Take <i> That</i> , New York

Most metropolitan areas would be delighted to have two professional teams playing in the National Football League. But sharp partisans on both sides keep carping that the budding rivalry between the Los Angeles Raiders and the Los Angeles Rams is between two great pretenders, not two great contenders.

Some Raider fans would relegate the Rams to second-class status because, while they claim Los Angeles as their official home, they no longer play in the city. The Rams abandoned the Memorial Coliseum several years ago for Anaheim Stadium, about 30 miles down the freeway in Orange County.

Some Ram fans dismiss the Raiders as cold-hearted mercenaries who moved to Los Angeles 35 years later than the Rams did. They believe that the Raiders will never command similar loyalty from local football fans, although attendance at Raider games indicates otherwise.

We have tried to rise above such bickering, simply counting our readers’ blessings during football season and sticking to occasional comment on the political and legal controversies that attended the Rams’ move to Anaheim in 1980 and the Raiders’ transfer to Los Angeles from Oakland in 1982. With the 1985 season over and the playoffs under way in earnest, behold both teams still in the running for the Super Bowl championship game. Take that, New York.

The Raiders finished atop the Western Division of the NFL’s American Conference, and the Rams had the best record in the National Conference’s Western Division. That qualifies them both to host semifinal playoff games this weekend, the Rams playing the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday and the Raiders playing the New England Patriots on Sunday. Even Los Angeles and Orange County residents who are not football fans can take some satisfaction from the situation; it means an extra game in local stadiums that are, after all, publicly owned and could be a drain on local tax coffers if their tenants were not successful in drawing fans to their games.

So much for the law, politics and taxes. For now, the game is the thing, and we intend to root for both teams. With any luck, we can enjoy an all-Southern California Super Bowl later this month.