The Triple-A Round Rock Express are borrowing a line from one of Austin’s favorite sons for a promotion this summer. The team will host Alright Alright Alright Night, a reference to Austin resident Matthew McConaughey’s iconic catch phrase from the 1993 movie Dazed and Confused, which was filmed near Austin.
The Express will wear jerseys that evoke their parent club’s famous rainbow sky uniforms from the 1970s and ’80s. Those game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off to benefit the just keep livin Foundation, a nonprofit started by McConaughey and his wife Camila dedicated to improving the lives of high schoolers.
Now, minor league baseball teams have done a lot of wacky things with promotional uniforms, especially in recent years, but Round Rock’s choice to use the informal (or “wrong”) spelling of Alright, rather than the correct All Right has riled up some grammar enthusiasts. (Okay, by “some” I mean “one,” and by “grammar enthusiasts” I mean “me.”)
While “Alright” is gaining ground in common usage, Dictionary.com tells us, “Alright is commonly used in written dialogue and informal writing, but all right is the only acceptable form in edited writing. Basically, it is not all right to use alright in standard English.”
The Alright Alright Alright Express will take the field August 3.
