by Brandon Vogel

I wholeheartedly approve of Gregory Echenique’s look. The new Creighton big man sports goggles and the number 00 — the same number Jays alum Benoit Benjamin wore for most of his 15-year NBA career. It’s redolent of late ’80s/early ’90s NBA post players and I can’t decide if he reminds more of Benjamin, Kevin Duckworth, Moses Malone or Antoine Carr (another MVC alum). Those were all big and occasionally begoggled bruisers and that’s what I see when I look at Echenique. If his play reminds Jays fans of any of those guys, Creighton could be in good shape. Coach Greg McDermott has shown patience working Echenique into the rotation, playing the transfer 18 and 21 minutes in his first two games. The center performed well enough, scoring 28 points and blocking seven shots in 39 minutes, but the real measure of his efficiency might be in what he does to opposing defenses. Though Echenique hasn’t played major minutes, he’s still gone to the foul line 23 times. He’s a lot to handle inside and that creates individual scoring opportunities while wearing down opposing post players and making things a little easier for Kenny Lawson and Doug McDermott. It’s been a while since Creighton has had that sort of depth and talent inside; and with the Jays still struggling to find consistency from three-point range, post play could become the team’s calling card as it heads for conference play. --Council Bluffs is in the hunt to host Olympic team trials in weightlifting and wrestling in 2012. The Olympic selection committee announced Columbus, Ohio and Iowa City, Iowa as fellow finalists for the trials scheduled to take place April 20 and 21. Delegations from the three prospective host cities will travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. to present their bids for the event Jan. 12 and 13. The selection committee is scheduled to announce the host city Jan. 17. On Dec. 20 Council Bluffs was designated by the Iowa Tourism Board as a Sports Authority District for 2011. The city will receive $50,000 for the promotion of youth, high school and non-professional sports next year, the fifth consecutive year Council Bluffs has received the designation.

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