The Traffic Report went for a bit of a field trip this week. On today’s episode, Tyson and Justin are back from their Wednesday outing at Joe Etzel Field, where the No. 15 Ducks and Portland Pilots had an ending that neither one of us had seen in person before.

We discuss the game, our pre-first pitch celebrity encounter, Justin’s trip to Vegas and why Oregon MBB doesn’t just put together an NIL superstar team before airing some grievances about Top Chef’s egregious use of hockey terminology.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Soccer fans: I’ll have a preview of Portland’s upcoming match with Austin FC, focusing on the responsibilities veterans like Diego Chara and Felipe Mora have shouldered throughout the first month of the season, posting Friday afternoon.

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Hello everyone and welcome to The I-5 Corridor’s Traffic Report. On this week’s episode, Tyson Alger and Justin Myers recap the first week of the NCAA Tournament and discuss whether or not there’s still room for Cinderella before diving deep into our thoughts on Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season.

Then, we check in on Shane Hoffmann down in Los Angeles for a quick discussion on the Timbers, Timothee Chalamet’s hoops skills, Severance and White Lotus.

Programming note: I have a feature coming on Friday on Oregon baseball shortstop Maddox Molony, then will be out at Providence Park on Sunday for coverage of the Timbers’ Sunday Night Soccer debut against the Houston Dynamo.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

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On this week’s Traffic Report, Tyson and Justin talk Oregon at the Big Ten Tournament, Dan Lanning’s new contract (for real this time), Scott Rueck and Oregon State’s improbable run back to the NCAA Tournament and what Dana Altman’s Ducks need to do to be remembered as one of those teams.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

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OK, so we don’t actually cover Dan Lanning’s new contract in today’s episode of The Traffic Report — we recorded Wednesday afternoon — but the big man signing a big $$$ deal is news enough that it’s worth leading today’s post.

The terms? The fourth-year Ducks coach has reportedly agreed to an amended contract that will increase his salary to nearly $11 million per year through 2031. The contract will be up for approval on Friday during a UO board of trustees meeting.

What does this mean?

For a program that considers itself one of the top in the nation, it’s now paying its top job like it. Lanning’s new deal will make him the fourth-highest paid coach in college football, according to CBS Sports, increasing his current contract by $2 million annually.

Here’s the list of football coaches making more than $10 million a year:

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia $13.2 million

2. Ryan Day, Ohio State $12.5 million

3. Dabo Swinney, Clemson $11.5 million

4. Dan Lanning, Oregon $11 million

5. Steve Sarkisian, Texas $10.8 million

6. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama $10.25 million

7. Lincoln Riley, USC $10.1 million

8. Bill Belichick, UNC $10 million

Pretty good company there. But after a 35-6 start to his career, with a 12-0 regular season and a Big Ten Championship in his third year as a head coach, it’s hard to make the argument that Lanning isn’t worth the money when compared to his peers.

It’s also interesting to start thinking of the longevity of Lanning. Chip Kelly coached four seasons at Oregon — same with Mark Helfrich and Mario Cristobal. Should Lanning make it to the end of this deal — there’s the same $20 million buyout — the coach who came to Oregon as an outsider will have made it longer in Eugene than anyone not named Bellotti, Brooks or Casanova.

OK, now to the podcast: This week Justin and I have a range of topics to dive into, from Oregon’s home finale on Tuesday against Indiana to what might be the end of spring football to the best goosebump-moments stadiums can provide.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

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Happy Thursday, folks.

We here at The I-5 Corridor’s Traffic Report hope you’re listening to this week’s episode from your lawn mower. Because with sunny skies and temperatures rising into the 60s, Justin Myers and Tyson Alger have a full episode for you where they:

* Talk about being yard guys.

* Dive into the latest turnaround for Oregon men’s basketball.

* Figure out what it will take to support Portland State football.

* Plan a baseball outing on The Bluff.

* Go deep on Cast Irons and Interstate constructions.

What more could you want?

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

We’re almost out of the doldrums, folks.

Yes, mid-to-late February can get a little slow for sports news. Luckily, there’s sun on the horizon.

Pitchers and catchers have long since reported to Arizona for spring training and March Madness is just around the corner — same with spring football and the start of the MLS season.

And here at the I-5 Corridor, Tyson and Justin have thawed out from last week’s snowstorm for a super-sized episode of the Traffic Report.

This week, we talk about the life the Oregon men’s basketball team is starting to show, the questions we still have for Oregon football in the run-up to spring football and whether it matters if All-Star games are good. Then we wrap with this question: What non-star athlete/celebrity would you get excited to meet in person?

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

Welcome to The Replayables, where The I-5 Corridor’s Traffic Report hosts Tyson Alger and Justin Myers revisit one classic game in Oregon history every month.

Well friends, we sure hope you didn’t leave this one early.

Yes, Oklahoma was up 10 points with four minutes to go. Yes, the Sooners had the ball, in the red zone, with quite possibly the best run-out-the-clock running back in college football history — Adrian Peterson — in the backfield.

And yes, the No. 18 Oregon Ducks looked tired, beaten down and all but cooked in a matchup against a No. 15 Oklahoma team that would only lose one more game the rest of the regular season.

And while the Ducks managed to force the Sooners to kick a field goal to go up 13 with 3:16 to play, that was just a consolation prize. Right? Right????

Wrong.

In this episode of The Replayables, Tyson and Justin do a deep dive on what might be the wildest three minutes of football in Oregon history.

Then, we bring on Jason Kersey, formerly of The Oklahoman and The Athletic, to break down just how much this one stung for the fans from Norman.

Thanks for listening, everyone. Let us know in the comments what game we should replay next.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

Previously on The Replayables:

14 years later, Dyer still looks down

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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The I-5 Corridor Traffic Report went for a field trip this week.

With the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday, I spent a couple of hours earlier in the week over at Lombard House, home of the North Portland Bird Watchers Society, where I sat down with owner Brian Koch and regular Nick Calcaterra — the older brother of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Grant Calcaterra — to talk about the big game, the Eagles, what it’s like to go to the Super Bowl as a sibling, Gardner Minshew’s bathrobe, that one time DJ Khaled opened up the Eagles’ post-Super Bowl loss party with an interesting choice of song and how this video of Nick celebrating Grant’s first career touchdown ended up on Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast:

We also take a moment to remember Lynn Kindrachuk, an important figure of the Philadelphia and Lombard House community, who passed away earlier this week.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Editor’s note: The Traffic Report’s next episode of The Replayables will be released on Friday.

Also, a note about this podcast: We recorded at the bar over a couple of drinks. There might be a swear word or three. I apologize in advance.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

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We have a bit of everything on this week’s I-5 Corridor Traffic Report.

We begin with a deep conversation about how very uncool it is to get injured doing athletic activities as you age, we move into talk about why it seems everyone hates the Kansas City Chiefs so much, we veer right into an inquisitive discussion about which sports conspiracy theories might actually be true, then we try to figure out how Tyson and Justin both got sucked into watching two hours of simulation golf on television thanks to the TGL.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Bonus: We’re gearing up for our next Replayables podcast. This time, we’ll be taking a little stroll back to 2006, a time when Dennis Dixon and the No. 18 Oregon Ducks upset Adrian Peterson and the No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners 34-33 at Autzen Stadium.

Of course, there’s a little more to it than that.

Here’s a refresher:

And if you want to watch the full game, like we’ll be doing.

— The I-5 Corridor

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And with that, the 2024 College Football season has officially come to a close.

The Ohio State Buckeyes won the tournament. The Oregon Ducks won a consolation prize. And on this week’s Traffic Report, Tyson Alger and Justin Myers give their final thoughts on a historically different season of college football.

Then, they try to figure out how someone could justify leaving Ichiro Suzuki off of their Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Bonus: The Traffic Report has been around for four seasons of Oregon football, and throughout that time this podcast has started with music from Alaska artist John Budnik. I always told him that if he had anything to promote to come on the show as a thanks for giving our pod some life. Well, John has a new album out, the fantastic Beginner’s Mind, and he joined the podcast for the last 15 minutes to talk about its release, making it as an artist in Alaska and what he would do with the Cowboys’ vacancy.

Apple Music

Amazon Music

— The I-5 Corridor

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe