Ottawa-Union 8 Creston-Central 0

GR Press preps editor Jane Bos did a column today on the notion of the Grand Rapids Public Schools creating coop teams when they head to the OK Conference next year. "Pooling the talent," she wrote, "would make them stronger."

I think she kind of misses the point. One sport where the GRPS schools already have coop teams, of course, is hockey. Central and Creston high schools have cooped their hockey for several years, as have Ottawa and Union. Tonight, these two City League co-op teams faced off against each other and, honestly, they are two of the weakest teams, talent-wise, in the area. But that doesn't matter. I'm sure if you asked them, the point for these kids isn't about being a "strong" or "weak" team. The point is playing together, developing and getting to know other kids, in this case some from other high schools. It's the same reason my son, and about 100 other high school hockey players from the area participated in the Team West Michigan fall league. Sitting in the locker room with kids from another school has a way of spawning mutual respect.

Anyway, the game tonight was kind of one-sided, with Ottawa-Union controlling the puck. The Central-Creston kids did show some spunk and "laid on the lumber" (as Mickey Redmond would say) late in the game. Still, it ended after two with the score OU-8 CC-0. The teams play again on January 4.