Exercising Soft Power in 2012

I've been trying to figure out how I would work in a mention on the blog of how my Arkansas Razorbacks will be beating down the Crimson Tide of Alabama on Saturday. Football, my other passion, is not exactly a blog topic appropriate for ID...

Unless you get news like this:

When Notre Dame and Navy play in Dublin, Ireland, in 2012, they will do it in a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium.

Naval Academy athletic director Chet Gladchuk said Tuesday that the game would be held at Aviva Stadium, home to the Irish rugby union team and the Irish national soccer team. The stadium, which opened this past May, seats about 50,000 people. All of the seats are covered by a steel roof that is in the shape of a wave, reminiscent of the main Olympic stadium in Beijing.

The game has been scheduled for September 1, 2012. The US Navy should give serious thought to sending a aircraft carrier. Send the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and send an escort like the USS Freedom (LCS 1) or USS Independence (LCS 2). Put a face on the 21st century Navy with the LCS, and leverage a name like the USS Enterprise (CVN 65).

It is Notre Dame in Ireland, so the game is already going to be an enormous spectacle. Hell - someone should have ESPN on the phone tomorrow morning talking about getting the ESPN Gameday crew out there and hosting the show from the deck of the USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Would they turn down an opportunity to host the show overseas for the first time and on the deck of a US aircraft carrier surrounded by thousands of cheering American sailors from all over the country?

I think they would go for it.

September 1st is the first week of the 2012 college football season - Labor day weekend 2012. With a new season, it has the potential to be the biggest college football game that Saturday, and if done right the most watched Navy football game that year. Also noteworthy, for the last three seasons the English Premier League has not played soccer on the first Saturday in September - meaning Notre Dame vs Navy may be the only show in town in the UK that weekend as well.

You would have to be a fool not to see the enormous opportunity the US Navy has in terms of strategic communications to a global audience as a result of this football game.