Something occurred to me one Saturday morning, while I watched SportsCenter in my underwear for the third time.

There is absolutely no reason to have a sweetest day in our holiday-filled calendar.

Furthermore, I can't even begin to tell you how sweetest day began, or how shocked I am to find that everyone and their (invariably male) friends are buying 'Sweetest Day' cookies or 'Sweetest Day' cards.

Who in the world is the sweetest, and why aren't the other billion holidays on the calendar enough for them? Oh sure, you might say, 'Wade, just because you're too lame to have a girlfriend, doesn't mean you need complain to the rest of us.'

First of all, no, I am not lame. Second of all, let's be clear about the origins of 'Sweetest Day.'

According to a variety of sources online, the original Sweetest Day was founded in 1920 on a candy store philanthropist's vision of serving the greater good. Taking his surplus candy, he went out around Cleveland and gave candy to shut-ins and newspaper boys who frequented his shop on their route.

Now that is really sweet.

Unfortunately it seems the modern-day Sweetest Day has come under the grasp of both the card industry and our fairest gender. Who would have thought that could happen?

Surely Valentine's Day, with all its pageantry and circumstance, would be a big enough day alone for the card-dealers. Not to mention birthdays, graduations, Christmas, births, anniversaries, weddings and even thank-you's.

No, no, we need another special day right before Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas to show who we love that we love them with this cookie and that card. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about the cookies and the cards.

But shouldn't we, as a 'Marianist' leader, take this opportunity to do a little research and give to the community around us? This university does a whole lot to the community, I understand. We're proud of that, and I commend UD.

I will not and encourage others not to buy into a manufactured holiday, unless they participate in that holiday's real tradition.