Every year, over a hundred million adults and kids suffer through a painful, sleep-deprived February Monday. Some say a solution could be to break tradition and move the Super Bowl to Saturday, while others suggest closing school completely on Monday. The answer, however, can be found in a delayed opening.
Ratings and audience viewership throughout the year are always high on Sunday night, with the best matchups appearing in the “primetime” games. With the common 8:20 p.m. EST kickoff, the main issue is the disappointed 8-year-old who’s bedtime conflicts with the game. Other than that, people are usually fine staying up late to watch the most popular sport in America. But even with its earlier start time of 6:30 pm EST, the Super Bowl is different.
Aside from the troopers who deal with the next day’s torture, there are millions each year that will miss work the following day as they come down with the common Super Bowl fever. And I don’t blame them. That alone, however, is a major problem, as that means billions of dollars are lost in productivity across the country. Shops and companies suffer alongside everyone else as employees stay out sick.
Looking at the top ten most watched television events in American history, the only non-Super Bowl broadcasts are the Apollo 11 moon landing and Nixon’s resignation. The Super Bowl is not just a sporting event; it is not a mere matchup between two football teams. It is a grand display of entertainment. With countless legendary commercials, an often-epic halftime show (Prince, Michael Jackson, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg), and, of course, a showdown between the best squads of the NFC and AFC. An event like that calls for nothing less than parties and gatherings across the nation. Yet, the people continue to endure punishment the next day for simply partaking in the fun. To this, many call for a simple solution: a national holiday called “Super Bowl Monday.”
I don’t oppose the idea (maybe a little bit of bias there as a football-obsessed, school-weary high schooler) but I do acknowledge the issues that lie here. Forget the downtick in productivity…nearly every school will have to adjust its already tight schedule by removing days from spring break or ignoring other existing holidays. Many would be very hesitant to go down that route.
Viewership of Saturday playoff games is always less than that of Sunday playoff games, and worn-down football players need every day of rest between games they can get. Therefore, shifting the game a day earlier becomes less-than-ideal, so we return back to the initial proposal of a delayed opening.
Of course, this solution does not help the adults in America, and other solutions can be found to help them out. This solution, however, does absolutely save the students. The youth would be able to get their much-needed rest overnight and would be less stressed in school.
Let America follow the lead of other New Jersey townships like Washington and give all schools a delayed opening on Super Bowl Monday.
