re: how do you pronounce alex box

Spelled "Alex Box," pronounced "Alec Bock"

I was just talking about this last week with someone in Oregon who graduated from LSU, and he sent me the link to this thread. Small world. Here is a section of a much longer piece I did in 2008 for The Advocate. I'm sure the full version is available in the paper's online archives for anyone who cares to look. The date was May 11, 2008.

For years, LSU announcers Bill Franques and Jim Hawthorne pronounced Alex Box Stadium as spelled, enunciating the ‘x’ in each of the first two words. In the 1990s, that changed.
Simeon Alexander Box, the former LSU athlete for whom the stadium was named, was called something closer to ‘Alec’ or ‘Elec’ by family members, the announcers learned.
Neal Box, a younger brother of Alex who lived in Baton Rouge for many years before he died at age 72 in 1996, explained the pronunciation in the early ’90s, Hawthorne said.
What Hawthorne heard sounded a lot like the informal name for the central Louisiana city of Alexandria, a nickname of sorts with a casual, country ring to it. Alex Box, 63, the nephew and namesake of the former LSU baseball and football player, said he used to hear it too.
“My uncle Neal pronounced my name almost like it was ‘E-l-e-c,’ and the same with his brother, Alex,” he said. “That’s just the way it came out.”
The younger Alex’s mother died hours after giving birth to him. His grandparents -- mother and father of the late Alex Box -- raised him. Uncles Neal and Ben, he said, were more like brothers to him.
Neal’s son, Bobby, is 55 and lives in Baton Rouge. He remembers hearing his grandmother snap off his cousin’s name far differently than its spelling.
“I can hear her: ‘C’mere, Elec!’ Just like that. ‘Elec. Elec!’ She didn’t say Alex,” Bobby Box said.
The younger Alex grew up in Laurel, Miss. Some of his teachers remembered his uncle. He said he always heard them pronounce it as spelled, perhaps because of the more formal setting of school and a tendency to enunciate clearly to set an example for students.
To this day, he pronounces his name as they did, as it appears in print: Alex Box.
“There’s no question it’s Alex,” he said, sounding the ‘x’ clearly, “but it’s really not that big a deal.”
He said he has no problem with people who pronounce it ‘Alec’ or ‘Elec’ or a variation.
“I just think it’s much ado about nothing,” he said, “but some people get bent out of shape about it, and there’s no reason for that.”
His father, Sam, is 90 and lives in Mobile, Ala. During 2006 and 2007 interviews, he said the name as ‘Alex’ at times, and as ‘Alec’ or ‘Elec’ at other times.
After listening to a number of explanations, one would be hard-pressed to know for sure how to spell the name phonetically, but Hawthorne agreed with a family member who said it’s correct however you choose to say it out loud.
“You can call it either way,” Hawthorne said. “It’s ‘Elex’ or it’s ‘Elec,’ and that’s what the family told us they preferred, so that’s what we’ve done since then.”

Alex.
Alec.
Elec.

Really, you can take your pick, and you won't be wrong. And although different family members I interviewed had slightly different nuance in the way they said it, they were all honored and humbled that the name Box remains iconic at LSU, as it should.

I will never forget, though, that in his most emotional response to a question about his younger brother's name, Sam (who has since passed away) hollered "Elec!" in the lobby of the nursing home as he sat there in his wheelchair. May they both rest in peace.

The last person I'd rely on for pronunciation advice is Jim Hawthorne. Did you ever hear how he pronounced Devery Henderson's name?

Elec is the cajun french pronunciation..

I say alex but I think the right way is alec

Sorry, Jim. Didn't mean to hit a sore spot.



As for "facts" though....

quote:

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“There’s no question it’s Alex,” he said, sounding the ‘x’ clearly, “but it’s really not that big a deal. . . . I just think it’s much ado about nothing,” he said, “but some people get bent out of shape about it, and there’s no reason for that.”

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Al, lick box

Are there any other universities who have two or even one sports venue named after a former student?

With a Northwest Louisiana Southern accent.