🏈 The Soul’s chaotic comeback | Morning Newsletter
And rebuilding Tun Tavern.
The Morning Newsletter
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Welcome to a new week. Did you get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather yesterday? You have another chance today: Expect mostly sunny skies and high temps near 88. Spring who?
This weekend was supposed to be the Philadelphia Soul’s big comeback to the Arena Football League, but instead, the chaotic season opener included a replacement team and a last-minute head coach switch-up. And a nonprofit aims to rebuild Tun Tavern, believed to be the birthplace of the Marines, as a tavern, restaurant, and museum.
Plus, the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the University of Pennsylvania grew over the weekend while campus police announced plans to check IDs and protesters assessed who was willing to get arrested.
Here’s what you need to know today.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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The Philadelphia Soul made their official return to the Arena Football League, nearly five years after the league declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. But this weekend’s debut was ... messy, to put it lightly.
Run it back: The AFL announced last summer that the Soul would be one of 16 teams to participate in the league’s 2024 relaunch. Then, the team’s venture group owner backed out just a month before the start of the season, prompting an ownership takeover by the AFL itself. On the eve of the team’s first game, things appeared to totally fall apart.
Give the play-by-play: Head coach Patrick Pimmel stepped down on Friday, and his replacement was announced just hours before the Soul’s Saturday game in New Orleans. That came after, according to one player’s agent, the team had been put up at a seedy, Philly-area Super 8 motel — but was kicked out in the middle of the night as the lodging bill went unpaid.
The season kickoff: Most of the team’s players didn’t even make it on the plane to their game against the Louisiana VooDoo, after they arrived at the airport to find no Soul coaches or staff. But the Philly Soul did technically play the VooDoo — because replacement players from another indoor league took the field in Soul jerseys.
... Wait, what? “Louisiana is playing the Philly team. But that is not the Philadelphia team, nor coaching staff. They just made another head coach today. It’s a team from another league that’s gonna put on our jerseys and play as us,” said Malik Honeycutt, a Soul wide receiver, in a video he posted to Instagram on Saturday. “It’s crazy,” he repeated over and over.
Here are the full details on the wild, sudden breakdown.
What you should know today
A Pro-Palestinian encampment remained on Penn’s campus throughout the weekend, even after university leadership directed protesters to disband. Sunday night, Penn police announced they would begin checking IDs of those at the site. Protest organizers said they would not comply.
The four juveniles arrested in connection with a shooting at Clara Muhammad Square in West Philadelphia earlier this month that left three people shot will be charged as adults.
The latest on the George Norcross probe: A slew of emails and invoices offer a behind-the-scenes look at an episode that is now the subject of a grand jury investigation led by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and the FBI.
After Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s eight other choices for the Philadelphia school board were confirmed on Thursday, City Council appears poised to decide today whether Joyce Wilkerson will be reappointed. Plus: Here’s why Philly has closed 17 charter schools in 11 years.
Allegheny County native Erin McClelland beat Pennsylvania Democrats’ endorsed candidate who outraised her 5-1. Her name may have had something to do with it.
Lancaster-based Fulton Bank will take over Republic Bank of Philadelphia after Philly’s largest commercial bank was declared “unsafe and unsound.”
A new audio project celebrates the longtime business owners of the 52nd Street corridor, once referred to as “Black Main Street” because it was such a hub for West Philadelphia businesses, jazz clubs, theater, and more.
Homeowners have probably seen ads for water and sewage line warranties from companies such as American Water Resources. No, they’re not a scam: Here’s what to know about the optional protection.
The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone, which means one thing: draft grades and analysis.
If you have questions about the Eagles’ draft class, The Inquirer’s resident draft expert Devin Jackson has answers, starting today at noon ET.
Ahead of America’s 250th birthday, a new — and very old — tavern may be coming to what’s currently an Old City parking lot.
The colonial-era Tun Tavern is believed to be the birthplace of groups such as the U.S. Marine Corps and the Freemasons. Now, a nonprofit is working to recreate the establishment just a few blocks from its original location, on Second Street just below Market.
It’s about honoring Philadelphia’s history: “For one little building that could only hold about 100-some people, an awful lot happened there,” a Tun Tavern Legacy Foundation board member said.
The modern Tun would be a tavern and restaurant, with a museum featuring artifacts and documents on display. But first, fundraising and a trademark fight present challenges. The Inquirer’s Mike Klein has the full story.
🧠 Trivia time
This Jersey Shore town became the latest to enact nighttime curfews for teens.
A) Ocean City
B) North Wildwood
C) Avalon
D) Brigantine
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we're...
🤖 Cheering: The winners of the world’s top robotics prize, Philly’s own Central High RoboLancers.
👱♀️ Singing: “Style” along with the members of Swift Steps, a local Taylor Swift-themed recovery group.
🪨 Booking: A weekend getaway at the renovated, modernist Lynn Hall in McKean County.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
The son of this Hall of Famer was just drafted to play for the Eagles.
EARTH JITTER MORE
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Pete Liston, who solved Sunday’s anagram: McGillin’s, a.k.a. Philly’s oldest-operating bar.
Photo of the day
Your “only in Philly” story
📬 Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, or something that made you fall in love with Philly over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Gerry Frank, who describes an especially exciting Phillies experience:
My daughter scored tickets to Game 3 of the 2022 World Series vs. the Houston Astros. It was my first World Series game. Sitting in the stands with 45,000 screaming fans was amazing. It was rumored that the noise registered on the seismograph at the airport.* The Phillies clubbed five home runs and won 7-0. We all thought we would be meeting again on Broad Street for the parade. Alas, that was not to be, but it still made me proud to be a Philadelphian and a lifelong Phillies fan.
Thanks for starting your week with The Inquirer. See you again tomorrow!
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