These are the 10 best days of the year, ranked

By Sports Illustrated and Jimmy Traina/Sports Illustrated via Extra Mustard
Published

10. First day of school: If you have kids, this might be No. 1 on your list. 

9. That random Friday or Monday you call out sick to work even though you aren't and you sneak in a three-day weekend: Don't act like you've never done it. You have. And that unplanned day off feels so much better than a planned day off.

8. Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend: Most sane people would have this higher, because it's the start of summer, but I hate the heat, so I can only put it at No. 7. And Saturday is better than Monday because you know you can do whatever you'd like for two days before you start worrying about going back to work.

7. WrestleMania Sunday: Even people who don't watch one second of wrestling action all year long still pay attention to what happens during the WWE's Super Bowl thanks to the hype that surrounds it. It also helps that Vince McMahon always manages to recruit celebrities from Mike Tyson to Lawrence Taylor to Rob Gronkowski, to participate.

6. First Day of the NCAA Tournament: A bonanza of games from Noon until the wee hours of the morning and an excuse not work on a Thursday afternoon. This has been made even better by CBS/Turner in recent years, since the games at all staggered and available online.

5. NFC and AFC Championship Sunday: The Super Bowl is not a football game. It's an event for people who haven't watched football all season long. But for the die-hards who are even happy to watch the annual Jaguars-Titans disaster on Thursday Night, this is the day. The four best teams go at it without an 86-hour pregame show, a halftime extravaganza that never ends and overrated commercials that overwhelm the game.

4. Christmas Day: One word: Presents. Actually, three words. Presents. Home Alone.

3. Christmas Eve: This one is personal because I'm Italian and we do the big fish dinner on Christmas Eve and it's the best meal on earth. Plus, you have the anticipation of Christmas Day and you can usually open some presents before the main event the following day.

2. Thanksgiving: You eat an offensive amount of food all day long while watching football. Even the Lions can't ruin such a glorious experience.

1. Opening Sunday of the NFL season: Yes, the NFL season opens on a Thursday night, but that's amateur hour. The real beginning to the year upon us comes Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when a full slate of action for the entire day gets under way. Everyone has hope that day, even Browns fans. You know you're about to turn your life over to the NFL each and every Sunday for about 11 hours straight over the next four months and you can't wait to do it, even though the league is filled with problems. That's how addicted we are as a nation to the National Football League.

Since this is a list, you're probably fuming right now with an omission or a ranking. Hit us up on Twitter and let us know your list.