I'm sure you've been told this before, but: hard-g "gee-roe," Bozack. Or at least "gye-roe," which is a common enough mispronunciation that you'll at least get a gyro out of it.
The first time I ever heard "gyro" in the Delicious Sense said aloud was on Beavis and Butt-head, of all contexts, while they're watching a Ween video that seemed to take place in and around some sort of Greek restaurant. Butt-head pronounced it "yee-roe? yee-roe? yee-roe?" in this phony accent. I really thought that was about right. PERHAPS GREEKS HAVE BEEN LAUGHING AT ME
what was it of Pole Position that transfixed so?
The first game had only one track:
the Fuji Speedway.
As far as what made Pole Position so aesthetically resonant, well, I suppose it was just the time and place(s). I remember when just about every hotel had some sort of "game room", usually just off of a maintenance hallway, near vending machines and, perhaps, changing rooms; I would spend hours hanging around these collections of four and five games, even without a single quarter to my name, watching the attract modes, listening to the sounds, absorbing the cabinet art. The four tones that precede a race in Pole Position - the only sounds the attract mode makes - will be burned into my head forever.