There’s the calendar year and the fiscal year. Then there’s the sports year. Because of the dearth of pro teams here, the end of the sports year coincides with that of the academic calendar, and that’s right about now.

Other than in youth leagues, the games we care about most in Hawaii are played by teams attached to schools. With that in mind, now is a good time to reflect.

Two words come to mind: "bittersweet" and "controversy."

No offense to all the champions crowned and everyone who worked hard in pursuit of athletic excellence. But, for the most part, even the positive stories in Hawaii sports in 2012-13 had an asterisk or a "but …" attached. And the biggest were all full of drama, much we’d rather not have to deal with.

The less than Wonder-ful events of the summer set the tone. Loss of public money led to loss of public trust and an eventual change of leadership in the University of Hawaii athletic department, and that trumped pretty much everything that happened on the fields and courts (in many cases, such as with UH’s losing football and baseball teams, distraction from focus on the games had to be welcome).

It’s fitting that in 2012-13, the school’s nickname change became a focal point. This is trivial to some, earth-shattering to others who helped convince the new athletic director, Ben Jay, that UH should be known as the Rainbow Warriors after all.

Now we have word that men’s basketball coach Gib Arnold knew all along that the team would pull through fine academically despite plenty of chatter to the contrary. Hopefully the Rainbow Warriors can hit as many buzzer-beaters in the Sheriff Center next season as they did in the classroom this spring.

Like Arnold, football coach Norm Chow and baseball coach Mike Trapasso could draw criticism for visiting sick children in hospitals, they are that polarizing. The buzzards are prepared to pounce with every loss (or even a win against an unworthy opponent).

Going 3-9 and 16-35 didn’t help their popularity. And in Trapasso’s case, neither did firing his closest link to the local baseball scene, pitching coach Chad Konishi.

And the UH volleyball team’s most exciting player, Jane Croson, is leaving with two years of eligibility left.

The most compelling high school sports story of the year, Kalani’s underdog soccer championship, ended with star player Leo Klink’s mother suffering a brain hemorrhage and dying three days later.

Even the story that was the state’s biggest source of pride, the run for the Heisman Trophy by Manti Te’o, turned out to be too good to be completely true.

Sorry to be Davey Downer here. But that’s just the kind of year it’s been. Better times are ahead.

The best improvement in 2012-13 at UH came from the Rainbow Wahine basketball team and new coach Laura Beeman. It wasn’t flashy, it was gritty and defense-based, so not every fan took notice. But wins and attendance climbed.

The best one-game achievement was Chaminade beating Texas 86-73 in the Maui Invitational. The Silverswords trailed 8-0, but eventual Pac West Player of the year De’Andre Haskins scored 32 points. It brought back memories of the monumental upset of Virginia.

Amid all the angst in 2012-13, Beeman and the Wahine and Haskins and the ‘Swords were among the few stories that gave Hawaii fans a lot to cheer about, no strings attached.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.