If you were in the Nation's Capital this holiday weekend to take in the Isamu Noguchi ceramics at the Sackler or sneak a peak at Natural History's "Splendor of Diamonds" exhibit, I suggest you consider staying in the city an extra week and try again this Friday or Saturday. As you probably noticed, the National Mall between the Capitol and Washington Monument has been taken over by the Militarysportsoftdrink Complex. Come this weekend the buzz of cicadas should once again be audible over the drone of the loudspeakers, the mall should once again be filled with Frisbee throwers, museum goers and assorted sun worshippers soaking up those fading late-summer rays.

Since Labor Day, however, and continuing through this Thursday, the nation's backyard has been turned into the mother of all tailgate parties for the "NFL Kickoff Live From the National Mall Presented by Pepsi Vanilla". This four-day football, fructose, and armed forces extravaganza features prominent sponsorship by the NFL, Pepsi Vanilla, and several other corporate sponsors, as well as less overt Pentagon marketing of its own "Operation Tribute to Freedom" product, in the form of banners, sample booths, uniformed concert goers, and a musical tribute to veterans of GWOT (the Global War on Terrorism). The culmination of this grand affair-the aforementioned musical tribute, featuring Aerosmith, Mary J. Blige, and Britney Spears-will be captured live by the networks and the Department of Defense's own film crews and beamed directly to American homes and our troops overseas. So if you can't make it to D.C., don't worry. You'll be able to experience the whole thing from the comfort of your couch or your front seat via your local cable company or the satellite feed in your Humvee. Afterward, for those fortunate enough to be able to attend this history-making event in person, the first game of the 2003 NFL season, the Washington Redskins vs. New York Jets, will be shown on the giant Jumbotrons set up along the mall, marking this the very first time TV commercials will be broadcast over the National Mall.

Apparently, at about the same time NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his team were trying to come up with a sequel to last year's Times Square tribute/bash, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers and his PR guys were thinking about a high-profile way of thanking the troops and rallying support for the continuing war effort. When the two met at the Pentagon this past May, it must have been kismet. Although the Pentagon has strict policies against commercial involvement, Myers was more than happy to make his "Operation Tribute to Freedom" project a central feature of the NFL kickoff. For Tagliabue's part, it couldn't hurt having the backing of the Chairman to help grease the bureaucratic wheels that would churn out permission for unprecedented commercial use of a national treasure. Cooperation between the camps has been ongoing. With the NFL and its corporate partners providing a national audience for the Pentagon's efforts (an estimated 120 million viewers tune into weekly NFL games), the armed services have aggressively promoted the event, encouraging soldiers to attend in uniform. The Pentagon has also posted the red, white, and blue event logo on several pages of its website, and 20,000 servicepersons and their families have already signed up for passes to the preferred seating area in front of the stage.

The Department of Interior, which includes the National Park Service, is also officially ecstatic about the event. Gale Norton, Interior Secretary, tied the Kickoff into the Department's "Take Pride In America" campaign and said in a statement that the "NFL Kickoff is a wonderful opportunity to showcase public service by volunteers who help protect our natural resources." The event is also prominently featured on the website of Interior's "Take Pride in America" program. Attendance at Thursday's finale is projected to be close to 300,000, nearly ten times the number of people who showed up several weeks ago to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I Have a Dream" speech -- an event that merited no fanfare from either Secretary Norton or any representative of the National Park Service (at least any that could be easily found on their websites).

There have been some vocal critics of the NFL Kickoff on the National Mall (some of whom were quoted in a recent Washington Post article). Indeed, the crass commercialization of the National Mall strikes many as inappropriate. But in the end nobody should be surprised by the marriage of bold commercialism and national icons in this day and age. After all, the President has been recently observed autographing the American flag as though he were a star player signing a fan's jersey, and formerly austere patriotic symbols have been mass marketed on everything from bumper stickers to underwear. The first politician who threw out an opening day pitch forever etched a connection between sports and patriotism on the American psyche. Why should we be so upset the NFL, perhaps the most salient modern symbol of American ruggedness and determination, follows the Commander in Chief's lead?

About Todd Kutyla

Talk politics at the The Water Cooler