May 5, 2023 • 40 mins
This week on the Keys Weekly Sports Wrap Podcast, host Sean McDonald sits down with Amber Archer Acevedo, the Deputy Superintendent of Monroe County Schools and a former Key West High School principal. In addition to being integral to the educational experience of students throughout the Keys. Acevedo is a Class of 1980 classmate of legendary Key West High School athlete Robert “Speedy” Neal, who passed away a few weeks ago. Listen as McDonald talks with Acevedo about her earliest memories of Speedy on the old Kennedy baseball fields and the impact he had on Key West. The pair also discuss Acevedo and her father’s contributions to sports journalism in Monroe County.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome back, everyone to the Keys weekly sports wrap with
coach mcdonald. Your one place to get all keys prep
sports news and history. You can find this podcast every
week at Keys weekly dot com. You can search for
Keys weekly sports wrap podcast online and tell your friends
about it and listen every week because we got a
(00:27):
lot of great stuff going on. And this week we're
going to talk about
softball, baseball, track, all the spring sports and guess what? Everybody,
football's coming back at least for a month. Spring football
starts this week. So we're going to break that down
a little bit, but let's go back to last week
and hit the results.
(00:48):
Last week was a big week for marathon baseball. They
were able to beat ransom Everglades in the first round
of the conference championship. 63, taking them to the conference championship.
Corl Shores baseball lost to Saint Brendan last week. Marathon
softball won via forfeit against G Ma Coral Shores. Baseball.
Beat W I'm sorry. A BF Academy Homestead 9 to
(01:11):
5 marathon softball lost to ransom on the 27th 9
to 1.
Key West baseball beat Miami High two times at home,
12 to 1 and 11 to 1 marathon. Baseball lost
six nothing in the conference championship. We'll talk about that
a little bit later. Key West softball was able to
beat Western 4 to 3. So
(01:34):
a lot of stuff going on, some spring sports are
winding down. Softball is getting ready for their district tournament.
Baseball is getting ready for their district tournament as far
as baseball goes. Corl Shores finished their regular season play
with a win against a BF Academy Homestead on the
25th of April.
They are six and 13 on the year. They're ranked
third in the district and they are going to go
(01:57):
to marathon. Well, at the time of this podcast, they
went to Marathon Tuesday night and they played in the
first round of the district tournament. Coral Shores beat Marathon
prior 14 to 2 in the one contest of the
season in March. Uh, the winner of the game that
was played on Tuesday will go to the district championship
May 3rd
with the likely opponent being Keys Gate though both Somerset,
(02:20):
South Homestead and Silver Palms are also in the running
so marathon like I talked about at the top of
the podcast was in their conference championship game. Um They
made the conference championship game earlier last week by defeating
Ransom Dylan Eels was on the mound for that first
round game and he had 16 strikeouts extending his nationally
(02:41):
ranked strikeout stat Ryan Yon hammered three of the fin
six hits. Uh, Dylan Globe, Gabe Leal and Jack Chapman
had the other three. Now that win sent them to
Miami Country Day School where the tournament is held on
April 28th to take on Palmer Trinity senior Ryan Yablon
started out on the mound for a marathon, did a
(03:02):
good job lasting three and two thirds innings while Gavin
Leel closed it out. Brian Broch had a pair of
hits and Yon and both Leel had one each, but
it wasn't enough to beat Palmer. Palmer was able to
beat Marathon six to nothing. So that ended marathons, um
quest to get a conference championship. That's the bad news.
(03:22):
The good news is that they're playing in the district
tournament and this is the March to the state championship.
So hopefully Marathon or Coral Shores, we don't know at
this time who wins and whichever team wins goes on
to win the district and to continue in the FHS
A playoffs. Now,
when you're talking about FHSA, a playoffs and state championships,
(03:43):
you're talking about Key West High School because they have
a record 11 state championships and they're on a quest
for number 12 this season, Key West completed the regular
season play last week were beating Miami High two times.
Their record is 18 and five. They have the top
seed in the district tournament. They are ranked first in
the region and third in the state.
(04:04):
Now they cleared their final hurdles to seal their rankings
by defeating Miami High twice. They're ready for the district
tournament and they are looking to make another state championship run. So,
good luck to Key West High school boys baseball. Now
it's the spring season
(04:25):
track is starting to finish up. All the schools had
district championships. They're going into regionals this week. The state
championship for Key West and Coral Shores um is on
the horizon but regionals are May 3rd for Key West
High school and Coral Shores High School and May 6th
for marathon. So good luck to all those track athletes
(04:46):
out there. Now, we're gonna talk a little bit about
girls softball. I'll give you a breakdown of the three
teams right now.
Key West softball right now. Their record is at 15
and three last year. They went to the final four
in the state championship and they're looking to make another run.
Their district tournament is coming up this week. So good
(05:09):
luck to Key West High School and hopefully they make
a push into the postseason. Now, marathon, high school softball
is eight and five on the season. Their district championship
or their district tournament is also coming up this week.
Um, good luck to marathon. They're eight and five this
year and Coral Shores is finished with their season at
six and six. We talked about this last week. Coral
(05:31):
Shores is an independent, so they do not qualify for
postseason play. So they play their regular season and then
their season is over. So their season is over and
they finish at six and six. So a lot of
news going on and also this week, if
you're driving by your favorite high school or any of
the high schools in Monroe County after school, there's a
(05:51):
good chance you're gonna see football practice going on and
you're gonna say to yourself, what the heck is going on?
It's May, why is there football going on? Well, the
state of Florida allows spring practice and
this year it starts May 1st and all three of
the Keys high schools will be participating in spring football.
Coral Shores does have a spring football game May 19th
(06:13):
at home. Um Marathon High School also has a spring
game May 18th at home at 6 p.m. at Marathon
and Key West High School is doing a red and
white game. They do not have a game, they're going
to do an intersquid scrimmage and
all three teams are looking to continue on the success
that they had last year and build on that. You know,
Corl Shores had a great year with football and marathon
(06:37):
was pretty good and Key West had a great year.
So hopefully all three teams have a great spring and
remain injury free and everybody learns a lot and we
move towards the fall. So spring football is going on. Now,
when you talk about football
and you talk about Keys football, you know, everybody can
talk about the legends, you know, all the legendary players,
(06:59):
you know, from George Myra down in, in Key West
to Tony Bryant and Marathon and all the great players
Corl Shores have had in the past and, and one
of the names that always comes up when you talk
about the greatest football players in Keys history is Robert
Speedy Neal and we just recently lost Speedy Neil And
(07:20):
I've talked about him so many times on the podcast
and I know when Coach Wise was on, he named,
uh Speedy Neal, the top athlete that he has seen
in his tenure and, and Judd Wise wasn't even here
when Speedy was here. So, um, it's sort of AAA
little sad podcast today and, and we're going to celebrate
the life of Speedy Neil and we're gonna talk to
(07:41):
one of his classmates today and that's uh Amber Archer Acevedo.
She's a class of 80
at Key West High School. She's also the deputy superintendent,
but we're gonna go back in time and we're gonna
talk a little bit about Speedy Neil and, and everyone
can get an idea of the impact that he had
and the type of person that he was and the,
and the kind of family he had. Thank you.
(08:05):
All right, here we are, everybody, keys weekly sports wrap
with coach mcdonald. I'm really excited about our guest here.
She is a longtime fantastic employee of the Monroe county
school district, she's had all sorts of roles and right
now I think, I hope I'm right about this. She's
deputy superintendent and it's Amber Archer Acevedo. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I'm doing very well. Very well. Thank you for having
me on, uh,
Speaker 1 (08:31):
well, for everybody out there in Monroe County, you know,
this podcast, we talk about, uh, prep sports going on
currently and historically and throughout like a lot of our
podcasts I had Coach Wise on and he talked about
the greatest athletes that he's seen in his history. Now,
(08:53):
Coach Wise started teaching in Key West in 1983.
Yes. And even though he started in 1983 when he
got to the number one guy, he got to someone
that graduated in 1980 that was Speedy Neil. And um unfortunately,
you know, Speedy Neil um has passed away a couple
(09:14):
of weeks ago and I really wanted to have sort
of a deep dive with somebody that grew up with
him and we have a very special person today and
that is Amber. You graduated with him, correct?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yes, I did. He was a classmate of the class
of 1980 from Qs. Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
And to me, like, I'm a little bit a little
bit younger than him. I grew up in Miami and
even in 1980 in Miami before the internet, I knew
who Speedy Neal was.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He was legendary and he was legendary early on um not,
not just for high school play but from his early days,
uh and predominantly in his early days, it was for
baseball because he was too big to play in youth leagues.
Um at that time, so, uh his dominance was legendary
(10:09):
for his baseball play.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So, like growing up, what were your earliest memories of
uh of him and his family?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Um Probably I would say in the baseball fields and,
and back in the days of the seventies growing up, um,
along Kennedy Drive, the baseball fields were kind of everybody's
home away from home. Uh, parents much like they do today,
but just kind of, uh, a little bit different, more
like a neighborhood where parents would, you know, whether you
(10:40):
were playing or not. Um, you pulled up the chairs
and sat in the, the, at that time it was
parking lot outfield.
So everybody watched everybody else, you know, grow up and
even if you didn't live near somebody you went to
school with or, or they went to a different elementary school,
you knew about them.
And so, um, my earliest recollections are, uh, on the
(11:03):
baseball field on actually what we used to call the
middle field. And Speedy was a presence. You just could
not ignore he and another, um, young man named Gully
Poitier were just, uh, dynamos. They were larger in stature,
uns size, but they also just were, you know, heads
(11:27):
above the other athletes in terms of their play and
their power. And so, you know, the home run bell,
you know, everybody looks forward when it goes off at
a baseball field, you know, the siren goes and when
you would know when they were playing because it, it
went off a couple of times and you're like, oh,
we know who's playing on that, you know, field. And, um,
and so that was kind of his athletic side on
(11:50):
the personal side.
It, it's like his personality, um, back the size in that,
you know, large, but he was so quiet and he
was so humble and just an all around, you know,
nice kit that people wanted to be around. Um, and
even kids who looked at him and, and thought, you know,
(12:12):
their size might have
like, oh, take a step back. This is a big
guy here, you know, he'd start talking and you would
realize right away that he was one of the kindest,
you know, kids that you would ever meet. So again,
I'm blessed to have early, early memories of him both
as an athlete and as a friend.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That's, that's so fascinating. That idea
in, in the seventies growing up in Key West, going
over to the baseball field and, and, and there's no
other distractions, I would imagine when those baseball games are
going on on Kennedy Drive, that's the biggest thing in town. Correct.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It definitely was. And, you know, back then it was
kind of three seasons. So you moved from old wickers
field on Flagler and that's where, you know, football was
played and then, you know, basketball and then everybody moved
to baseball. So
now where we have such expanded sports in our community,
which is amazing back then, you, right, that was the
(13:14):
game in town was youth baseball. And again, families spent
their nights out there whether their own kids were playing
or not, they just, you know, it was the place
to be and watch the other kids and support them.
And for us, it was like a, like I said,
a giant neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
It's so fascinating because obviously, you know, we're talking about
the past today and we're going into the time machine,
but it was so nice in those days because everybody
was so focused on one thing, just like you were saying,
there was sometimes there's a beauty in less options because
everyone is having this shared experience and everyone, I would
(13:50):
assume the next day is talking about what happened the
night before. And I'm sure with speedy, there was always
a lot of memories there.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Definitely. And you are right. It was where everybody focused
their energy and everyone knew everyone. So when you went
to school the next day, that was the talk of
the town and you literally had to talk because that
was the way you communicated. So,
um it was the other thing is, you know, back
in those days, the news, good old fashioned newspaper was, um,
(14:19):
a huge method of communication and sharing and highlighting. And
my dad was an avid sports writer and so on
those big games everyone would look for, you know, whose
picture popped up, who had great games, um,
uh, had big evenings or again, the home runs and
those types of things. And in baseball you, you couldn't
(14:42):
go weak without seeing, you know, Speedy's name in a
headline or um, his stats shining. And again, he was,
that was where he was able to really shine and,
and just be natural athletic ability, speed and, and it's funny,
(15:03):
Speedy wasn't from his speed on the field, but yet
he had it even though he was just, um, when
I say larger than life, he was just, he was
looking at a high school kid against kids playing in,
you know, uh an 89 year old league and he,
that was when two, he started to, and again, he
(15:27):
and Gully Portier by the time they got to what
he called the pony field, third field, they were a
draw when they played, people came to watch them because
you knew you were going to see something
outstanding. You knew you were going to see some excitement
and so their games would draw crowds that other games
(15:48):
might not grow just because of the performance and, and
everybody else rose to the occasion. So when you played
against Speedy, you, you add up your game and everybody
on the opposing team knew it. Um And even his
teammates did and as his friends, again, he humble and
kind and caring. So he was all one that would
(16:10):
also cheer on his other friends when he wasn't playing,
you know, so again, just, just a great all around
kid growing up with an exceptional talent.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Now, uh you brought up your father, uh Glenn Archer, correct?
And I, I did a lot of research and I
was looking at old uh Key West Citizen papers and
looking at at the sports page and now obviously you
did work on that too because I saw you as
a sportswriter and your work is excellent.
(16:42):
Uh Your, your father's work was unbelievable as far as
coverage of local and South Florida sports. I couldn't get
over looking at some of those newspapers where he would
have paragraphs and paragraphs of different things, different players,
key West high school, the marathon, uh swim team, the
Key Largo team, the Miami Dolphins, like his coverage of,
(17:07):
of local sports. I mean, as far as Monroe County went,
it was unbelievable in going back and looking at those papers.
The question is, is when you're young and, and speedy
your peer, you know, how early, how young was he
before your dad was like, oh, wow, this guy is good.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Oh, well, my dad kind of followed things really well
and he spotted that um, early on when he started,
you know, as a little kid. And as you said,
my dad was the, his,
he was in education. But, you know, his, his passion
I would say was athlete, writing about athletes and, and
(17:47):
he really wanted to always shine a light on those
who excelled, um those who improved just um and, and
really sharing more than just the story of the game.
But
if you read his writing, as you, like you said,
he gave you a feel for what it was like
(18:08):
to be there. The, that excitement of, you know, when
there was a big place, you know, Speedy hit a
home run and it was, you know, a grand slam,
he's gonna give you the details and the descriptive words
and he's gonna, you know, write it with as much
passion as he feels. And when he noticed early on
that there were athletes speedy, you know, any athletes as
(18:30):
they came through and he felt like these are kids
that are, are have a bit more, these are kids
who have potential for athletics to take them to another level,
to help them in college and so forth. In those days,
the writing and the newspaper articles really went a long
(18:51):
way for exposure, especially for our kids in Monroe County
for exposure to other people to other schools. And um
in those days, all county teams, um all, you know,
anything that went beyond Monroe County, even South Florida, et cetera.
A lot of it was because of
the stats, the information and so forth in the news
(19:13):
because there was no one, you know, no live stream feed,
nobody's coming down to video tape. So that's how the
word got out. And, and he took that seriously and
I can remember when I started to do writing, you know,
he would say there's a responsibility in it because what
you're doing is trying to not only highlight and tell
the story of the game, but you want to make
(19:33):
sure that the people reading it, see how special this
athlete is,
talents, they may bring to a program to a school,
to something that can earn them, uh something beyond, you know,
where they are right then, you know, so, so yes
and so of course, covering uh athletes like speedy were
(19:54):
just amazing. And the other thing that was a true
gift my dad had is a, a memory that you
just can't imagine. So as speedy grew and again, he
couldn't play youth
football because he was far too big. No one would
put their, you know, they, he just never could make
the weight class. You couldn't run enough and you know,
uh you know how kids run in their garbage bags.
(20:16):
He couldn't, he was just so much larger than everyone else.
So of course, everyone had their eye on him to
get to that, you know, football playing field. So when
he did make that transition and we went into high
school and he started playing football.
Some of what you, you watch for, for us as kids.
I remember thinking, huh? That's, you know, of course he's
(20:37):
gonna be good. He's big. He's this, he's gonna be
good at football. But I can remember my dad who
also used to then took up coaching and JV. But,
you know, he watched a lead it, competition so much.
I can remember him saying Emory is big, but it's a,
it's a transition to play that game of football. And, um,
(20:59):
but Speedy did fall into it and he fell right
in step and his athletic prowess continued to shine on
the football field. And actually that is where he just
took off like dynamite and captured the attention of all
of the fans. Um And,
(21:20):
and when we went away, like you said, um, people
knew his name and, and they, they knew that he
was somebody to watch out for somebody to watch and
I should say somebody to watch for because he was extremely,
extremely talented and had a total presence by quiet leadership.
(21:43):
And that, that's kind of how I define him as
an athlete.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
So, uh I can't imagine, you know, they're in the
late seventies in Key West so far away, but then
there's a big surprise and I'm sure that your father
had something to do with it. Speedy is named to
at the time, one of the biggest honors a high
school or an amateur athlete
(22:06):
could get. And that's the faces in the crowd section
in Sports Illustrated Speedy Neal. Made it, um, what are
your memories of that? And, and was it a big
deal in Key West for him to make sports illustrated
as a high school conk athlete?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Oh, absolutely. It, and you are right. It is part of, um,
that writing sharing, you know, our games were announced on
the radio back then. My dad was like the back
then voice of the Conch. And, and so getting the
word out wasn't hard with someone like speedy, but it,
it did require making an effort for people to really
(22:46):
get an opportunity to see him play. And I can remember,
you know, in our high school years,
it was in the beginning, you just figure, yeah, he's
gonna be good and, and as a classmate you're like,
of course, he's gonna be good. He's been good at
everything he's done, you know, he, he's gonna be good.
He's gonna be a standout. You come to expect that
(23:06):
of him. And um to us, he was just kind of,
you know, speedy, of course. And he, he's great and
he's a leader in our team and I used to cheer.
So of course, that made it extra special and, and we,
that was just who he was to us.
But as he started developing and he started getting close
to school records and as everybody else's attention, you know,
(23:29):
started focusing on him, then we, then we knew, oh, we're,
we're like with a star and, you know, we'd even
give him a hard time. Ok, we're walking with a star. But,
but as, as my husband Randy reminds me, people used
to line up,
line up to come watch him play. And back in
those days at Tommy Roberts, there were bleachers and then
(23:55):
there were student section bleachers, I mean, some big bleachers
on the other side and it would be a packed house. So,
and with people lined up waiting to come in or
peering through the fence because they just wanted to, to
be part of that
and to be able to say, I watched Speedy Neil
(24:15):
play or I watched him score this touchdown or, or
carry the ball. And so yes, when, when he got
named as he would get recognition, it was like, oh wow,
he's really making it, he's making it, you know, when you're,
when you're kind of in high school and someone starts
to catch the eye of a university or a football
(24:35):
program
that, that really piques your, your interest because you're proud
of your classmate. One of ours might just go to,
you know, the University of here, especially at Florida University.
And back then, I mean, I know there's a lot
now but it was like Florida State UF University of Miami,
you know, that was something that the average person just
(24:56):
didn't walk in and do so when he made it
to Sports Illustrated, that was, you know, get your, get
your copy
an autograph. We're gonna be famous. We're gonna get money
for this one day speedy, you know, and again, him
with his humbleness and his kind of just again, attitude
(25:18):
of no, you know, I, I'm just out there doing
my best. I'm just out there doing, you know, do
my best and that, that's it not, I'm trying to
be a superstar. I'm not. So I even think it
took him a back that this is what people thought
of him, you know, that he really
had, had impressed people enough to make it into sports illustrated.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
And that's a fascinating point, you know, to go back
in the day with something like someone like Speedy Neil,
it's such a great thing that his character was so
high because back then, you know, if you have someone
from Key West and he goes out to the University
of Miami back then
and is not a great person and that actually would
(26:00):
like make Key West look bad. But as growing up
and looking back, I always thought, wow, Key West must
be so great because this great running back from Key
West came there. But what a fine representative to the
rest of the country, you know, what a fine representative
because he really represented Key West when he went off
to University of Miami he always was a great guy
(26:22):
and he did his best. And I just remember as
a kid thinking, wow, I wonder what Key West is
all about. So, he sort of, for a generation of
people put Key West on the map. Oh,
Speaker 2 (26:33):
absolutely. He did. And like I said, you know, when
he was,
um, here he was breaking records left and right, and
some of his records still stand, you know, um, he
is responsible for most carries in most points in most
T DS in a, a single game, even to this
day and most carries for a single season. And I'll
(26:55):
tell you an interesting story. So
when Speedy left and, you know, he went to the
University of Miami and then he tried his hand at,
at NFL. And one of the things that we as
classmates always thought about because when you see those programs,
you know, University of Miami, when you see that you
just kind of think, oh, you know, they are like
(27:17):
tough and gonna get you and that's, that's just the
mentality you have to have. And I will say
we always thought we hope Speedy can, can do that
because we know he had the toughness for the game
and we know he had the perseverance to play, but
you know how sports are and you know how sometimes
(27:41):
it's just, you know, that growl and this is, this
is what you have to be and then to move
on to pro, then it becomes a business. And,
and II, I truly, in my heart, just my opinion,
believe that Speedy loved the game. He excelled at the
game of football on the field. I don't know if
(28:04):
he had that same feeling for the game that's played
off the field or what, what it takes
and, and not in terms of ability, but just everything
that goes in to that because he wasn't a limelight person. He,
he wasn't a, you know, I'm out to get you
kind of person. I don't think he could muster up that.
You know, we're here kind of thing if you wanted to,
(28:26):
his smile
was too bright. His, his heart was too big. And, um, and,
and so I sometimes wonder if, if it was that,
that just, you know, where he chose that football wasn't
his path for, for a longer part of his lifetime.
Um, but what I was gonna tell you, the story
is gonna tell you the records. So, so he had, um,
(28:50):
you know, and he went off to college and we
followed him all the way through and we were always
so proud of him and, and so forth and, um,
but when he decided to stop playing football and he
moved away from here, we, uh, didn't see him that
much and we'd hold reunions. The class of 1980 is
very faithful for reunions. We love our class, but he
didn't come back
(29:11):
much. And so he hadn't been here in a while
and I'm Principal at Qs High and it's 2015, I believe. And, um,
he and his wife show up and I was, oh,
I just can't tell you how thrilled I was to
see him. It had been so long and I tell you,
he looked exactly like every picture that was posted on Facebook.
(29:32):
He looked the same wife sweet and kind. And we
talk a little bit and I said to him,
there's a young man I want you to meet and
it was Mackay's sergeant because Mackay had the ability to
break and, and did break several of Speedy's records.
(29:53):
He had that same heart, that smi and beautiful smile
and just aura and presence about him, of the quiet leader, determined, skillful,
et cetera. And one of the things that just warmed
my heart was watching, introducing those two and watching them
just kind of talk and, and I don't know what
(30:14):
they talked about, but, um, it was just a moment.
I will not forget. And that actually was the last
time I saw Speedy
and I, I'm so grateful now because I remember that
so vividly. Um, I feel like, you know, that opportunity
for Makai to speak to someone who, um, he hoped
(30:35):
to walk in those shoes and, and follow on and
have a college career and go to, you know, the
NFL and, and then to be able to sit and
really catch up with Speedy and just hear him, you know,
talk about his family and his faith and,
and what he was doing and kind of get that
one giant hug one last time. It, I, I'm so
(30:58):
grateful that I had that moment, um, to know that
he has passed, you know, so early, but to have
that and add that to all the fabulous memories we
had growing up hanging out and just doing things that
high school kids do
Speaker 1 (31:13):
and you know that that's very, very touching amber. And
thank you so much from, from speaking from your heart
and really painting a picture for a lot of people because,
you know, for me and you, it's hard to believe
that
in 1980 was such a long time ago because to
me it doesn't feel like that long and I know
that's the same for you, but there's a lot of names,
(31:33):
you know, when, when people come down to the keys,
they hear a lot of names and I'm just grateful
that you're able to paint a picture of who he
was on the field and off. So thank you once again. And,
um, if you don't mind, um, if you, if you're
up to it, I'd like to talk to you a
little bit about your career. Is that ok? You have
(31:54):
such a fascinating career and I want you to know
seriously the impact that you have on people when you
don't know it because,
you know, personally I came down to Monroe County in
1997 and I've always watched you, you know, as an administrator,
you know, my first memories, I think you were writing
for the, I was coaching with Greg Kramer and Pat
Freeman in Key West. And I think you were writing
(32:15):
for the keynoter or the Citizen and you were coaching
cheerleading at Key West High School and I said, oh, wow, ok, what,
what's going on here? And then, then you became um
an administrator, you know, I think at point. Right. Yeah.
And I remember, you know, I'm a pe teacher at
Sugarloaf and I'm doing the fifth grade track meet and
I'm like, who's this administrator at the fifth grade track
(32:39):
meet every year going crazy for her student athletes? And
it was you and then, yeah, 100% and where whatever
school you were at, I'm going, oh my goodness. This
person
loves sports, supports all sports, supports, all athletes, supports all
coaches and then just, I can't believe to tell you
(33:01):
like the impact, a lot of the things that you've done,
like with your athletes and the things that you've said
have impacted me, like personally and professionally and that's like serious.
So I do want to thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
I thank you for sharing that because that is why
it's really the motivation I love what I do. And I, oh,
you're right. I really love athletics and um and making
a difference is kind of, you know, you're my life,
you know, you want to say, what do you want
out of your life? And that's what it is. So,
thank you for sharing
Speaker 1 (33:31):
now. So you've seen so much and, you know, and
you're going to know what I talk about when I
say this
and I, and I, I don't want you to think
about this too much, but there's times in your career, right,
when you're watching sports and you're watching your students or your,
your students perform and you have these moments like this
(33:52):
is unbelievable. This is a great moment in sports. Like
I could think about times during games when I'm coaching
and you catch yourself and you go, this is great.
What are a couple of those moments for you as
like an administrator where you just catch yourself and you're like,
I can't believe this is happening as far as sports goes.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
There is so many, but I will say that
um
a, a couple come to mind right away actually more
than you have time, but to talk about. But I
do remember, you know, my dad was real sick and,
and he was the lover of all sports in 96
he got sick right at the end and,
and Qs was going to play for the state championship
(34:33):
and we of course, had followed them, you know, we
just do, we followed them, my dad was writing about him.
My dad couldn't go. He's in the hospital and he said,
you gotta go. And I said, no, I can't leave you.
And he said, oh, absolutely not. They're playing for the
state playoffs and we're not, you know, there's not gonna
be a QS Col baseball game that's not covered and
we don't have, you know, somebody there and,
(34:54):
and, um, and so I did and it, the tournament
was amazing and the kids played phenomenal and won that
state title. And I can remember, you know, Randy Sterling and,
and some of the fellas coming in and bringing my
dad the game ball and me being able to tell
him personally,
highlights from that game. It, it just meant so much
(35:18):
to him. And so I watched it, I guess with
a keener eye and, um, while I was, you know,
it was such a sadness in my heart that he
wasn't there. The ability to really bring that back and
share it with. My dad was something special. Um,
I, I will say, um, when our basketball team made
it to the state finals, um, my daughter was in
(35:41):
school and, uh, my oldest was in school and, um,
we just had this team that really was moving and,
and they didn't get to this final state champion, but
they played in the final four. And I remember being
there looking up and saying,
wow, it's been a long time. Since, you know, a
conch basketball team has gone this far and it was
(36:03):
in the early two thousands and that just, you know,
highly impacted me. And then I have to say this
is partially selfish, um, in the fact that, as you mentioned,
I was a cheer coach and for a long time,
competitive cheer was just that thing that went over there.
And my dad was very much a stickler for
cheerleading was not a sport that, that was just not,
it was a little, you know, internal disagreement, but it
(36:24):
wasn't a sport. And, and so after several years, they
actually held a competition that was bracketed out like a
baseball bracket would be one A's went against one A's,
two A's, three A's four A's. And I was coaching
a team that, um, won the four A championship.
And, um, it was the first i, of course, first
(36:45):
for us, it was just amazing, small little group. Um,
in fact, former ad Netta Jackson was on the team
as a cheerleader and, but it was my dad reporting
it out.
It, it, um, organizing a welcome back and kind of
finally saying, you know, what, you really are a sport
was just, you know, the whole thing was surreal to me. So, um,
(37:09):
those are three big team things, but I've watched individuals just, um,
set records passes that you just can't even believe, um, swimming, uh,
swimmers that are out in front by leaps and bounds. And, um,
and I've, I've been able to watch the evolution
of soccer and lacrosse and, and softball. You know, I
(37:32):
played girls baseball when I was young. There was no
softball and I was on one of the first two teams,
there were only two that played girls baseball way, way
back in the day. And from those two girls teams,
we went to four girls baseball teams and then it
grew and the turn came for softball and I was
(37:52):
just able to watch softball
just emerge and grow at, to, to where I went
last year, which is another memorable game, you know, where
the state softball team is just making a run
um for a state title. So again, I could fill
a newspaper with things that I could remember and I
probably can't remember more than I can. But um I
(38:16):
am blessed to have been able to be a part
of it to have written about it. And you're right.
I served as the citizen sportss editor for a time
and wrote for the keynoter. And I even did a
live TV show TC I sports broadcasting here for a
short stint um
back in a very long time ago. So it, it,
(38:36):
it served my passion of what I wanted to be
when I went to college originally, which was a sports broadcaster.
But you probably remember that in the eighties, there were
three main channels, no ESPN and women were not in sports.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
You were, you were gonna be on 47 or 10. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (38:55):
exactly. That was it. And women and everyone said you're
never gonna be able to make a career. And I
always think to myself, oh, if I had just stuck
it out or been five years later, how many channels
do we have now? And women are wonderfully
everywhere. So, this was my way of being able to
serve my passion as well while doing something I love,
(39:15):
which is educating.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Well, you know, sometimes everything happens for a reason and
it's nice sometimes it's nice to think. Hey, I'm exactly
where I'm supposed to be and I don't know if
that's the case for me, but I can tell you
right now, Amber, I feel like you're in the spot
that you're supposed to be. And thanks a lot for
coming on today and sharing your memories about Speedy
and everything else. And I really appreciate you coming on
(39:38):
and everything you do.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Thank you so much. I, I appreciate the opportunity to
talk about my classmates and some of the exciting things
in sports and I really appreciate because you are right.
I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. So, thank
you so much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
It was fantastic.
Thank you so much for listening to the Keys Weekly
sports wrap podcast with Coach mcdonald. You're one place for
Monroe County prep sports news and history. Please pass this
podcast on, put it on your Facebook, put it on
all your social media, Twitter, whatever it is, please do.
Um Thank you guys so much for listening and have
(40:14):
a great day.
Welcome back, everyone to the Keys weekly sports wrap with
coach mcdonald. Your one place to get all keys prep
sports news and history. You can find this podcast every
week at Keys weekly dot com. You can search for
Keys weekly sports wrap podcast online and tell your friends
about it and listen every week because we got a
(00:27):
lot of great stuff going on. And this week we're
going to talk about
softball, baseball, track, all the spring sports and guess what? Everybody,
football's coming back at least for a month. Spring football
starts this week. So we're going to break that down
a little bit, but let's go back to last week
and hit the results.
(00:48):
Last week was a big week for marathon baseball. They
were able to beat ransom Everglades in the first round
of the conference championship. 63, taking them to the conference championship.
Corl Shores baseball lost to Saint Brendan last week. Marathon
softball won via forfeit against G Ma Coral Shores. Baseball.
Beat W I'm sorry. A BF Academy Homestead 9 to
(01:11):
5 marathon softball lost to ransom on the 27th 9
to 1.
Key West baseball beat Miami High two times at home,
12 to 1 and 11 to 1 marathon. Baseball lost
six nothing in the conference championship. We'll talk about that
a little bit later. Key West softball was able to
beat Western 4 to 3. So
(01:34):
a lot of stuff going on, some spring sports are
winding down. Softball is getting ready for their district tournament.
Baseball is getting ready for their district tournament as far
as baseball goes. Corl Shores finished their regular season play
with a win against a BF Academy Homestead on the
25th of April.
They are six and 13 on the year. They're ranked
third in the district and they are going to go
(01:57):
to marathon. Well, at the time of this podcast, they
went to Marathon Tuesday night and they played in the
first round of the district tournament. Coral Shores beat Marathon
prior 14 to 2 in the one contest of the
season in March. Uh, the winner of the game that
was played on Tuesday will go to the district championship
May 3rd
with the likely opponent being Keys Gate though both Somerset,
(02:20):
South Homestead and Silver Palms are also in the running
so marathon like I talked about at the top of
the podcast was in their conference championship game. Um They
made the conference championship game earlier last week by defeating
Ransom Dylan Eels was on the mound for that first
round game and he had 16 strikeouts extending his nationally
(02:41):
ranked strikeout stat Ryan Yon hammered three of the fin
six hits. Uh, Dylan Globe, Gabe Leal and Jack Chapman
had the other three. Now that win sent them to
Miami Country Day School where the tournament is held on
April 28th to take on Palmer Trinity senior Ryan Yablon
started out on the mound for a marathon, did a
(03:02):
good job lasting three and two thirds innings while Gavin
Leel closed it out. Brian Broch had a pair of
hits and Yon and both Leel had one each, but
it wasn't enough to beat Palmer. Palmer was able to
beat Marathon six to nothing. So that ended marathons, um
quest to get a conference championship. That's the bad news.
(03:22):
The good news is that they're playing in the district
tournament and this is the March to the state championship.
So hopefully Marathon or Coral Shores, we don't know at
this time who wins and whichever team wins goes on
to win the district and to continue in the FHS
A playoffs. Now,
when you're talking about FHSA, a playoffs and state championships,
(03:43):
you're talking about Key West High School because they have
a record 11 state championships and they're on a quest
for number 12 this season, Key West completed the regular
season play last week were beating Miami High two times.
Their record is 18 and five. They have the top
seed in the district tournament. They are ranked first in
the region and third in the state.
(04:04):
Now they cleared their final hurdles to seal their rankings
by defeating Miami High twice. They're ready for the district
tournament and they are looking to make another state championship run. So,
good luck to Key West High school boys baseball. Now
it's the spring season
(04:25):
track is starting to finish up. All the schools had
district championships. They're going into regionals this week. The state
championship for Key West and Coral Shores um is on
the horizon but regionals are May 3rd for Key West
High school and Coral Shores High School and May 6th
for marathon. So good luck to all those track athletes
(04:46):
out there. Now, we're gonna talk a little bit about
girls softball. I'll give you a breakdown of the three
teams right now.
Key West softball right now. Their record is at 15
and three last year. They went to the final four
in the state championship and they're looking to make another run.
Their district tournament is coming up this week. So good
(05:09):
luck to Key West High School and hopefully they make
a push into the postseason. Now, marathon, high school softball
is eight and five on the season. Their district championship
or their district tournament is also coming up this week.
Um, good luck to marathon. They're eight and five this
year and Coral Shores is finished with their season at
six and six. We talked about this last week. Coral
(05:31):
Shores is an independent, so they do not qualify for
postseason play. So they play their regular season and then
their season is over. So their season is over and
they finish at six and six. So a lot of
news going on and also this week, if
you're driving by your favorite high school or any of
the high schools in Monroe County after school, there's a
(05:51):
good chance you're gonna see football practice going on and
you're gonna say to yourself, what the heck is going on?
It's May, why is there football going on? Well, the
state of Florida allows spring practice and
this year it starts May 1st and all three of
the Keys high schools will be participating in spring football.
Coral Shores does have a spring football game May 19th
(06:13):
at home. Um Marathon High School also has a spring
game May 18th at home at 6 p.m. at Marathon
and Key West High School is doing a red and
white game. They do not have a game, they're going
to do an intersquid scrimmage and
all three teams are looking to continue on the success
that they had last year and build on that. You know,
Corl Shores had a great year with football and marathon
(06:37):
was pretty good and Key West had a great year.
So hopefully all three teams have a great spring and
remain injury free and everybody learns a lot and we
move towards the fall. So spring football is going on. Now,
when you talk about football
and you talk about Keys football, you know, everybody can
talk about the legends, you know, all the legendary players,
(06:59):
you know, from George Myra down in, in Key West
to Tony Bryant and Marathon and all the great players
Corl Shores have had in the past and, and one
of the names that always comes up when you talk
about the greatest football players in Keys history is Robert
Speedy Neal and we just recently lost Speedy Neil And
(07:20):
I've talked about him so many times on the podcast
and I know when Coach Wise was on, he named,
uh Speedy Neal, the top athlete that he has seen
in his tenure and, and Judd Wise wasn't even here
when Speedy was here. So, um, it's sort of AAA
little sad podcast today and, and we're going to celebrate
the life of Speedy Neil and we're gonna talk to
(07:41):
one of his classmates today and that's uh Amber Archer Acevedo.
She's a class of 80
at Key West High School. She's also the deputy superintendent,
but we're gonna go back in time and we're gonna
talk a little bit about Speedy Neil and, and everyone
can get an idea of the impact that he had
and the type of person that he was and the,
and the kind of family he had. Thank you.
(08:05):
All right, here we are, everybody, keys weekly sports wrap
with coach mcdonald. I'm really excited about our guest here.
She is a longtime fantastic employee of the Monroe county
school district, she's had all sorts of roles and right
now I think, I hope I'm right about this. She's
deputy superintendent and it's Amber Archer Acevedo. How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I'm doing very well. Very well. Thank you for having
me on, uh,
Speaker 1 (08:31):
well, for everybody out there in Monroe County, you know,
this podcast, we talk about, uh, prep sports going on
currently and historically and throughout like a lot of our
podcasts I had Coach Wise on and he talked about
the greatest athletes that he's seen in his history. Now,
(08:53):
Coach Wise started teaching in Key West in 1983.
Yes. And even though he started in 1983 when he
got to the number one guy, he got to someone
that graduated in 1980 that was Speedy Neil. And um unfortunately,
you know, Speedy Neil um has passed away a couple
(09:14):
of weeks ago and I really wanted to have sort
of a deep dive with somebody that grew up with
him and we have a very special person today and
that is Amber. You graduated with him, correct?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yes, I did. He was a classmate of the class
of 1980 from Qs. Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
And to me, like, I'm a little bit a little
bit younger than him. I grew up in Miami and
even in 1980 in Miami before the internet, I knew
who Speedy Neal was.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
He was legendary and he was legendary early on um not,
not just for high school play but from his early days,
uh and predominantly in his early days, it was for
baseball because he was too big to play in youth leagues.
Um at that time, so, uh his dominance was legendary
(10:09):
for his baseball play.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So, like growing up, what were your earliest memories of
uh of him and his family?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Um Probably I would say in the baseball fields and,
and back in the days of the seventies growing up, um,
along Kennedy Drive, the baseball fields were kind of everybody's
home away from home. Uh, parents much like they do today,
but just kind of, uh, a little bit different, more
like a neighborhood where parents would, you know, whether you
(10:40):
were playing or not. Um, you pulled up the chairs
and sat in the, the, at that time it was
parking lot outfield.
So everybody watched everybody else, you know, grow up and
even if you didn't live near somebody you went to
school with or, or they went to a different elementary school,
you knew about them.
And so, um, my earliest recollections are, uh, on the
(11:03):
baseball field on actually what we used to call the
middle field. And Speedy was a presence. You just could
not ignore he and another, um, young man named Gully
Poitier were just, uh, dynamos. They were larger in stature,
uns size, but they also just were, you know, heads
(11:27):
above the other athletes in terms of their play and
their power. And so, you know, the home run bell,
you know, everybody looks forward when it goes off at
a baseball field, you know, the siren goes and when
you would know when they were playing because it, it
went off a couple of times and you're like, oh,
we know who's playing on that, you know, field. And, um,
and so that was kind of his athletic side on
(11:50):
the personal side.
It, it's like his personality, um, back the size in that,
you know, large, but he was so quiet and he
was so humble and just an all around, you know,
nice kit that people wanted to be around. Um, and
even kids who looked at him and, and thought, you know,
(12:12):
their size might have
like, oh, take a step back. This is a big
guy here, you know, he'd start talking and you would
realize right away that he was one of the kindest,
you know, kids that you would ever meet. So again,
I'm blessed to have early, early memories of him both
as an athlete and as a friend.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That's, that's so fascinating. That idea
in, in the seventies growing up in Key West, going
over to the baseball field and, and, and there's no
other distractions, I would imagine when those baseball games are
going on on Kennedy Drive, that's the biggest thing in town. Correct.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It definitely was. And, you know, back then it was
kind of three seasons. So you moved from old wickers
field on Flagler and that's where, you know, football was
played and then, you know, basketball and then everybody moved
to baseball. So
now where we have such expanded sports in our community,
which is amazing back then, you, right, that was the
(13:14):
game in town was youth baseball. And again, families spent
their nights out there whether their own kids were playing
or not, they just, you know, it was the place
to be and watch the other kids and support them.
And for us, it was like a, like I said,
a giant neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
It's so fascinating because obviously, you know, we're talking about
the past today and we're going into the time machine,
but it was so nice in those days because everybody
was so focused on one thing, just like you were saying,
there was sometimes there's a beauty in less options because
everyone is having this shared experience and everyone, I would
(13:50):
assume the next day is talking about what happened the
night before. And I'm sure with speedy, there was always
a lot of memories there.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Definitely. And you are right. It was where everybody focused
their energy and everyone knew everyone. So when you went
to school the next day, that was the talk of
the town and you literally had to talk because that
was the way you communicated. So,
um it was the other thing is, you know, back
in those days, the news, good old fashioned newspaper was, um,
(14:19):
a huge method of communication and sharing and highlighting. And
my dad was an avid sports writer and so on
those big games everyone would look for, you know, whose
picture popped up, who had great games, um,
uh, had big evenings or again, the home runs and
those types of things. And in baseball you, you couldn't
(14:42):
go weak without seeing, you know, Speedy's name in a
headline or um, his stats shining. And again, he was,
that was where he was able to really shine and,
and just be natural athletic ability, speed and, and it's funny,
(15:03):
Speedy wasn't from his speed on the field, but yet
he had it even though he was just, um, when
I say larger than life, he was just, he was
looking at a high school kid against kids playing in,
you know, uh an 89 year old league and he,
that was when two, he started to, and again, he
(15:27):
and Gully Portier by the time they got to what
he called the pony field, third field, they were a
draw when they played, people came to watch them because
you knew you were going to see something
outstanding. You knew you were going to see some excitement
and so their games would draw crowds that other games
(15:48):
might not grow just because of the performance and, and
everybody else rose to the occasion. So when you played
against Speedy, you, you add up your game and everybody
on the opposing team knew it. Um And even his
teammates did and as his friends, again, he humble and
kind and caring. So he was all one that would
(16:10):
also cheer on his other friends when he wasn't playing,
you know, so again, just, just a great all around
kid growing up with an exceptional talent.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Now, uh you brought up your father, uh Glenn Archer, correct?
And I, I did a lot of research and I
was looking at old uh Key West Citizen papers and
looking at at the sports page and now obviously you
did work on that too because I saw you as
a sportswriter and your work is excellent.
(16:42):
Uh Your, your father's work was unbelievable as far as
coverage of local and South Florida sports. I couldn't get
over looking at some of those newspapers where he would
have paragraphs and paragraphs of different things, different players,
key West high school, the marathon, uh swim team, the
Key Largo team, the Miami Dolphins, like his coverage of,
(17:07):
of local sports. I mean, as far as Monroe County went,
it was unbelievable in going back and looking at those papers.
The question is, is when you're young and, and speedy
your peer, you know, how early, how young was he
before your dad was like, oh, wow, this guy is good.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Oh, well, my dad kind of followed things really well
and he spotted that um, early on when he started,
you know, as a little kid. And as you said,
my dad was the, his,
he was in education. But, you know, his, his passion
I would say was athlete, writing about athletes and, and
(17:47):
he really wanted to always shine a light on those
who excelled, um those who improved just um and, and
really sharing more than just the story of the game.
But
if you read his writing, as you, like you said,
he gave you a feel for what it was like
(18:08):
to be there. The, that excitement of, you know, when
there was a big place, you know, Speedy hit a
home run and it was, you know, a grand slam,
he's gonna give you the details and the descriptive words
and he's gonna, you know, write it with as much
passion as he feels. And when he noticed early on
that there were athletes speedy, you know, any athletes as
(18:30):
they came through and he felt like these are kids
that are, are have a bit more, these are kids
who have potential for athletics to take them to another level,
to help them in college and so forth. In those days,
the writing and the newspaper articles really went a long
(18:51):
way for exposure, especially for our kids in Monroe County
for exposure to other people to other schools. And um
in those days, all county teams, um all, you know,
anything that went beyond Monroe County, even South Florida, et cetera.
A lot of it was because of
the stats, the information and so forth in the news
(19:13):
because there was no one, you know, no live stream feed,
nobody's coming down to video tape. So that's how the
word got out. And, and he took that seriously and
I can remember when I started to do writing, you know,
he would say there's a responsibility in it because what
you're doing is trying to not only highlight and tell
the story of the game, but you want to make
(19:33):
sure that the people reading it, see how special this
athlete is,
talents, they may bring to a program to a school,
to something that can earn them, uh something beyond, you know,
where they are right then, you know, so, so yes
and so of course, covering uh athletes like speedy were
(19:54):
just amazing. And the other thing that was a true
gift my dad had is a, a memory that you
just can't imagine. So as speedy grew and again, he
couldn't play youth
football because he was far too big. No one would
put their, you know, they, he just never could make
the weight class. You couldn't run enough and you know,
uh you know how kids run in their garbage bags.
(20:16):
He couldn't, he was just so much larger than everyone else.
So of course, everyone had their eye on him to
get to that, you know, football playing field. So when
he did make that transition and we went into high
school and he started playing football.
Some of what you, you watch for, for us as kids.
I remember thinking, huh? That's, you know, of course he's
(20:37):
gonna be good. He's big. He's this, he's gonna be
good at football. But I can remember my dad who
also used to then took up coaching and JV. But,
you know, he watched a lead it, competition so much.
I can remember him saying Emory is big, but it's a,
it's a transition to play that game of football. And, um,
(20:59):
but Speedy did fall into it and he fell right
in step and his athletic prowess continued to shine on
the football field. And actually that is where he just
took off like dynamite and captured the attention of all
of the fans. Um And,
(21:20):
and when we went away, like you said, um, people
knew his name and, and they, they knew that he
was somebody to watch out for somebody to watch and
I should say somebody to watch for because he was extremely,
extremely talented and had a total presence by quiet leadership.
(21:43):
And that, that's kind of how I define him as
an athlete.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
So, uh I can't imagine, you know, they're in the
late seventies in Key West so far away, but then
there's a big surprise and I'm sure that your father
had something to do with it. Speedy is named to
at the time, one of the biggest honors a high
school or an amateur athlete
(22:06):
could get. And that's the faces in the crowd section
in Sports Illustrated Speedy Neal. Made it, um, what are
your memories of that? And, and was it a big
deal in Key West for him to make sports illustrated
as a high school conk athlete?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Oh, absolutely. It, and you are right. It is part of, um,
that writing sharing, you know, our games were announced on
the radio back then. My dad was like the back
then voice of the Conch. And, and so getting the
word out wasn't hard with someone like speedy, but it,
it did require making an effort for people to really
(22:46):
get an opportunity to see him play. And I can remember,
you know, in our high school years,
it was in the beginning, you just figure, yeah, he's
gonna be good and, and as a classmate you're like,
of course, he's gonna be good. He's been good at
everything he's done, you know, he, he's gonna be good.
He's gonna be a standout. You come to expect that
(23:06):
of him. And um to us, he was just kind of,
you know, speedy, of course. And he, he's great and
he's a leader in our team and I used to cheer.
So of course, that made it extra special and, and we,
that was just who he was to us.
But as he started developing and he started getting close
to school records and as everybody else's attention, you know,
(23:29):
started focusing on him, then we, then we knew, oh, we're,
we're like with a star and, you know, we'd even
give him a hard time. Ok, we're walking with a star. But,
but as, as my husband Randy reminds me, people used
to line up,
line up to come watch him play. And back in
those days at Tommy Roberts, there were bleachers and then
(23:55):
there were student section bleachers, I mean, some big bleachers
on the other side and it would be a packed house. So,
and with people lined up waiting to come in or
peering through the fence because they just wanted to, to
be part of that
and to be able to say, I watched Speedy Neil
(24:15):
play or I watched him score this touchdown or, or
carry the ball. And so yes, when, when he got
named as he would get recognition, it was like, oh wow,
he's really making it, he's making it, you know, when you're,
when you're kind of in high school and someone starts
to catch the eye of a university or a football
(24:35):
program
that, that really piques your, your interest because you're proud
of your classmate. One of ours might just go to,
you know, the University of here, especially at Florida University.
And back then, I mean, I know there's a lot
now but it was like Florida State UF University of Miami,
you know, that was something that the average person just
(24:56):
didn't walk in and do so when he made it
to Sports Illustrated, that was, you know, get your, get
your copy
an autograph. We're gonna be famous. We're gonna get money
for this one day speedy, you know, and again, him
with his humbleness and his kind of just again, attitude
(25:18):
of no, you know, I, I'm just out there doing
my best. I'm just out there doing, you know, do
my best and that, that's it not, I'm trying to
be a superstar. I'm not. So I even think it
took him a back that this is what people thought
of him, you know, that he really
had, had impressed people enough to make it into sports illustrated.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
And that's a fascinating point, you know, to go back
in the day with something like someone like Speedy Neil,
it's such a great thing that his character was so
high because back then, you know, if you have someone
from Key West and he goes out to the University
of Miami back then
and is not a great person and that actually would
(26:00):
like make Key West look bad. But as growing up
and looking back, I always thought, wow, Key West must
be so great because this great running back from Key
West came there. But what a fine representative to the
rest of the country, you know, what a fine representative
because he really represented Key West when he went off
to University of Miami he always was a great guy
(26:22):
and he did his best. And I just remember as
a kid thinking, wow, I wonder what Key West is
all about. So, he sort of, for a generation of
people put Key West on the map. Oh,
Speaker 2 (26:33):
absolutely. He did. And like I said, you know, when
he was,
um, here he was breaking records left and right, and
some of his records still stand, you know, um, he
is responsible for most carries in most points in most
T DS in a, a single game, even to this
day and most carries for a single season. And I'll
(26:55):
tell you an interesting story. So
when Speedy left and, you know, he went to the
University of Miami and then he tried his hand at,
at NFL. And one of the things that we as
classmates always thought about because when you see those programs,
you know, University of Miami, when you see that you
just kind of think, oh, you know, they are like
(27:17):
tough and gonna get you and that's, that's just the
mentality you have to have. And I will say
we always thought we hope Speedy can, can do that
because we know he had the toughness for the game
and we know he had the perseverance to play, but
you know how sports are and you know how sometimes
(27:41):
it's just, you know, that growl and this is, this
is what you have to be and then to move
on to pro, then it becomes a business. And,
and II, I truly, in my heart, just my opinion,
believe that Speedy loved the game. He excelled at the
game of football on the field. I don't know if
(28:04):
he had that same feeling for the game that's played
off the field or what, what it takes
and, and not in terms of ability, but just everything
that goes in to that because he wasn't a limelight person. He,
he wasn't a, you know, I'm out to get you
kind of person. I don't think he could muster up that.
You know, we're here kind of thing if you wanted to,
(28:26):
his smile
was too bright. His, his heart was too big. And, um, and,
and so I sometimes wonder if, if it was that,
that just, you know, where he chose that football wasn't
his path for, for a longer part of his lifetime.
Um, but what I was gonna tell you, the story
is gonna tell you the records. So, so he had, um,
(28:50):
you know, and he went off to college and we
followed him all the way through and we were always
so proud of him and, and so forth and, um,
but when he decided to stop playing football and he
moved away from here, we, uh, didn't see him that
much and we'd hold reunions. The class of 1980 is
very faithful for reunions. We love our class, but he
didn't come back
(29:11):
much. And so he hadn't been here in a while
and I'm Principal at Qs High and it's 2015, I believe. And, um,
he and his wife show up and I was, oh,
I just can't tell you how thrilled I was to
see him. It had been so long and I tell you,
he looked exactly like every picture that was posted on Facebook.
(29:32):
He looked the same wife sweet and kind. And we
talk a little bit and I said to him,
there's a young man I want you to meet and
it was Mackay's sergeant because Mackay had the ability to
break and, and did break several of Speedy's records.
(29:53):
He had that same heart, that smi and beautiful smile
and just aura and presence about him, of the quiet leader, determined, skillful,
et cetera. And one of the things that just warmed
my heart was watching, introducing those two and watching them
just kind of talk and, and I don't know what
(30:14):
they talked about, but, um, it was just a moment.
I will not forget. And that actually was the last
time I saw Speedy
and I, I'm so grateful now because I remember that
so vividly. Um, I feel like, you know, that opportunity
for Makai to speak to someone who, um, he hoped
(30:35):
to walk in those shoes and, and follow on and
have a college career and go to, you know, the
NFL and, and then to be able to sit and
really catch up with Speedy and just hear him, you know,
talk about his family and his faith and,
and what he was doing and kind of get that
one giant hug one last time. It, I, I'm so
(30:58):
grateful that I had that moment, um, to know that
he has passed, you know, so early, but to have
that and add that to all the fabulous memories we
had growing up hanging out and just doing things that
high school kids do
Speaker 1 (31:13):
and you know that that's very, very touching amber. And
thank you so much from, from speaking from your heart
and really painting a picture for a lot of people because,
you know, for me and you, it's hard to believe
that
in 1980 was such a long time ago because to
me it doesn't feel like that long and I know
that's the same for you, but there's a lot of names,
(31:33):
you know, when, when people come down to the keys,
they hear a lot of names and I'm just grateful
that you're able to paint a picture of who he
was on the field and off. So thank you once again. And,
um, if you don't mind, um, if you, if you're
up to it, I'd like to talk to you a
little bit about your career. Is that ok? You have
(31:54):
such a fascinating career and I want you to know
seriously the impact that you have on people when you
don't know it because,
you know, personally I came down to Monroe County in
1997 and I've always watched you, you know, as an administrator,
you know, my first memories, I think you were writing
for the, I was coaching with Greg Kramer and Pat
Freeman in Key West. And I think you were writing
(32:15):
for the keynoter or the Citizen and you were coaching
cheerleading at Key West High School and I said, oh, wow, ok, what,
what's going on here? And then, then you became um
an administrator, you know, I think at point. Right. Yeah.
And I remember, you know, I'm a pe teacher at
Sugarloaf and I'm doing the fifth grade track meet and
I'm like, who's this administrator at the fifth grade track
(32:39):
meet every year going crazy for her student athletes? And
it was you and then, yeah, 100% and where whatever
school you were at, I'm going, oh my goodness. This
person
loves sports, supports all sports, supports, all athletes, supports all
coaches and then just, I can't believe to tell you
(33:01):
like the impact, a lot of the things that you've done,
like with your athletes and the things that you've said
have impacted me, like personally and professionally and that's like serious.
So I do want to thank you for that.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
I thank you for sharing that because that is why
it's really the motivation I love what I do. And I, oh,
you're right. I really love athletics and um and making
a difference is kind of, you know, you're my life,
you know, you want to say, what do you want
out of your life? And that's what it is. So,
thank you for sharing
Speaker 1 (33:31):
now. So you've seen so much and, you know, and
you're going to know what I talk about when I
say this
and I, and I, I don't want you to think
about this too much, but there's times in your career, right,
when you're watching sports and you're watching your students or your,
your students perform and you have these moments like this
(33:52):
is unbelievable. This is a great moment in sports. Like
I could think about times during games when I'm coaching
and you catch yourself and you go, this is great.
What are a couple of those moments for you as
like an administrator where you just catch yourself and you're like,
I can't believe this is happening as far as sports goes.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
There is so many, but I will say that
um
a, a couple come to mind right away actually more
than you have time, but to talk about. But I
do remember, you know, my dad was real sick and,
and he was the lover of all sports in 96
he got sick right at the end and,
and Qs was going to play for the state championship
(34:33):
and we of course, had followed them, you know, we
just do, we followed them, my dad was writing about him.
My dad couldn't go. He's in the hospital and he said,
you gotta go. And I said, no, I can't leave you.
And he said, oh, absolutely not. They're playing for the
state playoffs and we're not, you know, there's not gonna
be a QS Col baseball game that's not covered and
we don't have, you know, somebody there and,
(34:54):
and, um, and so I did and it, the tournament
was amazing and the kids played phenomenal and won that
state title. And I can remember, you know, Randy Sterling and,
and some of the fellas coming in and bringing my
dad the game ball and me being able to tell
him personally,
highlights from that game. It, it just meant so much
(35:18):
to him. And so I watched it, I guess with
a keener eye and, um, while I was, you know,
it was such a sadness in my heart that he
wasn't there. The ability to really bring that back and
share it with. My dad was something special. Um,
I, I will say, um, when our basketball team made
it to the state finals, um, my daughter was in
(35:41):
school and, uh, my oldest was in school and, um,
we just had this team that really was moving and,
and they didn't get to this final state champion, but
they played in the final four. And I remember being
there looking up and saying,
wow, it's been a long time. Since, you know, a
conch basketball team has gone this far and it was
(36:03):
in the early two thousands and that just, you know,
highly impacted me. And then I have to say this
is partially selfish, um, in the fact that, as you mentioned,
I was a cheer coach and for a long time,
competitive cheer was just that thing that went over there.
And my dad was very much a stickler for
cheerleading was not a sport that, that was just not,
it was a little, you know, internal disagreement, but it
(36:24):
wasn't a sport. And, and so after several years, they
actually held a competition that was bracketed out like a
baseball bracket would be one A's went against one A's,
two A's, three A's four A's. And I was coaching
a team that, um, won the four A championship.
And, um, it was the first i, of course, first
(36:45):
for us, it was just amazing, small little group. Um,
in fact, former ad Netta Jackson was on the team
as a cheerleader and, but it was my dad reporting
it out.
It, it, um, organizing a welcome back and kind of
finally saying, you know, what, you really are a sport
was just, you know, the whole thing was surreal to me. So, um,
(37:09):
those are three big team things, but I've watched individuals just, um,
set records passes that you just can't even believe, um, swimming, uh,
swimmers that are out in front by leaps and bounds. And, um,
and I've, I've been able to watch the evolution
of soccer and lacrosse and, and softball. You know, I
(37:32):
played girls baseball when I was young. There was no
softball and I was on one of the first two teams,
there were only two that played girls baseball way, way
back in the day. And from those two girls teams,
we went to four girls baseball teams and then it
grew and the turn came for softball and I was
(37:52):
just able to watch softball
just emerge and grow at, to, to where I went
last year, which is another memorable game, you know, where
the state softball team is just making a run
um for a state title. So again, I could fill
a newspaper with things that I could remember and I
probably can't remember more than I can. But um I
(38:16):
am blessed to have been able to be a part
of it to have written about it. And you're right.
I served as the citizen sportss editor for a time
and wrote for the keynoter. And I even did a
live TV show TC I sports broadcasting here for a
short stint um
back in a very long time ago. So it, it,
(38:36):
it served my passion of what I wanted to be
when I went to college originally, which was a sports broadcaster.
But you probably remember that in the eighties, there were
three main channels, no ESPN and women were not in sports.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
You were, you were gonna be on 47 or 10. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (38:55):
exactly. That was it. And women and everyone said you're
never gonna be able to make a career. And I
always think to myself, oh, if I had just stuck
it out or been five years later, how many channels
do we have now? And women are wonderfully
everywhere. So, this was my way of being able to
serve my passion as well while doing something I love,
(39:15):
which is educating.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Well, you know, sometimes everything happens for a reason and
it's nice sometimes it's nice to think. Hey, I'm exactly
where I'm supposed to be and I don't know if
that's the case for me, but I can tell you
right now, Amber, I feel like you're in the spot
that you're supposed to be. And thanks a lot for
coming on today and sharing your memories about Speedy
and everything else. And I really appreciate you coming on
(39:38):
and everything you do.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
Thank you so much. I, I appreciate the opportunity to
talk about my classmates and some of the exciting things
in sports and I really appreciate because you are right.
I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. So, thank
you so much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
It was fantastic.
Thank you so much for listening to the Keys Weekly
sports wrap podcast with Coach mcdonald. You're one place for
Monroe County prep sports news and history. Please pass this
podcast on, put it on your Facebook, put it on
all your social media, Twitter, whatever it is, please do.
Um Thank you guys so much for listening and have
(40:14):
a great day.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.