EDITORIAL : A DRY WELL; THE STATE OUGHT NOT - AND SHOULD NOT - GIVE AWAY TAX DOLLARS TO LINE THE POCKETS OF WEALTHY NFL OWNERS SO L.A. CAN HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM.

IF the National Football League is so intent on returning to Los Angeles, then the 31 owners and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue should get their act together.

Pick an owner, pick a stadium plan, fork over some money and let the games begin. This pot-sitting has got to end.

No matter how long you wait, the state of California is not going to kick in any more so L.A. can join this exclusive club.

As it is they've already cost the state and city thousands of dollars by forcing officials to traipse around the country to the meetings in such places as Kansas City, Miami and Chicago.

They listen to the proposals of movie moguls and billionaire philanthropists, tease them and dangle membership cards in front of them and then don't act.

Why can't they get it through their helmetless heads: Neither California nor Los Angeles is going to mortgage the future on football. It's a losing bet at the polls, as well as on the field.

Read Gov. Gray Davis' lips: No public money for football. (The state has indicated there could be some help with bonds to cover building parking with revenue to cover the expense.)

The state has enough problems finding money to improve schools. The city can barely pave its streets and pay its phone bills on time. You can't get blood from a stone.

With the Sept. 15 deadline to vote up or down on L.A. just six weeks away, it's time the owners let everyone know where L.A. stands. What are the odds on the NFL returning to L.A.? Will it be an expansion team or will Al Davis bring his Raiders back to town?

Perish the thought of Davis returning.

Los Angeles can survive without the NFL. It has for four seasons and it will for however long the NFL stays out of the nation's second-largest television market.

If the NFL wants to return it will on our terms: No money and no Al Davis.