It was, for the most part, a four-month joy ride.

It started in September before 92,000 fans in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and ended in a setting sun on Christmas Eve in Aloha Stadium.

In between, the University of Hawai'i football team and its leader, quarterback Colt Brennan, gave us drama, excitement, breakthrough victories, national attention, surging interest, record-breaking performances and statewide buzz.

"What happened this season ... it's just a real powerful time," UH football coach June Jones said after the Warriors' 41-24 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl victory over Arizona State.

"I'll never forget this moment."

Why should we?

The UH football story — its record-breaking season and Brennan's history-making season — was voted by The Advertiser staff as the No. 1 sports story and Brennan the top sportsperson for 2006.

Brennan and the Warriors also were the top picks of the readers surveyed in The Advertiser's online poll.

The UH women's volleyball team, which overcame season-ending injuries to three starters to finish among the elite eight in the NCAA, was next. Also notable was the stunning success of local golfers Dean Wilson, Kimberly Kim, Tadd Fujikawa and Casey Watabu.

But excitement surrounding Brennan and UH football — whether it was at Aloha Stadium, in sports bars, or at homes with pay-per-view — covered 14 games, and dominated daily talk radio and Internet blogs.

Brennan's accomplishments were mind-boggling.

He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He won the Sammy Baugh Trophy as college football's best passing quarterback. He earned All-America second-team honors from College Football News, third team by The Associated Press, and was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.

Brennan's statistics were off the charts.

He set NCAA single-season records for touchdown passes with 58 and for passing efficiency (185.96). Passing efficiency factors yards, touchdowns, completion percentage and interceptions — one of the best indicators of a quarterback's success.

"That means Colt had the best season (for a quarterback) in (NCAA) history," Jones said. "It takes into account everything. Unbelievable."

"To set the (efficiency) record is awesome," Brennan said. "I have to thank my teammates for being so good. And to coach Jones and to (quarterback) coach (Dan) Morrison and all of the coaches as well."

Brennan also finished No. 1 in the NCAA in other statistical categories, including passing yards and total offense.

Another remarkable statistic: Brennan accomplished all this while not playing the fourth quarter in six blowout victories.

Led by Brennan, UH also established numerous records, including an NCAA mark for most points in a season (657, 46.9 points a game), a school-record nine-game winning streak and a school-record-tying 11 victories while making Jones the winningest UH football coach (64 wins).

It fulfilled a preseason prediction by center Samson Satele, who said, "We'll be scoring at least five touchdowns a game; that's what I think."

But while Brennan's season was consistently spectacular, UH's following didn't gather momentum until it walloped Fresno State in Fresno, 68-37, avenging a previous 70-14 loss in Bulldog Stadium. But as the victories mounted and the opponents got better — UH's last three regular-season opponents went to bowl games — the surging interest hit with monster-wave force. Attendance for UH games, which was under 30,000 for its first six home games, soared to 44,298 against Purdue Nov. 25 and to 46,683 against Oregon State Dec. 2. The Oregon State game, televised nationally on ESPN, was officially a sellout, the first since the 2005 season-opener against USC.

The Warriors then put an exclamation point on this memorable season in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, a game in which Brennan and wideout Jason Rivers established NCAA records.

Brennan completed 33 of 42 passes for a school-record 559 yards. He passed for five touchdowns, setting a single-season record for TD passes at 58, breaking the 16-year-old record of 54 set by Houston's David Klingler. Rivers caught 14 passes for 308 yards, which established an NCAA record for a bowl game.

"Brennan is everything everybody said he was," said Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter, who also was impressed with Rivers. "(No.) 84 played tonight as good as any receiver we've seen all year."

Added Jones: "Colt is a what I said he was ... the best college quarterback in America."

2. UH VOLLEYBALL TEAM REACHES REGIONAL FINAL

The season started full of promise, but the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team lost three starters to injury before the season was half over.

Yet despite a loss to New Mexico State that ended their 132-match winning streak against conference foes, the 'Bows won the Western Athletic Conference and the automatic NCAA berth.

The 12th-seeded 'Bows shocked fifth-seeded Southern California in an NCAA Championship Honolulu Regional semifinal, but lost to fourth-seeded UCLA, finishing 29-6, a win away from the final four.

UH senior setter Kanoe Kamana'o was named to the AVCA All-America first team.

3. KIM KIM YOUNGEST TO WIN U.S. AMATEUR

Kimberly Kim moved from the Big Island to the Mainland in 2006 to pursue her golf dreams — and it wasn't long before it paid off.

Kim, 14, beat former bank clerk Katharina Schallenberg of Germany, 1 up, in 36 holes of match play to become youngest champion in the 106-year history of the U.S. Women's Amateur at North Plains, Ore.

Kim also finished runner-up in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and was the youngest player to make the cut in this year's U.S. Women's Open.

4. DEAN WILSON WINS FIRST PGA TOUR EVENT

Just hours before Kim won her trophy on Aug. 13, Dean Wilson capped an arduous journey from Kane'ohe to the PGA Tour with his first victory on tour.

Wilson, a 36-year-old Castle High alum, birdied the second hole of a sudden-death playoff at Castle Rock, Colo, beating Tom Lehman in the International.

He is the third Hawai'i golfer to win a PGA Tour event, and first to win one on the Mainland. Ted Makalena and David Ishii won the Hawaiian Open at Waialae Country Club.

Wilson finished 22nd on the PGA money list with more than $2.5 million in earnings.

5. WIE DOES WELL IN LPGA EVENTS

In her first year as a professional, Michelle Wie earned $718,343 in just eight women's events, posting five top-5 finishes in LPGA events.

Although she struggled in most of her tournaments against the men, she also earned more than $1 million in endorsements for playing in Asia, where she became the first female to make the cut in an Asian Tour men's event, the SK Telcom Open.

Wie tied for fifth in the LPGA McDonald's Championship and tied for third in two other majors, the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the U.S. Women's Open.

Wie also began donating money to help the needy in Hawai'i and abroad.

6. FUJIKAWA YOUNGEST TO PLAY IN U.S. OPEN

Tadd Fujikawa, 15, became the youngest to play in the U.S. Open in its 106-year history when he teed off at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Fujikawa, then a 5-foot-1 Moanalua High freshman, missed the cut, but so did Tiger Woods.

"One person in the grandstand today, he just started yelling 'Go Big Kahuna,' " Fujikawa said after the second round. "That was kind of an odd moment."

Fujikawa won three Hawai'i amateur events against older competition and was co-O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion.

He also qualified for the 2007 Sony Open in Hawai'i.

7. CHING ON WORLD CUP TEAM, IS MLS CUP MVP

Brian Ching, a Hale'iwa native and Kamehameha Schools alum, became the first soccer player from Hawai'i to be named to the U.S. roster for the World Cup.

Although he didn't play during the Cup, it was the start of an exciting finish to his year.

In the MLS Cup, Ching, of the Houston Dynamo, scored the tying goal to send the game to penalty kicks against the New England Revolution.

Ching scored the Dynamo's final penalty kick to give Houston a 4-3 victory and the championship. He was named the game's most valuable player.

8. UH BASEBALL ROLLS INTO POSTSEASON

The University of Hawai'i baseball team's most successful season since 1993 ended in the NCAA Corvallis (Ore.) Regional championship game.

The Rainbows lost to eventual College World Series champion Oregon State, 12-3, but finished 45-17 — their most wins since finishing 49-14 in 1992.

"I'm very happy for our players, for our coaches, our fans back in Hawai'i," UH coach Mike Trapasso said after the final game. "It was an impact year for us to get our program going back into postseason in a long time."

9. KAUA'I'S WATABU CAPTURES U.S. PUBLINX

Kaua'i's Casey Watabu put on a masterful performance in winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and received a prize to match.

Watabu, a 22-year-old from Kapa'a, defeated Anthony Kim of Traverse City, Mich., 4 and 3, in the 36-hole match-play final at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

The U.S. Public Links champion traditionally receives an invitation to one of golf's premier events — the Masters.

10. KAHUKU WINS STATE DIVISION I FOOTBALL TITLE

Richard Torres' 14-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Kapu with 23 seconds left and Kaika Sasaoka's PAT lifted No. 2 Kahuku over No. 1 Saint Louis, 7-6, giving the Red Raiders their second consecutive and fifth overall Division I state football championship.

An Aloha Stadium crowd of 18,870 — the third largest in the eight-year history of the tournament — shook the 50,000-seat structure.

Reggie Torres guided the Red Raiders to the title in his first season as head coach.

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