Paddy on the Hardwood: A Journey in Irish Hoops

by Rus Bradburd

Book Overview

Why would a successful college basketball coach walk away from a lucrative job in America's most glamorous sport? The burned out Rus Bradburd, enamored with Ireland and its music, took a job coaching in the lowly Irish Super League, but was unprepared for what he found. Perplexed by the small town Tralee's Frosties Tigers--a cast of misfits and underachievers more concerned with their day jobs, Gaelic Football, and Guinness--he turned to traditional...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826340261
• ISBN13: 9780826340269
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Life, Music & Sports with Humor

If you like sports from a spectator or participant viewpoint, chances are you will like this book. You will love the book if you have ever coached, are Irish, play or listen to Celtic music or simply have a great sense of humor. The book is well-written, a quick and delightful journey into an idividual's dream that is lived out in a real-life way. I visited Ireland for the first time shortly after reading the book. The accounts are accurate and added an additional dimension to my visit.

A True Hero's Journey

As an aspiring writer and former hoops coach, I was very interested in reading this book after getting re-acquainted with Coach Rus (we first met at Don Haskins' summer camp in 1989) at a local book signing. I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. There were many times when I would find myself laughing out loud at his witty observations about the basketball-challenged Irish culture or his players' quirks. Coach Rus' story transcends the sport of basketball, but will entertain the best hoops junkie. His journeys to the Irish pubs and eventual fiddling sessions made me want to book a tour of Ireland. And true to any hero's journey, Coach Rus gets rewarded for his perserverance.

A Journey Well Worth Taking

Rus Bradburd's "Paddy on the Hardwood: A Journey in Irish Hoops" is a highly enjoyable book on many levels. Bradburd's story revolves around his love for basketball and traditional Irish music. In Ireland, not everyone (in fact, almost no one!) shares his passion for basketball; Bradburd's struggle for respect for his team, and his sport, are part of the journey. In contrast, Bradburd's efforts to learn and to master traditional Irish music is a challenge which arises within himself, and the best part of the journey may be his success in dealing with that challenge. This is a book which transcends its subject matter, one which you can (and will) appreciate whether or not you know (or care) anything at all about basketball or Irish fiddles. It's a well-crafted and well-written book, and a great read. Highly recommended!

Paddy's Magic

All good writers have a story to tell. Rus Bradburd does just that and brings you with him on this journey to Ireland. It is here that a universal story unfolds as you meet the people of Tralee, and where Bradburd has come to a crossroads in his own life: career, music, writing and a special romance. Paddy's magic and mystery is in its subtle revelation that this story belongs to us all. The author makes you feel his every frustration as he struggles to build a winning basketball team in the Irish Super League. And, how that daily grind seems to interfere with his other purposes for coming to Ireland: his music and writing. But, you will also experience the camaraderie of the pubs and traditional Irish music as Bradburd ventures beyond his world of career and into the lives of Tralee's people. There are many stories here. In the end, you will come to know them. And perhaps, we might come to discover ourselves again. C.L. Spencer Miami, Oklahoma

A Journey Worth Accompaniment

The book is an engaging, compelling, highly readable account full of the sights and sounds of Tralee, Ireland. Bradburd decides to leave his well-paying jobs as a college basketball coach in the U.S., for the relative obscurity and monetary scraps as a head coach in the Irish Super League. The idea is -- as a coach in a league where the practice gyms are rented by the hour, the newspapers fail to mention even the most dramatic victories, and the best Irish-born players would rather sit the bench as brawny cheerleaders at Gaelic football matches -- he will find time to write and master his fiddle, and after the season, would be able to leave basketball behind. For basketball fans, the book is an insightful exploration of one of the poorest professional leagues in the world, as well as a series of portraits of the players Bradburd comes to bench, fire, start, and, in some ways, rely on. For music fans, we witness a short history of traditional Irish "tunes," and learn how tunes grow and change as they move from place to place. We also get to sit in on his sessions in the dark corners of Irish pubs, where the tables and bellies are full of pints of Guiness. And Bradburd writes so well we can hear the technical mastery of his friends and mentors, see their hands moving effortlessly over the instruments. The story is one of transformation -- a certain kind of entrainment, as Bradburd discovers -- across the book, as he passes through the trials of coaching, and comes to find musical kindred spirits, and a personal one, too; even his prose seems to transform, from the sharp tones as he starts his journey, into a calm, more poetic voice as he finds -- most, if not all -- of what he went to look for in Tralee, Ireland.