It was with a dramatic sigh and a look of utter despair that I got up for work yesterday morning. It’s a tough realization for a working person outside of Boston to know all of their college friends are stumbling around South Campus having the time of their lives.

Nope, instead I went to my training course in the bubbling metropolis of Bloomington, Minn., and learned about reinsurance contracts for a morning.

I know. You’re jealous.

For all you seniors, I encourage you to soak in your Monday experience. Remember that those mornings, afternoons and evenings of nonstop, in-your-face, “for-the-love-of-Manny-Ramirez-hold-back-that-vomit” drinking days are few and far between in the real world.

Just think about the Boston Marathon for a second. There are few events in the United States that could compare to an entire city shutting down for a day of total belligerence. All the while, the greatest distance runners in the world are stampeding their way to history. The irony of the whole situation is shocking.

But enough about the Best Day of the Year – you certainly don’t need someone who wasn’t even there to tell you about how unreal your life was for a day. I want to touch on the nuclear fallout of the Boston College Golden Eagles smoking Notre Dame in the Frozen Four finale to win the Men’s NCAA Ice Hockey Championship.

What do you do from here? To be honest, you’re about as lucky as possible that I have nothing better to do than write for my alma mater’s daily paper.

I’m actually somewhat familiar with how this disappointment feels. Being that I never liked the Red Sox or Patriots (sorry, Boston fans, but I’m not from New England and frankly, I was just jealous), I have some experience in the area.

The first and most natural reaction will be denial. You don’t really want to admit Boston College just snatched the Beanpot and the NCAA title in the same year.

Hockey is BU’s one chance to stand on the pedestal of a major college sport – and, well, your arch nemesis just Super Smashed you out of your best Nintendo videogame.

If anything, this should be an opportunity to motivate yourself – and hopefully, our hockey team. Obviously, 2008 just wasn’t Boston University’s year. Since we didn’t even gain entrance into the 16-team battle royal for the men’s hockey championship, it’s not like we got thrown over the ropes – we just never had a chance to win the title belt.

Certainly, the Ice Dogs came together around the midpoint of the season and put together a reasonable finish. After acknowledging this, you will enter into the second stage of sports mourning: hope.

You’ve hit rock bottom. It can’t get any worse than Boston College winning the national championship. After all, now it doesn’t really make much sense to scream, “BC [stinks]!” when they just won the whole damn thing.

But here’s the thing: maybe they didn’t [stink] last year, but now they do again. That’s your motivation. They won their championship and now you’ve rationalized it to this point: it’s your turn.

After all, BC, like BU, is a Hockey East squad. If one Hockey East team can run the ferocious gambit of the men’s hockey tournament, there’s absolutely no reason the Terriers couldn’t expect the same results.

Let the validation go even further. The University of New Hampshire was straight filthy this year. Boston College won the national championship. It’s not like we got seventh in the NBA’s Eastern Conference – it was much more like finishing ninth in the West. And don’t get me started. I could talk about how the Golden State Warriors got jobbed for hours.

Not to mention our first team All-American, Matt Gilroy. The kid – I can say this now because I’ve been out of college for a year now – is only a junior. To have a returning All-American is always a good thing – I don’t care if you’re playing wiffleball or ice hockey.

And now, you’ve officially entered the third and final stage of the sports grieving process: forgetting the past and rationalizing the debacle. Sure, BC won the whole thing, but who did they even beat? They beat the Fighting Irish.

Big deal. The Irish were a four seed that caught fire and defeated two No. 1 seeds (Michigan and UNH) on their way to sliming a title appearance. BC – a two seed – also beat two No. 1s, but just ran into a worn-out Irish squad and crushed them.

The Red Sox did the same thing to the Colorado Rockies last year. I’m really not that impressed.

So keep a smile on your face and grudgingly congratulate all those happy, hyper SuperFans when you see them. It was just their time. It will be BU’s time again.

For now, as you read this column through a Marathon Monday hangover that feels like your eyeballs are leaking Jagermeister, just get excited for the 08-09 season. It was nice for all of us to get that painful BC championship out of the way.

A quick note to the senior Terriers. Do all of us business-casual analysts a favor – really get after it these next couple of weekends. Trust me on this one: You’ll be longing for these days in a few short months.

Until the next time the FreeP is dying for a column, keep rocking the Scarlet and White. Go BU.

Anthony Flum, a graduate of Boston University, is a former columnist for The Daily Free Press.