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2002 Outsider's Guide to the Super Bowl XXXVI Announced by yourDictionary.com

Glossary contains everything fans need to know to understand the Super Bowl * At CNN/Sports Illustrated

DANVILLE, CALIFORNIA. Feb. 1, 2002. yourDictionary.com, the linguistic portal of record, sent its linguistic specialists into the heart of New England, St. Louis and the Midwest, and Cajun Country, as well as speaking to sports fans across the nation to compile this glossary of terms, which is an indispensable aid for casual fans to better understand the Super Bowl.

According to Paul J.J. Payack, president and C.E.O. of yourDictionary.com, "The purpose of creating The 2002 Outsider's Guide to the Super Bowl is to help the casual observer better understand the culture that surrounds the NFL, the teams and their fans with particular focus on the cultural milieu and linguistic habitats of the participants".

The New England Patriots and the Saint Louis Rams play for the championship of the National Football League in Super Bowl XXXVI on Sunday, February 3rd at the Super Dome in New Orleans. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:18 pm (Eastern).

The Outsider's Guide to the Super Bowl by yourDictionary.com

Commentary by Paul JJ Payack, and Peter Payack
NFL Term Comment
Arena Football Official training ground for future Pro Bowl quarterbacks.
The Big Easy New Orleans, Louisiana. Also, legendary basketball great, Wilt Chamberlain.
Billions More than the Gross National Product of dozens of countries. Also, the amount of money that is wagered on the Super Bowl.
Blowout The term Las Vegas Odds Makers are using to describe Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Boston Massacre Choose One: 1) Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, 2) Super Bowl XX, 3) 1978 Yankee-Red Sox playoff game, 4) Last three seasons for the Celtics
Down on the Bayou John Fogertty's anthem Supplants Springstein's "Stuck somewhere in the swamps of Jersey."
Draft A cold one on tap. The other battle: Sam Adams (Boston) vs. Budweiser (St. Louis).
Enron In NFL circles actually spelled E-N-D R-U-N, where a player uses fancy footwork to outfox the opposition-and then shreds the playbook. (See also, Andersen Consulting.)
Fair Catch A date with a Rams cheerleader.
Football The All-American game, descended from rugby, first played by Rutgers and Princeton in the 19th century and, later, popularized by Las Vegas odds makers.
Flying Elvis The new logo of the New England Patriots that uncannily resembles Elvis.
Frappe A New England Milk shake. Can be used as a verb, as "We are going to Frappe all over the Rams."
Freedom Trail The Trail to New England that Bill Belichick to escape from the dominating Bill Parcells.
French Quarter Bourbon Street and environs. Food, booze and Jazz Central in New Orleans. Also, the fourth quarter of any CFL game.
Gateway Arch A perfect spiral thrown by Kurt Warner.
Grinder A New England submarine sandwich. Who will be the back who grinds it out in the Super Bowl? Marshall Faulk or Andre Smith?
Hot Dog The propensity to "act out" in full view of the television cameras in a pseudo-ritualistic dance or rhythmic motions.
Incomplete Pass Being turned down for a date by a Rams cheerleader. (See also, fumble).
LA Rams Who? Actually, the La-La Lambs during their SoCal years.
Las Vegas The site of the real action on Super Bowl Sunday.
The Marshall Plan Give Faulk the ball, that's the rescue plan for the Rams.
Over/Under Exotic wager where you bet that the combined team scoring will be either higher or lower than the number designated.
Pancake To flatten an opponent. Also a common breakfast food. (In Antoine's don't ask for pancakes; they are called crèpes.)
Parity The effort to level the playing field in the NFL.
Parody . . . … of its former self. What the NFL has become since introducing the concept of parity.
The Patsies The now outlived nickname for the 2001 last-place Patriots.
Rotary New England highway engineering marvel constructed to confound out-of-staters. (See turnabout). Also, the crème de la crème of private social clubs in St. Louis.
Salary Cap The number you must exceed to become a competitive force in the NFL.
Snap The act of centering the ball. Also used in the past tense to describe the obligatory plea of any NFL player who commits an off-field crime. (Sociological note: apparently the cause of all crimes committed by NFL players.)
Spirit of St. Louis Captained by Kurt Warner who has the Rams offense flying high and non-stop.
Spread Law enforcement maneuver; also, lush presentations of food at Super Bowl parties.
Squares The unofficial Super Bowl Matrix used for friendly wagers in office pools around the nation.
Squares World Cup fans (Futbol).
Tailgate Party 24/7 activity, with brief three-hour interlude on Sundays that includes fermented beverages, salty snacks and salty language.
Tonic The St Louis defense will be a welcome tonic to Kurt Warner. Off the field in New England, a can of soda pop.
Top N.E. Law firm The defensive tandem of Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy.
The Tuna Bill Parcells, Bill Belicheck's former superior.
Time Out Each team is strictly limited to three time outs per half. (See also, Television Time Out.) Also unexplainable lapses of time while partying down on Bourbon Street
Turnabout The Patriots had one of the biggest turnabouts in NFL history going from last place to the Super Bowl in one year. (See also, Rotary.)
Turnover They are called Dunkin' Donuts in New England and Krispy Kremes in St. Louis.
TV Time Out A strictly unlimited number of television timeouts when all action on the field comes to a complete standstill. Cost to advertisers: $2.3 million per 30-second spot. Cost to teams: Possible loss of momentum.
Valentine Defensive coordinators from the two competing teams. Lovey & Valentine.
Wicked A New England term, which is used in place of "cool". As in, "Did you see how the refs stole the game from the Raiders in the Snow Bowl? That was wicked cool."
Yankee Possibly derived from the name a penurious, reticent old codger (Jan Kees) whose traits came to symbolize the New Englanders. Also, in Boston, the polite term used only on rare occasions for a certain New York baseball team.
110% Historically, the coach used to ask 100% from his players; currently, the minimum acceptable effort is 110%. (Apparently due to inflation in the Exertion Index. Experts predict it will rise to 115% next year.)
Bonus Word
Heroes The uniformed services personnel off the field who we can all thank for allowing this game to be played in safety on the field. Let's roll!

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