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With comedian leaving, translations not needed

Dennis Miller's two-year experiment with Monday Night Football ended Thursday, and more quietly, so did Locke Peterseim's role as Miller's translator.

The Annotated Dennis Miller, a feature that began at britannica.com and moved last season to ESPN.com, helped viewers keep up with the comedian's lofty references, often designed to go over most of the heads of his less-literate football following.

"It was a lot of fun for two years, but I always knew this might happen," said Peterseim, a contributing editor to Britannica. "I had no plans of doing it for the next 40 years, though, so I'm not that heartbroken."

Peterseim pitched the idea of a morning-after explanation of Mil-ler's wide-ranging observations at a Britannica editors meeting. By the time the regular season started, Peterseim's Monday nights were busy scrambling through reference books and Internet search engines.

Comedian and translator never met, but Peterseim was glad to see Miller impressed on the air last fall when he recognized one of his more obscure references. Miller had said, "Coffee is for closers," and Peterseim recognized the quote from Alec Baldwin's character in the film Glengarry Glen Ross and typed in a quick explanation for ABC's Enhanced TV online complement.

Other times, even Peterseim's encyclopedic knowledge was flummoxed by Miller. It took him and Britannica's science editor more than a year to decipher what references to "isotope arms" were before an ESPN reader e-mailed him the answer.

Peterseim also is a contributor to ESPN.com's Page 2 section, where a deadpan analytical breakdown of the allure of The Patty Duke Show fits right in with outside-the-box sports musings from the likes of Hunter S. Thompson.

And don't laugh at the thought of an Annotated John Madden on Tuesday mornings this fall. While at Britannica, Peterseim floated the idea of a similar weekly translation for Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura during his brief stint as an XFL analyst for NBC.

"I just couldn't put myself through that though," he said.

TID-BYTES: From the Delusions of Grandeur Department, the owner of the URL Bucs.biz is auctioning the rights to the domain at eBay.com, with the bidding starting at $150. The listing boasts the site's value at "hundreds if not thousands of dollars," that is assuming the team doesn't sic its lawyers on it. ... With the NFL combine workouts this weekend in Indianapolis, ESPN.com takes a closer look at the Wonderlic exam, a 50-question IQ test used in player evaluations. The feature includes average scores from NFL positions and other professions. Halfbacks have the worst norm at 16 correct answers while offensive tackles -- and news writers, for that matter -- average 26. ... The Rookie, the Disney movie based on the story of former Rays reliever Jim Morris, doesn't open until March 29, but you can check out trailers, pictures and more at disney.go.com/therookie.

-- If you have a question or comment about the Internet or a site to suggest, e-mail staff writer Greg Auman at auman@sptimes.com.

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