There are times I wish I had gone to a school with a bigger athletic program. I wish I had gone to a place where the problem is overzealous fans and people who take sports too seriously. Maybe somewhere like Stanford.

It was just this past weekend when I was wearing my Stanford sweatshirt back home, because it was both comfortable and clean ‹ the two deciding factors I use to determine what to wear. Anyway, my family and I had just finished selecting a Christmas tree at the bastion of horticultural excellence that is Home Depot when a 30-something-year-old woman approached me while I was cutting string.

“”Go Bears, Go Bears, Go Bears,”” she chanted at me with all the sophistication of an eight year old. As amazed as all my friends reading this will be, I said nothing and did not even look toward her. Instead, I just kept cutting my string. I thought she might not ever stop chanting, but then the salesperson engaged her in a poorly informed conversation about college football. When I was done, I walked back to my family and we went home. I just hope she knows how lucky she was.

In a somewhat less friendly mood, I thought about the responses her chanting deserved.

“”You know, I heard the UC system was admitting some people with S.A.T. scores below 1,000. I guess it isn’t a rumor!””

I could have also said: “”Your passion for your school is rather commendable. Did Cal have a good football program back in the Œ60s when you were there?””

Then there is always: “”Congratulations. Your win in the Œbig’ game locked up that fourth-place finish in the Pac-10. Now there’s a commitment to excellence.””

Honestly, these big programs have had nothing on UCSD this fall. We’ve had our women’s volleyball, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and men’s water polo teams in the playoffs ‹ not to mention the women’s soccer team heading to the Final Four in Virginia this week.

It’s not such a bad time to be a UCSD student. We’ve got teams that are winning, we’ve had the opportunity to host some very exciting playoffs, and just around the corner is finals week, which means that Club C.L.I.C.S. will be bumping the hottest jams 24 hours a day in the biggest party on campus. Fall quarter is a fun time to be a UCSD student and especially a UCSD sports fan.

I don’t really want to be at Stanford. I really don’t want to be at Berkeley. I think I made a good choice in coming to UCSD.

Against all odds, I’m hoping the basketball season doesn’t make me change my mind.