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Paddy on the Hardwood: A Journey in Irish Hoops
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 Irish music for wisdom and solace.
"Paddy on the Hardwood" is partly Rus Bradburd's story of his struggle to transform Tralee's Tigers. But it is also the tale of a man making peace with his own life and career.
"No reader will come away from this irresistible, honest, and deeply human account without a profound appreciation for Ireland and the beguiling power of its people and culture. "Paddy on the Hardwood" is a basketball book, to be sure, but also one about questing and, ultimately, finding. And it's all the richer for how it engages things that seem distant from sports, but in the end aren't so unrelated at all."--Alexander Wolff, "Sports Illustrated" senior writer and author of "Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure"
""Paddy on the Hardwood" is hilarious, heartbreaking, and touching--I couldn't put it down. I'm an avid reader, and it's the best sports book I've read in a long while."--Jerry West
247 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 27, 2019
The spork was strongly recommended to me. Since I've started reading it it's hard to put it down. You get a great fail for Irish living and culture
February 29, 2016
Rus Bradburd is probably the only college basketball coach to have given up his job to pursue a career in writing, while honing his chops on old-time and Irish fiddle styles. After a total of 14 years doing assistant coaching at the University of Texas-El Paso, and New Mexico State University, Bradburd still loved the game, but not the pressures and hypocrisies that surrounded it. With an MFA newly in hand, he decided to move to Ireland to complete a collection of short stories and improve his fiddling. In order to finance that venture, however, he needed a job. And what should turn up but a coaching position with the Tralee Tigers, an Irish professional basketball team?
This isn't quite what it might seem to the uninitiated. With Gaelic football and Guinness as Irish national pastimes, basketball is almost a nonentity; games went unreported by the press, and the Tigers' entire budget during Bradburd's first year was €60,000 -- a sum that covered his coaching salary, team equipment and uniforms, travel, and payment to a couple of Americans who were on the team (the Irish players received no salary at all). The Tralee Tigers' basketball court was located in a multipurpose facility with tile floors, wooden backboards, and a cold and smelly locker room, and since it had to be shared with various other activities (including badminton), it was available only for a few hours a week. Bradburd's fiddle playing improved that year, but his writing took a back seat to his job. And the Tralee Tigers ended up in last place, losing their corporate sponsorship along the way.
Although he had not planned to return to Ireland for a second tour, Bradburd ended up doing so. A new sponsor had been signed, but provided only half the funds that had previously been available. That, of course, required major salary cuts. But Bradburd remained undeterred. He had gained the loyalty of his team (for which he had developed considerable affection), and he had a vision for its improvement. Amazingly, the Tralee Tigers won the Irish national basketball championship that year.
All of this makes for an excellent story, but its telling doesn't quite give it its due. While capturing the idiosyncrasies of his characters, Bradburd's prose style is workmanlike but underwhelming, and he delivers coaching notes and blow-by-blow descriptions for every game that his team played during his first year (the second year, thankfully, is presented much more selectively). The author seems to value fiddling as much as he does basketball, and I wish that the former had figured more prominently in his account. Those deficiencies notwithstanding, Bradburg comes across as a good and principled human being, and he manages to make the reader care about the Tralee Tigers, admire their unstinting efforts in the face of perpetual adversity, and rejoice in their eventual success.
Rus Bradburd did not return to Ireland for a third season. Currently, I am told -- some sixteen years after his time in Tralee -- he is on sabbatical in Belfast, writing and fiddling, but not coaching.
This isn't quite what it might seem to the uninitiated. With Gaelic football and Guinness as Irish national pastimes, basketball is almost a nonentity; games went unreported by the press, and the Tigers' entire budget during Bradburd's first year was €60,000 -- a sum that covered his coaching salary, team equipment and uniforms, travel, and payment to a couple of Americans who were on the team (the Irish players received no salary at all). The Tralee Tigers' basketball court was located in a multipurpose facility with tile floors, wooden backboards, and a cold and smelly locker room, and since it had to be shared with various other activities (including badminton), it was available only for a few hours a week. Bradburd's fiddle playing improved that year, but his writing took a back seat to his job. And the Tralee Tigers ended up in last place, losing their corporate sponsorship along the way.
Although he had not planned to return to Ireland for a second tour, Bradburd ended up doing so. A new sponsor had been signed, but provided only half the funds that had previously been available. That, of course, required major salary cuts. But Bradburd remained undeterred. He had gained the loyalty of his team (for which he had developed considerable affection), and he had a vision for its improvement. Amazingly, the Tralee Tigers won the Irish national basketball championship that year.
All of this makes for an excellent story, but its telling doesn't quite give it its due. While capturing the idiosyncrasies of his characters, Bradburd's prose style is workmanlike but underwhelming, and he delivers coaching notes and blow-by-blow descriptions for every game that his team played during his first year (the second year, thankfully, is presented much more selectively). The author seems to value fiddling as much as he does basketball, and I wish that the former had figured more prominently in his account. Those deficiencies notwithstanding, Bradburg comes across as a good and principled human being, and he manages to make the reader care about the Tralee Tigers, admire their unstinting efforts in the face of perpetual adversity, and rejoice in their eventual success.
Rus Bradburd did not return to Ireland for a third season. Currently, I am told -- some sixteen years after his time in Tralee -- he is on sabbatical in Belfast, writing and fiddling, but not coaching.
December 27, 2025
The book was recommended by a musician friend so, despite it being clearly marketed as a book about basketball, I assumed there might be more about the author’s fiddling adventure or Irish culture. But it’s pretty much 90% about basketball which I have no interest in. Not a bad book just not for me. I did love however that each “chapter” or section is name for a traditional Irish tune :)
December 12, 2021
Brilliantly honest and open account into the life of professional sports abroad. Some great characters and obstacles overcome. Easy read. Good fun.
May 6, 2009
I am not a great fan of basketball. For that matter, I'm not even a mediocre fan of the game. So when my 22 yr.-old daughter (who was taking a creative writing class from Rus at the time) kept telling me I had to read this book, I was skeptical.
It took about four or five pages to turn that skepticism into enthusiasm. This book is not just about basketball, it's about life and making choices and pursuing your dreams and passions. Along the way, you meet some fascinating characters and learn a bit about Ireland, Irish music and basketball. A great read!
It took about four or five pages to turn that skepticism into enthusiasm. This book is not just about basketball, it's about life and making choices and pursuing your dreams and passions. Along the way, you meet some fascinating characters and learn a bit about Ireland, Irish music and basketball. A great read!
February 6, 2008
Coaching basketball and fiddling in Ireland
October 31, 2008
I cannot put it down !
March 18, 2013
After seven years of owning it I finally read the shagging thing...
December 22, 2016
Excellent tale of a D1 assistant coach coaching an Irish club team. A story of the team and the coach's desire to learn to play the fiddle.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews