Here's todays sports news...

Week 13, and the 49ers go to New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. Take this moment to make a donation to a hurricane-related charity. They still need help. The column can wait....

The Rai-duhs got themselves a shiny new QB today, signing ex-Saints QB Aaron Brooks to a two year deal. The Silver & Black faithful are doing much rejoicing. Settle down, Raiders fans. This is not the QB you are looking for. Two years ago, Brooks killed us (killed us!) in fantasy football. See, we had a choice of either drafting him or Donovan McNabb. We took Brooks. McNabb went onto the Super Bowl and an MVP season. Brooks didn't. The Saints did not much of anything and our team, which we thought was maybe the best team we had ever drafted, barely made the playoffs. Settle down, Raiders fans. This is not the QB you are looking for. ...

With all the tragic events going on in the South, it's way too tempting to look for an angle and try to find a way to make it about ourselves. But we do have a local angle happening right here in the Bay Area, a pretty interesting one, in fact. And that is the fact that tonight; the Oakland Raiders are playing the suddenly homeless New Orleans Saints. It goes without saying that the events of Hurricane Katrina make things like sports come off as meaningless. More so about a football game that's meaningless to begin with. But yet, despite it all, teams are still trying to get in some practice, players are fighting for spots, and football goes on. The Saints arrived in the Bay Area last Monday to train at San Jose State University, fleeing the city on Sunday night, one of the last flights allowed out of New Orleans. The trip was several days earlier than planned. Team members have said that they spent most of the time leading up to their flight trying to get their families out. Several players have also admitted to missing team meetings because they were too wrapped up in watching the news to make it. ...