Except for Milton Street, demonstrations of March Madness in Philadelphia have been shortlived or nonexistant this NCAA tournament season. Like the month itself, the first brother roared in like a lion by calling for a Million Milton March on City Hall to support his bid for mayor (OK, he only expected 5,000, but he may as well have promised a million). When something closer to a hundred supporters showed up for the Mayor Milton rally on March 1, he quickly changed his tune -- and not to "Freebird" as one heckler shouted during Street's bizarre singing performance on stage accompanied by keyboards and a coffin. Instead of attempting to succeed his brother John in office and become the first New Jersey resident to be elected mayor of Philadelphia, Street went out like a lamb by announcing his candidacy to replace his nephew Sharif on City Council, where Milton could make history by becoming the first City Councilman under indictment before being elected.

But other than crazy Uncle Milton, manifestations of delusional expectations by underdogs has been absent among local college hoops fans yawning through a tournament without a single Cinderella.

Sunday morning, before the rich-get-richer top seeds punched their tickets to the Final Four, HBO rebroadcast a marvelous documentary entitled "A Perfect Upset" about the last time the glass slipper actually fit the national champion. The year was 1985. The number-eight seeded underdog from suburban Philadelphia was Villanova University, the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Not only that, but Villanova had to defeat what may have been the most dominating college basketball team ever assembled, the defending national champion Georgetown Hoyas, led by intimidating 7-foot-2 center Patrick Ewing and coached by equally intimidating basketball legend John Thompson. To mix movie metaphors, Georgetown was Apollo Creed coached by Darth Vader versus Villanova's Rocky coached by Paulie in a rumpled suit and mystically inspired by Yoda in a wheelchair (Rollie Massimino and head trainer Jake Nevin, respectively). The story line behind the championship game was beyond David and Goliath. In fact, one game day newspaper headline read, "It's Villanova versus 'a god'."

That 1985 NCAA tournament was notable not only for the Villanova upset, but it was the first and only time three teams from the same conference (Big East) made it to the Final Four -- three Catholic colleges at that -- St. John's representing priests from the Vincentian Order (C.M.), Villanova founded by the Augustinians (O.S.A.), and Georgetown run by the Jesuits (S.J.) There was a joke going around at the time that the three presidents of those rival Catholic colleges sent a joint letter to God asking which religious order was His favorite. The response from heaven was a polite letter informing the college presidents that He couldn't choose a favorite because He loved them all equally. The letter was signed "God, (S.J.)" But that was the year even God was a Villanova fan.