Monday August 27, 2001 |

Most people think the Super Bowl is in January. They're wrong. For me, this year's championship game of sorts will be held Thursday, when the UA football team travels to San Diego to take on San Diego State.

You see, until the day I stepped on this campus in 1998, the Aztecs were my favorite college football team. I couldn't help it - both of my parents went to San Diego State, my dad worked there, and my brothers and I were the owners of season tickets (albeit free ones) from the time we were old enough to walk.

And despite the fact that San Diego State was never very good, I loved SDSU games.

I saw Marshall Faulk run over some terrible teams, most of them from the old Western Athletic Conference. I saw Dan McGwire - the younger, not-as-successful brother of Big Mac - throw the deep ball to Darnay Scott. I even saw Montezuma - the Aztecs' mascot until the days of political correctness forced his ousting - get a Gatorade shower from Fresno State players as he attempted to plant a flaming spear on the opponents' sidelines.

But there was always one thing my beloved Aztecs couldn't do - beat a Pac-10 team.

Even in their most successful seasons, the boys from Montezuma Mesa seemed to lock up against UCLA, USC, Arizona and ASU.

Thursday's their chance, and while I think the game will be far closer than UA fans would like to think, SDSU will likely fall short again.

But here's how they shape up, anyway: All apologies to Nick Bakay, but here is my own "Tale of the Tape."

Category: Best food

UA: Greasy Tony's cheesesteaks

SDSU: Rubio's fish tacos

Advantage: Aztecs. Ever had Greasy's with a hangover? Ugh.

Category: Best beer

UA: Nimbus

SDSU: Karl Strauss Amber Lager

Advantage: UA. Despite Strauss' promise of "Free beer on birthdays!" Nimbus is tasty.

Category: Weather

UA: "It's a dry heat"

SDSU: "72 degrees AGAIN?"

Advantage: SDSU. Sure, you'll never get a good tan in San Diego weather, but it sure beats showering seven times a day to avoid being stank.

Category: Pests

UA: Giant Palo Verde beetles

SDSU: BYU in football

Advantage: UA. At least Palo Verde beetles die. The Cougars are always - always! - sticking around during the bowl season.

Category: Best Walton

UA: Forward Luke Walton

SDSU: Aztecs forward Chris Walton

Advantage: Push. They're brothers, for christssake.

Category: Trademark foliage

UA: Saguaro

SDSU: Palm

Advantage: Neither. Live in either city long enough, and you'll learn to hate them.

Category: Local hero

UA: Former UA All-American Sean Elliott

SDSU: Former Aztec basketball and baseball player Tony Gwynn.

Advantage: SDSU. They have pictures of Gwynn in short-shorts and sporting an afro when he played hoops in the '70s. Fresh.

Category: Farmers

UA: Clarence

SDSU: Farmer John

Advantage: UA. Although Farmer John products are "Eastern most in quality, Western most in taste," the UA running back can jet.

Category: Mascots

UA: Wilbur, Wilma

SDSU: None - Montezuma, the Aztecs' mascot, isn't politically correct anymore.

Advantage: UA. The last time Wilbur was in San Diego, the mascot fell off an aircraft carrier at a Holiday Bowl luncheon. You can't script that stuff.

Category: Nightlife

UA: Fourth Avenue

SDSU: Gaslamp Quarter.

Advantage: UA. Ever try to park in the Gaslamp on a Friday? I'll take my chances at Maloney's.

Category: Best professional sports team

UA: None

SDSU: Chargers/Padres

Advantage: Push.

UA wins the tally, 5-3. So there you have it. If you can avoid being sucked into a preseason Chargers game, San Diego should be a whole lot of fun. Just know who has the advantage, OK? ·

· When talking with some friends yesterday, I wondered aloud whether anyone at UA even gives a damn about Arizona State anymore. Could it be that we - as UA fans - are so concerned about beating the USCs, Stanfords and UCLAs of the world that we no longer care about our in-state rivals?

I know alumni like to get all jacked up before the annual UA-ASU football game, but do students even care anymore? Last November, I found about five students who I knew actually attended the game. The rest were back home with their families, celebrating Thanksgiving. I've heard that dislike for ASU is more of an Arizona-native thing - that most Tucsonans who dislike ASU never even went to either one of the colleges. I'm from California, and - rivalry or not - I've always considered UCLA to be the Wildcats' biggest rivals in the so-called "big sports," football and basketball. Am I alone in thinking this? I want feedback.