For sports fans, it does not get much better than this weekend.

Even this morning’s rain brings back memories of the last few times we saw the Boys of Summer – last fall. The Phillies dodged raindrops on their way to becoming Reign Men – the World Series champions of baseball.

Today the pinstripes return to South Philly. The Phils will play a two-game “on deck” set against the team they vanquished last October, the Tampa Bay Rays.

They will see a familiar face in the other dugout. That would be Pat Burrell, who signed a free agent deal with the American Leaguers after the Phillies signed Raul Ibanez to patrol left field for them this year.

Usually, the Phils would have the stage all to themselves this weekend. Both the Sixers and Flyers are slogging through the final stretch of their marathon regular seasons before kicking it up a notch for the playoffs. The Eagles are bickering with the city over luxury box revenue as they await the NFL Draft.

But this is not just any April. This is the continuation of March Madness. And the Villanova Wildcats are in the thick of it.

Jay Wright’s kids will stride onto the court at Ford Field in Detroit Saturday night in front of 70,000 people to tangle with North Carolina. One thing’s for sure. There will be tons of blue.

We survived winter. Spring has sprung. The Phils are home. And ‘Nova is in the Final Four.

Take a deep breath and enjoy a rare sports weekend.

And one other thing. Go ahead and say it.

“Defending World Series Champions.”

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?