pittsburgh Power.

March 18, at Chicago Rush.

April 4, at Milwaukee Iron.

April 9, at Orlando Predators.

April 15, TAMPA BAY STORM.

April 23, at San Jose SaberCats.

April 30, at Iowa Barnstormers.

May 6, JACKSONVILLE SHARKS.

May 13, GEORGIA FORCE.

May 21, at Cleveland Gladiators.

May 27, NEW ORLEANS VOODOO.

June 3, MILWAUKEE IRON.

June 11, at Spokane Shock.

June 17, TULSA TALONS.

June 25, ARIZONA RATTLERS.

July 2, Dallas Vigilantes.

July 8, CLEVELAND GLADIATORS.

July 22, PITTSBURGH POWER.

The team is off the weeks of March 25 and July 15.

For more information, go to www.philadelphiasoul.com.