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Who was Traz Powell?

The Skylake and Ojus mentions grab at me hard. Parents moved into Highland Gardens in 1975; to Riverwood in Downtown Ojus in '79. I finished Ojus Elem, in '83. These stories are tugging at me. We hated NM with a passion when I was at NMB in late '80s. We never won a game. My dad was NM grad in '56. He was a fighter for sure. But he was bigger than most. He never mentioned gangs, but they had cliques. He def started fights at Corky's and elsewhere on 163rd. He would have loved this thread, for sure (passed 10 yrs ago). He knew a fair share of Beach guys and stories from all over the area.

Spent ample time at Gary's Deli in Skylake Mall if we are still discussing delis. Nothing of note, just the closest I had to a deli in the area.

Thank you for taking the thread down this road.
 
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sfbomber said:
The Skylake and Ojus mentions grab at me hard. Parents moved into Highland Gardens in 1975; to Riverwood in Downtown Ojus in '79. I finished Ojus Elem, in '83. These stories are tugging at me. We hated NM with a passion when I was at NMB in late '80s. We never won a game. My dad was NM grad in '56. He was a fighter for sure. But he was bigger than most. He never mentioned gangs, but they had cliques. He def started fights at Corky's and elsewhere on 163rd. He would have loved this thread, for sure (passed 10 yrs ago). He knew a fair share of Beach guys and stories from all over the area.

Spent ample time at Gary's Deli in Skylake Mall if we are still discussing delis. Nothing of note, just the closest I had to a deli in the area.

Thank you for taking the thread down this road.
Click to expand...
Skylake Mall must be after my time. Remember when they built a shopping center on 163rd Street and that was something of a big deal for those of us who lived in North end of Miami Beach.


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Later on, in the '80's, I got to know Marty Rubin who had his UM-oriented Sports Den, a retail store of UM souvenirs and so forth. He used to supply equipment to the UM athletic department so his business frequently took him to the Hecht Center. I think he had free reign of the center and was generally what we call an "insider." I remember Marty talking about going into the recruiting office and looking at the "board " They must have had a board on the wall with recruits names,vi.e., guys under our active pursuit.

I think I was only at Sports Den once. I left the area in '63, so a lot has changed, a lot is new. I probably went by Sports Den in late '80's.

I went to Allsports a lot more since it was close to the university and I often stayed near the university when I traveled down for games.

I do remember Corky"s. Was that a BBQ place? I remember it positively. I must have liked their food.
EDIT: Not a BBQ place.

83835


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sfbomber said:
The Skylake and Ojus mentions grab at me hard. Parents moved into Highland Gardens in 1975; to Riverwood in Downtown Ojus in '79. I finished Ojus Elem, in '83. These stories are tugging at me. We hated NM with a passion when I was at NMB in late '80s. We never won a game. My dad was NM grad in '56. He was a fighter for sure. But he was bigger than most. He never mentioned gangs, but they had cliques. He def started fights at Corky's and elsewhere on 163rd. He would have loved this thread, for sure (passed 10 yrs ago). He knew a fair share of Beach guys and stories from all over the area.

Spent ample time at Gary's Deli in Skylake Mall if we are still discussing delis. Nothing of note, just the closest I had to a deli in the area.

Thank you for taking the thread down this road.
Click to expand...
Years ago--in the mid-60's--I had a college friend whose father owned a deli in the N. Miami/N. Miami Beach area called Obie's Deli (I think). It was attached to a grocery store as I recall. I was only there once. Over 50 years ago, about 1966.
 
sfbomber said:
The Skylake and Ojus mentions grab at me hard. Parents moved into Highland Gardens in 1975; to Riverwood in Downtown Ojus in '79. I finished Ojus Elem, in '83. These stories are tugging at me. We hated NM with a passion when I was at NMB in late '80s. We never won a game. My dad was NM grad in '56. He was a fighter for sure. But he was bigger than most. He never mentioned gangs, but they had cliques. He def started fights at Corky's and elsewhere on 163rd. He would have loved this thread, for sure (passed 10 yrs ago). He knew a fair share of Beach guys and stories from all over the area.

Spent ample time at Gary's Deli in Skylake Mall if we are still discussing delis. Nothing of note, just the closest I had to a deli in the area.

Thank you for taking the thread down this road.
Click to expand...
I wonder if he knew Cliff Murrell, a longtime teacher at NM High who also served as business manager or some other administrative position. The '63 North Miami team was pretty good. Had future UM players Joe Mirto and Vic Bender. Gables was the best that year, though.
 
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Pentagon Cane said:
Yeah, it was crazy. I played Miami Beach Optimist and we would go down to Goulds or play Central Boys Club and I'd be like WTF. It was serious business and the crowds were crazy at a youth game. We held our own. Looking back it was a great experience. Glad I was post-integration although only 4 years removed. Had some really nice kids on my football team who were salt of the earth from Liberty City. Not sure the kids on this site can really appreciate how much has really changed. Yeah, I'd like to get a hold of that book.
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Yeah, anytime we had a scrimmage against [insert name] Boys Club, it was time to fasten the chin-strap a notch tighter.
Those dudes played like someone had slapped their mommas, and that was fine because we had some good teams ourselves
and it brought out the best of us.
We also had some good games against Richmond-Perrine Optimist over the years.
Not sure who played on those teams, but it wouldn't surprise me if many of those kids ended up at Southridge and Killian HS, who
had some really talented programs during my junior and senior year of HS.
 
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TheMatador said:
I wonder if he knew Cliff Murrell, a longtime teacher at NM High who also served as business manager or some other administrative position. The '63 North Miami team was pretty good. Had future UM players Joe Mirto and Vic Bender. Gables was the best that year, though.
Click to expand...

A pretty good MLB pitcher by the name of Steve Carlton graduated from NM HS.
One of my teachers at HML (Ms. Klores) dated him in HS.
I believe she had a brother who was a long-time coach at Carol City HS too.
 
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caneinorlando said:
If this thread isn't one of the best in CIS History...Then I don't know what is....Kudos to all for their contributions....Incredible stuff...
Click to expand...

Seriously, so much sports history in south Florida, and I'm not even talking about the dorky pro sports teams.
Everything from little leagues, high school, UM (of course) and even JUCO baseball.
Even some cool stuff with Muhammad Ali when he was training in soFla (before my time, but heard about it).
Amazing stuff.
 
MedleyCane said:
It gets all of us old geezers in the nursing home to run to the nearest PC in the home's community center to type away our
fading memories....lol
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Lol....I wish I could contribute...I moved from NY in 73 to Ft Myers....Although my Aunt and Grandmother lived in Kendall for ages...from 74-78 my Mom would send me to Miami to stay with them during the summers..which was fine by me being a Dolphin Lunatic...although
I did live in Miami from 84-86...
 
caneinorlando said:
Lol....I wish I could contribute...I moved from NY in 73 to Ft Myers....Although my Aunt and Grandmother lived in Kendall for ages...from 74-78 my Mom would send me to Miami to stay with them during the summers..which was fine by me being a Dolphin Lunatic...although
I did live in Miami from 84-86...
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No worries, you're one of our best posters, and contributors, on this board.
Just know that the older one gets, the better the stories become....lol.
Anyways, enough of my Al Bundy Polk HS reminiscing.
 
When I get a chance I might be able to add to it. I left South Florida in '63 but I remember a good bit of our history and general history of the area. I might try to revive another thread where I interacted with DaytonaCane whose late husband was RB Doug Davis in '57-'61.

Like I said somewhere, to understand UM football history you have to know context of city's history. For example, introduction of pro football had a major impact on UM's program--some good, some more challenging. We borrowed a winning offensive philosophy from the Dolphins (through Schnellenberger) but it rocked us back on our heels in '70's.

Also, desegregation of public schools gave UM access to a deep, rich pool of talent unlike anything else. That was not there in '50's and '60's, at least not for us.
 
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MedleyCane said:
Seriously, so much sports history in south Florida, and I'm not even talking about the dorky pro sports teams.
Everything from little leagues, high school, UM (of course) and even JUCO baseball.
Even some cool stuff with Muhammad Ali when he was training in soFla (before my time, but heard about it).
Amazing stuff.
Click to expand...
Ali? Yep, 5th Street Gym. Right in the heart of what we used to call "Bagel Beach."

No topless models back then, just elderly ****** immigrants of very modest means.
 
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MedleyCane said:
A pretty good MLB pitcher by the name of Steve Carlton graduated from NM HS.
One of my teachers at HML (Ms. Klores) dated him in HS.
I believe she had a brother who was a long-time coach at Carol City HS too.
Click to expand...

Had a class with Klores at MCC, really funny guy.
 
TheMatador said:
Skylake Mall must be after my time. Remember when they built a shopping center on 163rd Street and that was something of a big deal for those of us who lived in North end of Miami Beach.


View attachment 83834

Later on, in the '80's, I got to know Marty Rubin who had his UM-oriented Sports Den, a retail store of UM souvenirs and so forth. He used to supply equipment to the UM athletic department so his business frequently took him to the Hecht Center. I think he had free reign of the center and was generally what we call an "insider." I remember Marty talking about going into the recruiting office and looking at the "board " They must have had a board on the wall with recruits names,vi.e., guys under our active pursuit.

I think I was only at Sports Den once. I left the area in '63, so a lot has changed, a lot is new. I probably went by Sports Den in late '80's.

I went to Allsports a lot more since it was close to the university and I often stayed near the university when I traveled down for games.

I do remember Corky"s. Was that a BBQ place? I remember it positively. I must have liked their food.
EDIT: Not a BBQ place.

View attachment 83835

View attachment 83836
Click to expand...
I went to school with Marty's daughter, Marla.
 
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