Book description
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
Rus Bradburd coached at UTEP and New Mexico State University for
fourteen seasons. He teaches writing classes in NMSU's MFA program.
