By C.J. SULLIVAN & DAVE HOLLANDER

HOLLANDER: Hey C.J., you awake yet? I know that when you hear the word “hardwood” it usually refers to the floor surface of a Woodside drinking establishment from which a thankless bar staff must peel your collapsed heap at closing time. But I’ve got a book for you that might functionally combine your life’s pleasures. Paddy on the Hardwood (University of New Mexico Press) is a loving ode to one man’s twin passions for Ireland, with all its charms, and basketball. That man is Rus Bradburd who, after 14 years as an assistant basketball coach in big time D-1 programs Texas El-Paso and New Mexico State, packed it all in to live in Ireland in order to work on his fiddle playing and develop his writing. This man sounds just like you, except he’s interesting.

How did Bradburd pay his rent? He coached the Tralee’s Frosties Tigers, an Irish professional (and I use the term “professional” loosely) basketball team. After a dismal season coaching the pitiable likes of Kieran Donaghy, Kevin O’Donoghue and John Teahan, Bradburd transformed the lowly Tigers into Irish National Basketball Champions. True, that event didn’t exactly rock the basketball world, but that’s not the point. Bradburd deftly uses the game of basketball as a prism for his honest and lyrical search for self, joy and redemption. And in turn, like all good literature, it moves us to reflect on our own journeys. It’s as much a 250-page Irish ballad as it is a basketball book. 

Paddy on the Hardwood arrives just in time for this weekend’s twin-bill of March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day. I hope that, like a perfectly poured black and tan, you can blend the significance of these two institutions and find some meaning for yourself.

SULLIVAN: Dave, your slurs against myself and the Irish will only be tolerated because, as you know, March is Irish History Month where the Irish get to honor their own basketball heroes like Shaquille O’Neal and Tracy McGrady—fine Irish lads that they are. We are a big people (see Shaq), so us Hibernians welcome crude and lewd comments from heathens like yourself only to expose your godless soul to all of New York City.

Now that we are in the middle of sports limbo, I am finding it hard to get excited about much of anything. I try with the Knicks, and some days it works. Then Starbury goes and brings them back with 40 points against the Sonics, but he can’t hit a foul shot with .9 seconds left and the Knicks lose by 1 point. But Isiah has them in the hunt for a playoff spot so there is still hope.

The Rangers offer less solace than the Knicks. Jagr wont get his hands dirty to win anything. So we are left with the upcoming March Madness. And since no local team will go deep into tournament, I may have to follow high school basketball.

Or I guess I could read Paddy on the Hardwood and hope for warmer days.

HOLLANDER: Hey big fella, why so glum? This is a great time of year for sports. Don’t reports of Spring Training let the sunshine in? And, if you have a pulse at all, you’ve got to love March Madness. It is the greatest sporting event in America, bar none. Look for those sneaky “mid-majors” to pull an upset here or there. Root for Rock Hill, South Carolina’s Winthrop University—the school named after the little boy in “Music Man.” Did you know that The Princeton Review, Consumer’s Digest and Barron’s Best Buys all named Winthrop as one of America’s “best value” schools? At 28-4, the Winthrop Eagles finally cracked the USA Today/ESPN and AP Top 25 polls last week. I’d like to see them knock some fat, big-conference program off its pedestal, wouldn’t you?

And look, we need to get something straight here. I know there is this weird social pejorative in Irish culture that labels some folks “Black Irish.” Maybe that’s got you confused. I guess there’s no easy way to tell you this, so I’m just going to come right out and say it: Shaquille O’Neal and Tracy McGrady are not Irish. I realize this comes as a bit of a shock to you. Though Thomas Cahill once wrote How the Irish Saved Civilization, I don’t recall a chapter or footnote in there about that proud people’s contribution to the game of basketball. In this respect, Paddy on the Hardwood may be a seminal work.

My advice to you is to take a hard look at this year’s NCAA brackets and you’ll find the leprechaun’s pot of gold you’re looking for. The coach who led his team to back-to-back Final Four appearances, winning it all last year, is better than even money to do it again. The brain behind defending champion Florida Gators is none other than solid Irish-American, Billy Donovan.

SULLIVAN: It is just nuts to say that O’Neal and McGrady aren’t Irish, but you are correct in that I need to get on up for March Madness. Once it starts, it is good. I will take Winthrop as the dark horse. I am no big fan of Florida anything, and all I know about their coach, Lil Billy Donovan, is that he sucked during his cup of coffee career with the Knicks.

But along with March Madness, do not give up on my Knicks. The light of playoff hope still burns for them. The Nets are crashing, as are the Magic. With some luck, Isiah may still be able to slip the Knicks in. If they do make it to playoffs, I think they can last more than one round. Then we will see real basketball spirit back in New York. All it will take is a good play off run, and this town will come alive.