I had the pleasure of attending the Bills-Redskins game yesterday in Maryland with my Uncle Joe. (Every Italian, by the way, has an Uncle Joe and an Uncle Tony, unless their father happens to have one of those two names.)

The entire Freddoso family are dedicated Bills fans — we attend a game and hold a mini-family reunion in Buffalo every year. So when Uncle Joe came up with a pair of tickets, I was naturally thrilled. It meant that we were there at Fed-Ex field for the beautiful tribute to Sean Taylor at the beginning of the game. On their first play, the Redskins’ defense came out with just ten men on the field (I counted them at least six times). This didn’t prove to be so wise, since the Bills ran an end-around for 22 yards on the first play. It was an emotional moment all the same, and nothing came of that drive anyway.

Neither Uncle Joe nor I were wearing Bills gear — I have a t-shirt somewhere, I think, but it was much too cold for that. Besides, why draw attention to ourselves while everyone is so emotional about Sean Taylor? We did not hesitate to cheer when the Bills had a few good plays, though. By the fourth quarter, the Redskin fans behind us were on to us, and were giving us plenty of grief, albeit in a good-natured way. They were — let’s just say, boisterous. One humorous exchange involved a commentary on the Freddoso family’s most prominent hereditary trait:

REDSKINS FAN: Hey, pal, I have the number for 1-800-ROGAINE here if you want it.
UNCLE JOE: Yeah? Well I like being bald.
FAN: No you don’t. If you did, you’d cut off the sides, too!

Now that was funny. This fan also suggested all kinds of stupid plays for the Redskins (“Go for two! Go for it on fourth!”), prompting my Uncle Joe, always the good sport, to tell him Joe Gibbs ought to hire him to do strategy. As he continued to taunt us, I leaned over and said to Uncle Joe: “Gee, for that guy’s sake, I sure hope the Redskins win.”

Sure enough, the Redskins managed to blow the game. The Bills defeated them, 17-16, on a safety and five field goals. The final field goal came at the very end, after Trent Edwards led a drive beginning with 56 seconds on the clock and no time-outs. All the chants of “Taylor! Taylor!” could do nothing to help the Skins defense.

With just eight seconds left, the Bills lined up for a 51-yard field goal, which kicker Rian Lindell made easily — but it turned out that the Skins had called a time-out just before the snap. So he lined up to kick it again, and Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs called a second consecutive time-out — which is against the rules, and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for 15 yards. Lindell then easily made the shorter field goal for a Bills victory. Believe me, having lost several such games at the last minute this year, it was very nice to steal one in this fashion.

Uncle Joe and I turned around, and out taunters had already slinked away.