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The 2008 to 2009 athletics year may not have been the prettiest.
After all, the men's and women's basketball teams were bounced in the first two rounds of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament; the men's volleyball team didn't even qualify for theirs; and the baseball team's hopes of an NCAA regional fell flat.
I've heard fans at games and I've read fan comments on message boards saying that this may have been one of the "worst" years in school history.
Don't get me wrong, the frustration and disappointment is understandable.
But still, the University of Hawai'i placed 66th out of 279 Division 1 teams ranked in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Director's Cup with 314 points.
Their finish was good enough for second in the WAC (behind Boise State at 49th), and ahead of BCS schools such as Oregon State (70th), Kansas (72nd) and Kansas State (77th).
The Directors' Cup is presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country based on points earned when schools' athletic programs participate in the NCAA post season.
You may be scratching your head, but yes, Hawai'i was well-represented in the NCAAs this past year, earning 98 points in the fall sports season, 74.5 points in the winter and 141.5 in the spring.
So where did the points come from?
Well, the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team finished in the elite eight (73 points) and the Warrior football team participated in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (25 points).
But of course, who didn't know that? These are, after all, the two most visible and popular UH teams.
The rest of the points came from women's swimming and diving (29 points), women's indoor (30 points) and outdoor (36.5 points) track and field, women's water polo (55 points), and men's tennis (50 points).
I bet some people didn't even know UH had those teams.
Some of the more publicized teams struggled and created a defeated spirit among UH fans. But often going unrecognized is the hard work and success of the "unknown" teams of UH.
Diver Emma Friesen placed third in the 1-meter dive; high jumpers Amber Kaufman and Emily Sheppard, and multi-even athlete Annett Wichmann made a run for gold.
Head coach Michel Roy and his water polo team finished fourth in the nation, and head coach Dennis Lajola-led men's tennis team story-booked their way into the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
Pretty exciting stuff, if you were paying attention.
Based on the "bigger" sports, it may have been a rough year to be a UH fan. But the end results of the athletic's year must have made athletics director Jim Donovan and the athletic department happy.
66th out of 279 teams is not bad at all.
And if fans took the time to embrace these "other" teams, maybe it would have been a happier year for those fans, too.
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