Please excuse Norbert Stein, the San Diego Sockers’ official No. 1 fan, from not jumping on a flight to the Pacific Northwest to attend the Sockers’ opening-round Ron Newman Cup playoff game March 8 against the Tacoma Stars.
He had more important personal items to attend to, such as celebrating his 105th birthday — and getting married.
Yes, married.
Stein, who has a flair for surprise and over-the-top performances, wed longtime companion Edelmira Velasquez in a private civil ceremony at the Living Coast Discovery Center along Chula Vista’s bayfront. The event included about 60 invited guests, including Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas.
Given the couple’s respective ages – Stein at 105 and Velasquez at 72 – the event received marquee media coverage.
“It’s my birthday and I’m getting married on the same day!” shouted Stein, who is never one to shy away whenever a camera is pointed in his direction. “This is the happiest day in my life.”
Stein may be the oldest man in America to wed and thus could earn a history-making entry in “Guinness World Records.”
The reference book confirmed that British newlyweds George Kirby (103 years old) and Doreen Kirby (91 years old) set a world record as the oldest couple to marry as far as aggregate age when they tied the knot on June 13, 2015, in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
The couple’s combined age was 194 years, 280 days.
The previous record for aggregate age had been 190 years, 126 days, when François Fernandez and Madeleine Francineau wed in Clapiers, France, on Feb. 1, 2002.
Stein and Velasquez total a still remarkable 177 years between them.
They had been companions for the past 45 years since meeting in a dance club in Tijuana.
Both exchanged vows while seated in front of Robert Valko, who was certified to perform the marriage rites.
It was a festive evening. Two of Velasquez’s granddaughters performed a dance routine prior to the ceremony; the couple was then serenaded by Maricahi Estellas de Chula Vista.
Both partners were sharply dressed. Stein, a native of Aidhausen, Germany, wore the Bronze Star medal he received in World World II after fighting in the Pacific Theater for his adopted country.
It was a no-brainer for those on the invitation list to attend.
“I’ve known him for 25 years,” Casillas Salas said. “He’s been such a valuable member of the community since he arrived in our community in the 1950s.”
Stein’s penchant of impromptu rhymes has endeared him to many, including elected officials.
“My first term in office (on the Chula Vista City Council), he would write poems and read them at council meetings,” Casillas Salas said. “I told the mayor at the time we should call him the unofficial poet laureate of Chula Vista.”
The name officially stuck with Stein as the Poet of Chula Vista, and he became an award-winning poet in his own right.
In fact, he penned something personal for the occasion:
“I am glad
I am still alive!
I just passed 105!!!
Nothing too big
Nothing too small
Life is full of surprises
I can handle them all!”
Casillas Salas noted that Stein, who owned a butcher shop on Third Avenue (yes, he was a real cut-up), was one of the first proponents to suggest beautifying the downtown Chula Vista area.
“He is a very generous person and a gentleman, too,” Casillas Salas noted.
Zaneta Encarnacion, a member of the board of directors for the Chula Vista Charitable Foundation and executive director of the Southwestern College Office of Development & Foundation, spoke highly of Stein, who was among the founding members of the Chula Vista Charitable Foundation.
Susana Villegas, who serves as the public relations and marketing chair with the Foundation board and is also president of SVPR Communications, her own company, helped organize media coverage. She called the event “a beautiful human story.”
Longtime friend Susan Valko, who encouraged Stein to become a member of the Chula Vista Toastmasters Club, served as the master of ceremonies.
Ron Cohn, owner of Sprouts Marketplace, served as best man.
The bride blushed throughout most of the ceremony, content to allow the groom to bask in the spotlight of TV cameras.
When it came time for the couple to exchange vows, Stein surprised those in the room by announcing his acceptance in a booming voice.
“This is the night I’ve been waiting for,” Stein, the happy groom, broadcasted.
It was the second marriage for Stein, who has been a Chula Vista resident since 1958.
He has been a media darling for most of that time.
Stein gained notoriety in 1981 when he paid the delinquent National Football League Players Association dues for Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts.
Fouts, had he not paid the dues, was threatened with suspension for the Chargers’ final regular season game against the Raiders.
Fouts said he had not been an association member since 1976 and indicated he had no intention of paying the dues. The Collective Bargaining Agreement approved by a majority vote of NFL players in 1977 stipulated that players are not required to join the association but are required to pay dues.
Stein paid the $1,122 in dues and Fouts played the next game. The Chargers won, 23-10, to capture the AFC West title.
However, Stein is best known as the region’s No. 1 soccer fan. Affectionately known by Sockers players simply as “The Captain,” Stein religiously attended practices and games by the team during its long tenure in town.
He often traveled to support the team during road trips in the playoffs, including trips to Baltimore, Cleveland and Dallas at his own expense.
In recent years, he was given behind-the-scenes locker room access where he delivered inspirational pregame pep talks, in rhyme, of course.
He also made the acquaintance of many Hollywood celebrities and sports stars, including Alexi Lalas, a former member of the United State men’s national soccer team.
When asked about the secret to a long life, Stein was momentarily lost for words, which might be a first.
“I don’t know; I haven’t got an answer,” he said. “I’ve had so many good jobs. When I was 5, I started exercising.”
Stein is not the oldest supercentenarian in the world to walk down the aisle.
Valdemira Rodrigues de Oliveira, 106, said yes to her 66-year-old beau Aparecido Dias Jacob in an engagement ceremony in February 2017 at the Nossa Senhora Fatima retirement home in Pirassununga, Brazil. Their combined age was 172 years.
A Somali man was reputed to be 112 when he wed a 17-year-old woman in Guriceel in that Horn of Africa nation in 2009.
As for a honeymoon for the Chula Vista newlyweds, China was initially brought up, then Las Vegas. They finally settled for more familiar surroundings: home.
Quest for 15
The Sockers, 2017-18 Pacific Division champions in the Major Arena Soccer League, will travel to Monterrey, Mexico, to take on the top-seeded Monterrey Flash this Sunday, March 18, for a one-game playoff match to determine the league’s Western Conference champion.
The match can be seen live on MASL TV (4:05 p.m PDT).
If the Sockers win, they will advance to the MASL championship game against the Eastern Conference champion Baltimore Blast after the Blast defeated the visiting the Milwaukee Wave, 10-6, in the Eastern Conference final on Friday, March 16.
If successful, the Sockers would host the league final on March 31 at the Valley View Casino Center.
The Sockers, who are in search of their 15th indoor soccer championship, dropped their Pacific Division playoff opener, 5-2, at Tacoma on March 8. The best-of-three series then shifted to San Diego on March 10, with the Sockers needing to win the regulation game to force a series-deciding mini-game.
The Sockers evened the divisional playoff series at a win apiece with a commanding 9-3 victory, then eliminated the Stars with a 6-2 win in the ensuing mini-game in front of 3,421 fans.
The 15-minute winner-take-all mini-game proved somewhat anti-climatic when the Sockers took a 5-0 lead. Brandon Escoto scored just 49 seconds into the game.
Kraig Chiles, Hiram Ruiz, Cesar Cerda, Erick Tovar and Brian Farber each scored one goal.
Chris Toth backstopped both wins on the evening, making six saves on nine shots in the regulation game and eight saves on 10 shots the mini-game.
Escoto scored two goals in the regulation game while Chiles, Ruiz, Cerda, Tovar and Farber each scored single goals along with Nick Perera, Robert Palmer and Jamal Fox.
Toth also earned distinction as the first goalkeeper to score a goal in MASL history when he scored at the 4:53 mark of the second period after taking a long shot from midfield to make the score 4-1.
Felipe Gonzalez, Evan McNeley, Ze Roberto, Raphael Cox, Cory Keitz, Eduardo Velez each picked up assists.
Clare finished Game Two with one goal and two assists. Chiles, the team’s all-time scoring leader, finished Game Two with one goal and one assist, as did Farber.
San Diego out-shot Tacoma 27-9 in the regulation game. Toth, who earlier this week was named to the MASL’s First Team, came up big in the mini-game to backstop the Sockers to the Western Conference Final when the Stars out-shot the Sockers 10-9.
The first team honor is the second consecutive for Toth, son of original Sockers goalkeeper Zoltan Toth.
Sosa and Chiles were named to the MASL Second Team following the conclusion of regular season play while Sockers goalkeeper Boris Pardo earned recognition on the MASL’s Third Team.
Toth finished the regular season with a 10-2 record, 3.80 goals-against average, one shutout and .753 save percentage.
Monterrey, which finished with the MASL’s best regular season record at 20-2, defeated the Sonora Suns in two straight to win the team’s Southwest Division playoff series, winning by scores of 8-7 in Sonora and 9-5 at home.
Sunday’s game will be the final one of the 2017-18 MASL for either the Flash or the Sockers.
Monterrey defeated San Diego, 6-3, in the teams’ only meeting this season on Jan. 28.
The Sockers finished with the MASL’s second-best record at 19-3.
The Flash had four players named to the All-MASL teams, including defender Damian Garcia (Second Team), goalkeeper Diego Reynoso (honorable mention), defender Miguel Vaca (honorable mention) and forward Carlos Farias (honorable mention).
Farias, a native of Chile, played for the Sockers indoors in 1996 and 2001-03 and for the San Diego Flash outdoors in 1998 and 1999-2000. He was a fan favorite with the Sockers after scoring 28 goals in 27 games in his first stint with the team and 59 goals in 58 games in his second stint.
The MASL MVP, Goalkeeper of the Year, Defender of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards will be announced by the league prior to the Ron Newman Cup championship game.
Chiles (three goals, two assists), Escoto (two goals, two assists), Farber (two goals, two assists) and Clare (one goal, three assists) top the Sockers in playoff scoring. Toth is 2-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .667 save percentage.
Chiles led the Sockers in regular season scoring with 38 goals and 17 assists for 55 points, followed by Escoto with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points. Luan Oliveira finished third in team scoring with 30 points (16 goals, 14 assists), followed by Clare with 28 points (16 goals, 12 assists) and Tovar with 26 points (16 goals, 10 assists).
Chiles led the Sockers with eight game-winning goals; Escoto was next up with four game-winning goals.
Brayan Aguilar leads Monterrey with six playoff goals while Farias has scored three goals in the playoffs.
Cornerkicks
Anthony Medina, a former standout at Valhalla High School, recorded a hat trick in his final game for the Sockers on March 3, a 10-3 win over the visiting El Paso Coyotes. Medina, who had played with the current edition of the Sockers since their inception in 2009, appeared in nine regular season games, recording eight goals and two assists, with one game-winning goal to his credit.
