The above headline does not refer to the Eagles’ Donovan, who came out on the short end of a 49-21 decision to the Broncos Sunday afternoon. Instead, I pay homage to the Austin Ice Bats’ veteran F John McNabb (above), whose 2 goals —- one on a nifty breakaway, another on a 3rd period powerplay — helped the local CHL side get off the schneid with a come from behind 5-4 win over Lubbock, their first of the season.

Trailing 4-1 entering the 3rd, 4 unanswered goals in an 18 minute span improved the Ice Bats’ record to 1-4, this after being outscored 12-4 in the weekend’s previous losses to Bossier-Shreveport and Rio Grande.

If I’m ever again tempted to refer to the likes of Shea Stadium or Brentford’s Griffin Park as “charmless”, I need only compare either venue to the sparsely populated Travis County Exhibition Center (which in all fairness, has to be a far more happening joint for non-matinees and/or motocross. I’m not actually sure about the motocross, but Lt. Dangle isn’t returning my calls). However, Ice Bats management are doing their very best to improve the ambience and if the heavy rotation of Local H and Sponge wasn’t enough to keep hockey neophytes entertained, they could also enjoy the smooth between-periods stylings of the Concordia University Jazz Ensemble. John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, etc. move the fuck over. I’ve heard the CUJE’s version of the “Peter Gunn” theme and everything I thought I knew about life and love, never mind music, was wrong, wrong, wrong.