Every year in late early February, the nation’s attention is drawn to one singular event; the Super Bowl. It has grown into a staple in not just sports, but pop-culture as well. The humorous advertisements and the highly lauded halftime shows have made it so people of all ages and interests have a reason to stay up late watching the spectacle. But with late nights come early mornings, and for this reason it might be time to start considering having a day off on post-Super Bowl Monday.
The reasons there should not be school on the Monday after the Super Bowl are plentiful, the first of which being the event’s widespread habit of making people stay up late. This year, the night was even later than usual. The game went into overtime, postponing the finish to 10:30 p.m. On top of that, many students still had homework to be completed after the game, delaying their daily bed visit unspeakably. It’s even worse for elementary aged kids. Those who stay up to watch the whole game are staying up usually around two hours after their bedtime. The 10:30 time is also not the end of the night. Many people go to Super Bowl parties, which mean that their trip back to their bed takes even longer.
The impact is widespread as well; it goes beyond just one or two football fanatics. It is by far the most watched entertainment event of the year. This year 111.1 million people tuned their televisions to the game, according to CNN.com. This means 111.1 million people had to trudge out of bed early the following morning after a long night prior. These 111.1 million people become walking zombies in the morning. “It’s really tiring,” junior Alan Duong said.
On top of everything, having school the next day can restrict enjoyment of the game. Whether people have to take breaks from the game, or constantly have that nagging responsibility of a school day in the back of their minds, school adds stress to what should be a carefree evening. For true sob stories on how school can ruin one’s night, the stories of Patriots fans during this year’s game are just that. “I’m a Patriots fan, and I had to go study for a math test I had the next day instead of a lot of the second half. I missed Danny Amendola’s touchdown, and that was the real turning point in the game. At the end of the game everything was [great] until I realized I had four tests the next day,” junior Ashwin Acharya said.
Because of school work, student Patriots fans missed some historic moments in their franchise’s history. They could have gone on to tell their kids about how they witnessed their team stage the greatest comeback of all time, but because they had school the next day, they missed out on that history.

Peter Hechler

News Editor