Dan Rodricks

I only fished with Randy Julius one time. It was on Cape Cod, and it only lasted a couple of hours, but it was such a good experience I have savored it for years: Late morning in East Sandwich, maybe 200 yards from the beach, on a tidal creek, fly fishing for striped bass, or … Continue reading Randy Julius: Stripers swimming backwards

Nobody asked me, but . . . The three divisional teams Tom Brady has played against since becoming the New England Patriots starting quarterback -- that is, the teams he’s played against the most in the NFL regular seasons since 2001 -- have a combined record of 401 wins and 512 losses. That’s a winning … Continue reading Had the Ravens and Patriots been division rivals, Tom Brady would have been retired by now

There might be nothing that stops online consumerism from consuming all of human civilization as we know it. The way retail stores have been closing, it seems possible that, less than a decade from now, you won’t have to go anywhere for anything and look at anybody. While I have not been to see my … Continue reading No Cyber Monday for Me: Amazon Aversion Syndrome

Sad news this week with the passing of another excellent journalist and former colleague, the editorial cartoonist Mike Lane. He created daily cartoons for the Baltimore Evening Sun from the early 1970s, giving him a chance to include Richard Nixon among his subjects, into the 1990s, after the afternoon paper merged with the morning edition. … Continue reading On the passing of cartoonist Mike Lane

I am not a trog. I like technology, and use it every day. But I don’t automatically concede that all technology is good. Shopping online might be fun and convenient, and there are people who absolutely love getting packages delivered at home; they adore Amazon. But online shopping is killing local retailers, and here in … Continue reading Technology is great, but humans still have the power to discern what’s good, what’s bad for us — and for others

“'The Shawshank Redemption' is such a popular movie. Do Americans really believe in forgiveness and redemption?” “Yes, for me, but not for thee.” By 2005, I had been a reporter and columnist for 32 years, and I had written numerous stories about crime and covered criminal trials. I had written some stories about prisons and … Continue reading Real-life Shawshank: Aging inmates, punishment and redemption

I need to make a clarification about the story I told the other day in my Baltimore Sun column about the Korner Boyz startup - the new venture of mentored squeegee boys into the bottled water business and eventually off the streets. I used the word “wholesale” to describe the nature of this new business, … Continue reading Follow-up to my Korner Boyz column