Welcome to Year 3 of The I-5 Corridor

Checking in as The Corridor completes its second lap around the sun.

An early logo mockup from Corey Redding. Might look good on a hat?

Here’s why I know The I-5 Corridor is in a good spot as we embark on Year 3:

I don’t really want to be writing this post.

Weird, right? Usually these anniversary posts are self-congratulatory and wax poetic about the year it’s been. An attaboy and nostalgia? That’s right in my wheelhouse.

And to be sure: I’m really happy with how Year 2 of the I-5 Corridor went. We keep growing, our subscribers are engaged and the freedom I get in my writing is unmatched.

Playing in the Pacific Coast Doubles squash tournament back in January with my dad and writing about it is one of the favorite moments of my career, buoyed by the fact that my very Oregon Ducks football-leaning audience still read it and didn’t immediately cancel their subscriptions.

Hell, we’re actually hanging pretty steady there:

Considering this website has had people sign up following stories about the Ducks, Beavers, Blazers, Vikings, Wildcats, high school sports and that one time I wrote about a dude who built T-Mobile Park out of Legos, I’ll take that retention rate. Especially considering those various beats get covered with no rhyme or reason of consistency.

It’s taken me, a person who deals a lot with self doubt, a long time to come around to the fact that there are people out there who actually want to read my work, and not just because of the team I cover. But there’s proof in the numbers. You guys are reading everything I write, up and down the corridor. That trust, that the story in your inbox a few times a week is worth reading, is the most important thing I’ve built with this company.

Which gets back to why I don’t like writing this post. See, last year it felt like an accomplishment. My God, we did it. Wow that was crazy. We needed to celebrate because, well, insert Paul Rudd ‘Look at Us’ GIF.

It was a milestone. But here I am writing this on a Tuesday night with the makings of an autumn breeze riffling here through North Portland. Football starts next week and I have a growing list of stories I need to write.

Scratch that: Want to write.

And because I feel that I’ve spent a bit too much over the last few years looking back on things, I think I’d rather just get to it.

So, here’s a podcast Shane Hoffmann and I recorded Tuesday afternoon:

The Pac-12 Draft, Year 3 of The I-5 Corridor and trying not to yell at clouds: The Traffic Report

Tomorrow, you’ll have a piece on the most quotable Oregon Duck: Camden Lewis. And then I’m going to get to work finding and telling the best stories I can up and down The I-5 Corridor.

A sincere thank you to everyone who has read, subscribed, shared, bought shirts, copy edited and put up with my streakiness. This is the best gig in the world.

Onward,

Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor