A Boston love story: A dad, a son and Tatum's sneakers

Oct. 28—The story, on its face, was a sweet one.

There's the dad, formerly of Andover, Bob Jacobs. There's the 12-year-old son, Max Jacobs, Houston born-and-bred. and both were at a Houston Rockets game recently hosting the Boston Celtics.

Max, wearing a Celtics jersey, hollers for Jayson Tatum near the end of the game, saying "I love your sneakers."

Tatum acknowledges Max. Tatum smiles. The game ends.

Tatum starts untying his sneakers on the bench, then hands them to a trainer and waves to Max. The trainer goes a few rows into stands and gives them to Max.

Everybody's happy.

It's a nice occurrence, but this story is better than a nice gesture by a superstar, rewarding a kid/fan on the road.

Bob, 65, a native of Milton who has worked with hedge funds for most of his adult life, moved to from Andover to Houston area before turning 50. He married a local gal and they had a son.

The former Andover area gym rat — YMCA, Cedardale, etc. — who played in a few basketball leagues, even traveled a bit playing guys from metro Boston, Falmouth, etc.

That continued in the Houston, as did his love affair of Boston pro sports.

"When a team comes to Houston, I go," said Bob. "When I had my son, he fell in love with Boston teams, too, like his dad. and we have a ball rooting for Boston teams."

They were at Game 1 of the ALCS in Houston on Oct. 15, a 5-4 win for the Astros.

"That was incredible, the atmosphere," recalled Bob. "Before the game Max went down to the screen to see the players. He spoke to (Sox rookie) Jarren Duran. He talked to Garrett Whitlock's father. Then he ran back down and he got Reggie Jackson's autograph."

Even better, before the game that day his elementary school had an "Astros Day" where boys and girls could wear Houston Astros shirts.

Max wore a Red Sox jersey. Of course.

"I asked him when he got home if there were any other kids that wore a Red Sox jersey," said Bob. "He said, 'No, just me.' He has a lot of guts, I'll say that."

Max's favorite sport and team, among all Boston teams, is the Bruins.

Not really what you'd expect from a Houston kid.

"About two-and-a-half years ago he woke up one morning and said, 'I want to play hockey,'" recalled Bob. "I said, 'Max, you don't even skate.' He said he wanted to learn. I'm talking he couldn't skate at all."

Max ended improving leaps and bounds and tried out for a team with the Houston Wild program. He made the team.

"We've already been to Austin (Texas) and Dallas and we're going back to Austin next week," said Bob. "He loves it. It's definitely his passion."

His mother has friends who live in the Boston in the same building as Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. On trips to Boston he has connected with a stepson of Marchand, who plays hockey.

In fact, Max was in Boston for the Bruins' opener with Dallas holding a sign praising Marchand. The Bruins star saw the sign and tossed him a puck before the game.

Dad and son had planned to see the Pats-Texans game in Houston on Oct. 10, but had to cancel due to a hockey tournament in Austin.

"People hate me down here because all I do is wear Boston stuff," said Bob. "And people hate me back home because I brag about the weather being 75 and sunny when they're getting snow in Andover."

The Tatum sneakers, though, eased any pain from the haters.

"They're huge, size 16s, Air Zooms," said Bob. "At the bottom there is a heart and 'Duece,' to honor his son. It's pretty cool. Tatum is my new favorite player now. He definitely is Max's favorite, too."

While the sneakers were great, sharing their love of Boston sports together is the best, said dad.

"We are love and watch them all together when we can, especially the Bruins," said Bob. "It's funny, I'll get texts from him during the day if there is news about a Boston team. and I'll text back, 'Aren't you supposed to be at school?'

"He, of course, says it's between classes or something. Honestly he's a mini-me. We're both crazy. But I wouldn't change a thing."

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com{/em}.