Last Sunday, a record-breaking 111 million people watched the Super Bowl.

According to an article by Os Davis from Associated Content, viewers consume 4,000 tons of popcorn, 15,000 tons of chips, and 5,000 tons of avocados on Super Bowl Sunday. Moreover, 6 percent of the United States’ population does not show up for work the following Monday.

For that reason, some have proposed that the Monday following the Super Bowl be made into a holiday. To be honest, it makes sense. After a long day of feasting and festivities, it only makes sense that people need another day off to recover.

This proposition, as well as the vast amount of consumption by the loyal viewers, is apalling. The Super Bowl, despite being the championship game for the NFL, is still that, a game.

As if the game could handle any more excess, there are those who would turn this game, an event that last several hours, into a three-day weekend.

At its heart, the entire day of Super Bowl Sunday revolves around one simple concept: a game of football. It involves training, competition, victory and defeat. No doubt it can be considered the finale to the epic saga that is the NFL season.

These are reasons that make the Super Bowl a great tradition for our nation and, a reason to celebrate. The excess, however, the chips, the popcorn and the day off that people yearn for, are not necessary for that tradition to continue.

Truly, Super Bowl Sunday should be about the game, about the competition, not about how much debauchery we can fit into one weekend. Furthermore, we should not be trying to see how far we can push this game by trying to make it as important as Thanksgiving or Martin Luther King Day.

Perhaps if we, as a nation, can give up this excess and return to the simplicity of the game, we can cut our consumption and maybe even show up to work on Monday.