It was 2006 when an underrated superstar named Brandon Roy, a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle, led his basketball team into a Sweet 16 matchup with Connecticut. The game took place in Washington, D.C., my current town of residence, just up the street from my office at the Verizon Center.

In the midst of one of the best games the Huskies would play in years, against a UConn team just two years removed from a national championship, something painfully unforgettable happened. It seemed so innocent when Rudy Gay cut across the key, trailed by Roy. The two had be chipping away at each other the entire game and as Gay exited the key, the whistle blew, a foul on Roy, his third.

As the official went to the scorers table to report the "foul", the two players turned toward each other and came face-to-face. Another official separated them and as they began to back away from each other, the whistle blew again, this time from the other side of the floor. It was the same official, some 25-feet away, dealing out a double-technical on both players.

It devastated Washington. Roy picked up his third and fourth fouls on one play, early in the second half. The Huskies played remarkably with him on the bench and had a chance to win, but that game, a Sweet 16 game, was irrevocably turned by an overzealous official long before the game-tying three and bonehead foul.

I understand why Lorenzo Romar says it will haunt him. These Sweet 16 matchups against UConn have that effect on Washington. Just ask Michael Johnson, the Ballard High School grad who watched Richard Hamilton stab the Huskies in the heart in 1998.

Point? Few teams have the Sweet 16 demons the Huskies do. It has been 57 years since Washington advanced past the Sweet 16 and back then there were less rounds. Twice in their history the Huskies have faced devastating last-second losses to Big East teams.

Tonight, they play another program from the Goliath conference, West Virginia.

I will not make a pick or anything of the like. I'm not even going to preview the game. These are different players, a different time, but they know. They played with Jon Brockman, a member of that 2006 team. Donald Watts, from the '98 team, is still around the program and Todd McCullough has made appearances as well. History hangs over the head of this program tonight.

It is against a Big East team on a Big East court on the heart of Big East country: New York state. The crowd could actually be decidedly pro-Husky, since it is hard to imagine Cornell fans, who are traveling in droves from 60 miles away to see their Ivy League team play Kentucky, rooting for WVU. Opportunities to validate a program and exercise demons don't get bigger than this.

What: Washington vs. West Virginia, NCAA Sweet 16
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
When: 7:27 pm E.T.
Follow GoHuskies.com during the day for more.

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Other notes:
- Health care isn't quite over yet and it appears headed back to the House for one more vote. Last night, as Senate Republicans did everything they could to block the legislation, offering amendments until 3:45 am, an small issue was discovered that needed to be changed. It was in part of the student loan reform, requiring the deletion of 16 insignificant lines. Simple fix and another vote.

During the daytime yesterday, Republicans attempted to shut down government yesterday, using another minority ploy that forces a unanimous consent motion to continue any business past the two hours after the Senate is gaveled into session. They objected, forcing the ending of several hearings and halting business for the day. The ploy led Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown to call them "children".

Also, I actually watched the mind-numbing proceedings for a couple of hours, something us wonk types do out here. I actually find it refreshing to watch floor proceedings, if only because it paints members in a different light when they are interacting with each other. Sometime around 9:30 last night, Montana Democrat Max Baucus poked fun at Kansas Republican Pat Roberts, sarcastically asking how Kansas and Kansas State were doing in the NCAA Tournament. These two would never be mistaken for political friends, ever. No only that, but in poking fun, Baucus was wrong. While Kansas has been eliminated, KSU is still very much alive.

So, the next time Baucus was up to speak, Roberts asked if he would yield for a moment. Surprised, Baucus said sure and Roberts stood up to say: "Senator, I am sorry Montana was eliminated in the first round." Laughter ensued and, for just a moment, the mood in the room was lightened. Trust me, that only lasted a minute. But, in the same spirit of my post about Ernie Kent yesterday, it is nice to remember these people are human.

The Senate reconvenes at 9:45 am this morning, with a final vote expected by 2 pm.

- Don't Ask, Don't Tell was in the news again yesterday, as Sec. of Defense Robert Gates has promised a more "humane" treatment of gays in the military regardless of congressional inaction.

- Health care is a social justice issue.

- Finally, this might be the best poll ever. These "tea party" groups, well, they look a whole like the Republican party. Of the members of tea parties, 74 percent are Republicans and a whopping 88 percent are white.

All for now. Go Huskies!

Possibly as a result of living in the beltway, I feel like some stories are glossed over when storms hit regions as hard as this week. And this particular story is happening in Texas, where Dallas is getting nearly two inches of snow per hour as I write this.

Ten churches in East Texas, so far, have been burned in the last month or so, all believed to be arson.

In one case, firefighters responded to a fire, then just 15 minutes later, were called to another church fire only three miles away.

According to news reports, authorities do not believe the arsonists are targeting a certain denomination or ethnic group. Still, the idea that someone is going around burning down churches brings back memories of several points in history, where ethnic groups and certain denominations were exactly the targets.

The only piece of information from the ATF I can seem to find is that they believe the culprits are a group of people, not an individual.

- Speaking of fires, I'm watching live right now as they show sixth avenue in New York City, where there's been an explosion at a commercial building midday.


The other big news of the day is out of the Middle East, where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triumphantly declared that Iran is a nuclear state.

What I am not going to do, yet, is even pretend to understand all of the fallout from this. I can say that it seems as if (surprise, surprise) Iran is merely ignoring the international community's pleas to stop advancing its nuclear technology. Ahmadinejad has been ignoring a lot recently, including the pleas of a large portion of his own country to change course.

Watch this story. It has been announced today with little fanfare. It will command the news cycle, especially the national security part, soon.

Couple of links:

• Paul Krugman quite possibly has become Obama's biggest critic.
• The Senate is in session today, and it has resulted in the introduction of jobs bill. Problem? Thy name is Max Baucus, of Montana, who is sure to screw this up in the Finance Committee, same as he did with healthcare.
• And this is old, but Maureen Dowd weighs in on the DADT stuff. You'll notice she cites Saxby Chambliss near the end. Chambliss is the same Senator that once created a campaign ad that flashed pictures of his opponent and a terrorists. You get the idea. He made the slippery slope argument. But, correct me if I'm wrong, soldiers drink and have sex plenty. Also, are there not tattoos in the military? Or fraternization? This guy is from Georgia?

Think it would be a good idea if all SuperBowl comments were just reserved until next year. Honestly, have you ever seen Peyton Manning play like he were a normal quarterback, prone to making mistakes every now and then? Yeah, you're not alone. So, moving on.

Want to know what life has been like in D.C. for the last few days? Just take a glance at this poor teddy bear:

Had no chance. It's actually even cooler to look at the tree in the background on the right, as it succumbs to the weight of the snow.

Officially, Ronald Reagan International Airport had about 17 inches. Most of the suburbs were in the mid-20's as far as accumulation. Oh, but there's more to come. Starting tomorrow afternoon, another Winter Storm Warning takes effect, with 10-20 more inches of snow expected.

Yes, you read that correctly. This region is expecting 10-20 more inches of snow, on top of the two-plus feet already on the ground in places. Keep in mind that the temperature hasn't gotten above 34 degrees, it was in the teens the last two nights, meaning the vast majority of the snow is still packed in.

There are about 9,000 names for the impending storm that is making its way into our fair city right now. It is supposed to start snowing in a couple of hours - the Federal Government closes at 1 pm - but when I woke up this morning it was cold and dark outside.

It wasn't calm. It was like in a movie as the storms roll in. With the Jaws music and the thunder. It could have been a good Hitchcock opening.

I packed a suitcase and grabbed my backpack, ready to spend the weekend in the District, mostly so I can play football in the blizzard tomorrow morning, but also because I didn't want to be stuck in Arlington for four days.

Quick update: It has started snowing. At 10:45 am. Currently there are four people in my office. Waiting for whiteout conditions tonight. The grocery stores in the district have been overrun, with hours-long waits at checkout counters (I honestly am not making that up). Literally, it's like people are about to hibernate for the winter. In February. Someone actually spent money to buy the URL and create this website: snowpocalypsedc.com.

So naturally, I want to talk to you about Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy. Because I'm a political junkie, and I've seen snow before.

Just in case you've never heard of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, it is the policy, passed into law 17 years ago, that says gays and lesbians cannot serve in the military openly. If kept private, technically they are alright. However, even if outed by a third party, they can be discharged.