‘Tis the Season for Fans to Search for a New Team

OK, there must be something left to do on Sunday afternoons . . . or at least some team to follow with more than desultory interest.

Here it is the middle of October and . . .

“Geez,” a companion lamented late Sunday, “the World Series hasn’t even started and the football season is already over.”

Not the football season, I prompted, just a football season.

“Yeah,” he said. “The only one I care about. When do the Padres go to camp?”

I laughed, and suggested that the Chargers’ 1-5 start was not a setback of such magnitude that the collective community would be doing half-gainers off the Coronado Bridge.

“It could be a lot worse,” I said. “How would you like to live in Indianapolis and be 0-6? Or, for that matter, Buffalo or Houston or Pittsburgh and be 1-5? When there aren’t any clouds, you don’t have to look for silver linings.”

And there are other ways to stay occupied . . . and interested.

Suggestions?

Adopt a Baseball Team

Still plenty of baseball left. It is getting to be a close call as to which happens first: (a) the World Series ends or (b) the first department store Santa Claus crawls out of the stockroom.

Adopt a Football Team

A nice selection here.

Poor San Diego State is 0-2 in the Pac-10 and apparently out of the run for the Rose Bowl. However, the Aztecs are 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference and appear to have a good chance for at least a wild-card bid to the Holiday Bowl, especially if officials decide to emulate the NHL and NBA and be the first bowl game to invite four teams.

For a little more electricity, get behind Lincoln High School. Two weeks ago, the Hornets trailed Patrick Henry, 16-13, in the second period . . . and won, 62-16. Last week, the score against Morse was 0-0 in the final seconds of the half, and Lincoln won, 51-0. In the last 2 1/2 quarters of the last two games, Lincoln has a tidy 100-0 advantage. Obviously, it is not important to get to Lincoln games on time.

Lincoln isn’t the only 5-0 high school team available for adoption. Vista, Chula Vista, Sweetwater and University of San Diego High School are all 5-0. When your uncle calls from Denver and razzes you about your team, you say: “Whatdayya mean? My team is 5-0.”

Adopt a Volleyball Team

Take your pick. You can follow either San Diego State or UC San Diego and you’ll have the No. 1 team in the nation, the Aztecs in Division I and the Tritons in Division III. Just put on the appropriate school colors, buy one of those giant foam index fingers and start out on the top of the heap.

Adopt a Soccer Team

UCSD really is a sleeping giant out there on the bluffs. And we thought that area was all books and hang gliders. UCSD’s women are No. 7 in the nation in soccer. Pack a picnic lunch and a Frisbee and spend an afternoon.

Of course, it won’t be too long before the Sockers start playing. They are opening with an exhibition tour called “Socks Across America,” presumably a takeoff on either (a) Michael Jackson’s Victory Tour or (b) Hands Across America. The tour starts in Indianapolis, another community which figures to be looking for something to do rather than watch its National Football League team.

Padre Watch

No one will be watching the Padres as closely as the players themselves. This could be a financially lucrative pastime as well, if one happens to be in the business of selling real estate or moving furniture.

Admittedly, none of the above suggestions will do much to fill those vacant hours on Sunday afternoons.

However, there are better things to do than agonize over the Chargers.

Plant Grass

Yes, it is time for winter rye. Dump a bunch of seed over that faltering Bermuda and watch it go and grow. You will have a lush, green lawn in much less time than it takes the Chargers to score a second-half touchdown.

Clean the garage, sweep the pool, paint the living room, wallpaper the bathroom, wash the car, wax the floor, build a bookcase, hose down the children’s rooms.

You get the idea.

I have one more idea. Choose something in which you have no emotional involvement or interest. Pick something you can watch without worrying about missing anything should you doze off.

Watch the Chargers.