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The Decision, Kewell style

Ed Wyatt

Ed Wyatt

Written on Friday, 01 July 2011 13:50

Not quite a year ago, I proposed that Gary Ablett Jr announce his choice of an AFL team with a television show a la LeBron James' controversial "The Decision," which aired on ESPN. Now with the news that Harry Kewell may be returning to the A-League from overseas, a similar show might be the perfect medium to reveal his choice for the 2011 season.

In a groundbreaking deal, SBS Sport and Fox Sports agree to simulcast the show on both networks. SBS has to pre-empt Sam Pang's quiz show "Punctuation Marks and Asterisks," while Fox Sports postpones "Dwayne Russell's Greatest Footy Analogies."

8:00 pm: Les Murray welcomes viewers, as well as the panel, which includes Craig Foster ("Foz"), David Zdrilic ("Zdrila"), Mark Bosnich ("Bozza") and Robbie Slater ("Windbag").

8:05 pm: Les sheepishly plugs his newly-edited book.

8:06 pm: Panel discusses whether or not it makes sense for Harry to return to the A-League. All agree that he would be a boon to the league, with the exception of Slater, who knows that by objecting, he'll be guaranteed publicity from most major media outlets.

8:10 pm: Live cross to Mel McLaughlin at Sydney Football Stadium. Ratings booster.

8:15 pm: Live cross to Melbourne, where Victory Managing Director Richard Wilson cagily explains that yes, Harry has been in Melbourne, and that Victory may or may not have met with him, but no, an offer has not been officially made, but if Harry wants to come to Melbourne, Victory will give him a reasonable salary, plus 75% of all beanie sales.

8:18 pm: Les mentions that his "sources" have linked Kewell to MLS team Real Salt Lake.

8:19 pm: Foz interrupts to explain that the future of Australian football - and the nation of Australia itself - depends upon mirroring the Barcelona model.

8:20 pm: Live cross back to Sydney, where whoever's in charge at Sydney FC this week tells Mel that they are the glamour club of the A-League, the most important football team in Australia, and if Harry signs with anyone it will be the Sky Blues. He is interrupted by a phone call, which informs him the club have signed exciting Dutch defender Pascal Bosschaart.

8:23: Les mentions that his "sources" have linked Kewell to Argentine club Newell's Old Boys.

8:24 pm: Foz interrupts to explain that all Australian babies, when born, should be issued an FC Barcelona "all-in-one" suit and be shown the proper way to trap and pass a football.

8:25 pm: In need of some levity, Les throws to a quick pre-produced video piece showing Bozza and Slater competing one-on-one in netball, the triple jump, and the board game Operation.

8:30 pm: Live cross back to Melbourne, where Richard Wilson reiterates that Victory would very much like to have Harry, but that no offer has been made. He also says Harry could have 45% of all scarf revenue.

8:35 pm: Live cross to Frankfurt, Germany with Ned Zelic, sporting his usual "Miami Vice" five o'clock shadow and wearing a loosened, skinny tie. Zelic says Kewell would help the A-League, but that he's more excited about the upcoming match between Rot-Weiss Oberhausen and 1860 Munich.

8:40 pm: Les announces that Harry, on advice of his manager Bernie Mandic, will not be appearing on tonight's show, but Bernie has agreed to a brief interview on satellite from his suite in the Four Seasons in Sydney.

8:45 pm: Bernie says that Harry has narrowed his choices to three (Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar) but that five others (Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Gold Coast United, Melbourne Heart and Perth Glory) are not out of the equation.

8:50 pm: Zdrila asks Bernie about Wellington Phoenix. Bernie says no, Harry does not want to live in the world's windiest city. He encourages the panel to search YouTube for "Wellington, planes landing."

8:52 pm: Show closes with final comments. Zdrila and Bozza agree that the A-League would benefit the most from Kewell playing in Melbourne or Sydney. Foster says he'd prefer to see Harry in Brisbane because they're the closest thing this country has to Barcelona. Slater says something provocative about Harry being older and injury-prone. Les mentions that his "sources" may have gotten it wrong, and in fact, aren't sure where Kewell will end up.

8:59 pm: Les teases upcoming SBS broadcast of the FIFA Under-11's tournament in Bilbao, as well as the Tour de Fresno.

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