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By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Kahai Kaai, Drew Barg and Leanna Tateyama cheer while
watching the Monday Night Football game at Eastside Grill
between the Cowboys and Titans. They have gone to the
grill every week this past year to watch the games.

Christmas at
Eastside belongs
to football fans

Eastside Grill's live Monday
Night Football broadcast
drew about 50

---

By Janine Tully
Star-Bulletin

While most folks were enjoying a traditional Christmas dinner yesterday afternoon, sports fans at the Eastside Grill were digging into chicken wings and fries while watching a live broadcast of Monday Night Football.

Word that the sports bar was going to broadcast the Tennessee-Dallas game live quickly spread among die-hard football fans, who are also regular patrons.

One fan who was going to make sure she didn't miss the game was Leanna Tateyama, who was planning to also watch the delayed 6 p.m. broadcast. "Christmas, New Year's, whatever, I wouldn't have given this up," Tateyama said. "There's also good food, and the bartenders are wonderful; they take care of you."

Grill owner Robbie Acoba said people started calling early in the morning, asking if he was going to show the game live. By 3 p.m, they were trickling in.

Acoba placed an ad in Friday's and yesterday's newspapers to let people know about the 4 p.m. broadcast. The strategy paid off. By half-time there were about 50 rowdy customers, including 15 newcomers, who cheered, stomped or groaned, depending on their team's play.

The afternoon belonged to the Tennessee Titans, who won 31-0.

Acoba decided to show the game live, which he was able to do with his satellite direct feed, because he believed Hawaii fans deserved to watch the last game of the season as it happened, instead of watching it two hours later, as it is normally shown locally.

Currently, KITV-4 has sole rights to broadcast Monday Night Football. Early in the season, the station had prohibited any other outlet from transmitting the game live, threatening litigation, but it lifted the ban. "We don't know what's going to happen next year," Acoba said. "We keep our fingers crossed."

For Guy Rodrigues of Aina Haina, there was no doubt in his mind that the Eastside was the place to be. "Christmas is Christmas, but football is to be enjoyed with friends," said Rodrigues, sitting at the bar with his wife.

Like other wives accompanying husbands, Shar Rodrigues said she was there because she shared her husband's passion for the sport.

Tateyama, sitting with a group of Dallas Cowboy fans, rejected the notion that football is only for men. "Who says it's not for women?" she asked. She'd have no qualms, she said, about her daughter -- a strong-looking girl sitting next to her -- playing football.

Michael Eala, a native of Molokai who lives in Kalihi, was drawn to the Eastside yesterday not by football, but by his longtime friendship with Acoba.

"If you cannot be around family, is good to be around friends," Eala said.