It’s a good thing we didn’t win the ALCS.

I know, it’s been over a week. Yes, I should get over it. However, I am bi-weekly here so you have to deal with it.

There are two reasons it’s a good thing that we didn’t beat the Spankees. One: during the Red Sox playoff run, my friends and I did absolutely no work whatsoever. We even skipped classes. I know someone who skipped a test to watch Game 6. Two: with a Red Sox victory, we’ll have nothing to look forward to ever again.

My roommate is a hardcore Yankees fan. He’s a good kid, but hey, no one’s perfect. Throughout their playoff run, he’s put off work and he’s frequented the liquor store more and more. Not going to the gym, he really hasn’t gotten much done since Mussina lost Game 1. He had to write last minute papers and miss classes.

I noticed my work seriously slipping during our playoff run. Game night was beer night for us. The way the Red Sox won and lost almost encouraged drinking. Scott Williamson has a two run lead, but he has to give up a home run in the bottom of the ninth. David Ortiz hits a double in the eighth to the wall in right field to clinch the A’s series. And then, there was Game 7.

We can always look forward to what wasn’t. As Sportscenter was playing highlights of the Game 7, I honestly felt like I was going to puke. Much like Bucky Dent 30 years ago, Aaron Boone gave himself a new middle name with one swing of the bat.

If, god forbid, the Red Sox ever won the World Series, we would have nothing else to look forward to. My parents and grandparents haven’t seen the Sox get a ring. The everlasting question is: will I? After Game 7, my mom said I have graduated to becoming a Red Sox fan. I guess you have to have your heart broken to gain that status. She saw Buckner, she saw Dent. Now, she’s seen Boone.

For the Red Sox fans, a World Series bid would’ve put everything on hold. Yankees are used to this. We are used to the result of Game 7. If the Sox made the Series, life as I know it would come to an abrupt halt. The same would’ve happened to Sox fans across the UMass campus, across the state, and across the country. For us, a World Series happens about once every 25 years or so. When it happens, we have to go all out.

At around the 5th inning of the game, as I sent a friend out to get the victory champagne, I was thinking to myself, “yeah, I do have a test tomorrow. However, I can always take this semester over again; a World Series berth could be a once in a lifetime opportunity!” So failing the test was justified if it meant celebrating the win.

As I sat in my class Friday morning, with a test in front of me, I was half drunk and half hung over, but I came to a conclusion. Yes, a World Series berth would’ve been great. But the postseason just wouldn’t have been as fun. At least we can look on the bright side. Hey, there’s always next year.

Matt Elder is a Collegian columnist.