Skip to main content

double yoi



myron cope passed away today at the age of 79. you can read the story here.

myron was the (and i mean the) voice of the pittsburgh steelers for all of my life. he retired from broadcasting in 2004, but by then i was living in new jersey and forced to listen to whoever the major network had in the tv booth. but even then, i would just turn down the tv and watch the game silently sometimes, just imagining the almost unbelievable voice of myron calling the game.

after all, that's what we always did in western pennsylvania. you turned the game on the television, you turned the television down and you turned the radio up. and in so doing you entered a whole other dimension of steeler football. by listening to myron and jack or myron and bill you somehow were closer to the game, closer to the steelers, more a part of the thing. when something awful would happen or the steelers would make some boneheaded mistake, myron would express our frustration with/for us. he wouldn't hold back. and the flipside was also true: when something good would happen, myron's already screechy voice would accelerate and crescendo to a helium-induced squeal, spewing out "yoi's" and "double yoi's" freely and generously. this became ritual for us. we would utter 'copisms' during the game and then we would even pepper the rest of our conversations with them. the browns became the 'brownies,' and the bengals were the 'bungles.' always. not just at game time, but always. because of cope. we shouted 'you' and said 'hmm-haw.' because of cope. we twirled yellow terrible towels, not just at the stadium, but in our living rooms. because of cope.

when i "hear" steelers football, it is the voice of myron cope that i hear. i hope it always will be. goodbye, myron. whatever you are seeing right now, i hope you are stammering out a double yoi in amazement. peace.

greg.

Comments

Megan said…
we definitely turned down the tv to listen to Myron Cope as well. i'm sad to hear of his passing....
cathyq said…
Pittsburgh will never be the same. I have been listening to tributes to him on TV for over an hour, and everyone feels the same. We have lost part of our identity. hmm-ha; I'm sad.
Anonymous said…
double yoi, it's a sad day for steeler fans.
Anonymous said…
Greg, sorry to hear about your loss, my old friend.
greg milinovich said…
an old friend named chad...

voller, perhaps?

of blind man's cane fame?
Anonymous said…
Greg!!! You and my husband are of the same mind! He recently started a blog...I don't know how you would look at it. It's titled "Is it just me...?" Anywho, some of the same exact sentiments about turning the radio up and the tv down, etc. I think tomorrow is Terrible towel day in the 'Burgh...

Rachel
Anonymous said…
is there another one?
Anonymous said…
Oh, and I wouldn't call it "fame." hehe

So, take a visit to the blogs I run if the curiosity bug's venom is strong enough: wwwDOTchadvollerDOTcom
wwwDOTasformeandmyblogDOTcom
Crafty P said…
that is a lovely tribute. well said. he will be missed.

Popular posts from this blog

bad haircuts (for a laugh)

everybody needs to laugh.  one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.'  when you do so, some of the following gems show up.  thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up.  otherwise, it would certianly make this list!  please laugh freely and without inhibition.  thank you and have a nice day. 

happiness is dry underwear

we started potty training jack on thursday. we followed a program called POTTY TRAIN IN ONE DAY, which, by the way, i think is kind of crazy. i mean, if someone were to offer you a book called, "ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE IN ONE DAY" i don't think you would take it seriously. and yet here we are, trying to accomplish an equally daunting task in one 24-hour period. it is intense. the day is shrouded in a lie because as soon as your happily diapered child wakes up you tell him that it is a big party. we had balloons and streamers and noisemakers and silly string - all the trappings of a legitimate party. but it is most certainly not a party. it is a hellishly exhausting day. as soon as jack got out of bed, we gave him a present: an anatomically correct doll that wets himself. jack named him quincy. several times quincy successfully peed in the potty and even had an accident or two in his "big boy underwear." he also dropped a deuce that looked and smelled sus

the crucifixion of Robert Lewis

  "the crucifixion of Robert Lewis" mixed media collage with leaves, acrylic paint, and found objects by gregory a milinovich october 2023 this october i was invited to participate in a three day trip which was called a "pilgrimage of pain and hope."  while that may not sound super exciting to many of you, it actually really intrigued me.  i am the kind of person that wants to feel big feelings, and i am drawn to the deep places, so  i was interested in traveling to the scranton area, where the trip was planned, to see what it might look like to be a pilgrim that was wide-eyed and listening to the pain and the hope in the stories of others.   this trip included hearing the stories of immigrants to the northeastern pennsylvania area, and the work in the coal mines that many of them did.  it included hearing from folks who are working for housing justice and equity in downtown scranton.  it included hearing from those indigenous people who first inhabited that land.