You can find a schematic of the joystick ports here:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ck+schemati c
I recall something about needing pots with a certain value (100k I think). If it's not that value, it won't work.
As for the accelerometer, you can get a datasheet on the first website:
http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2005/specsheets.htm
Knowing acceleration in one axis is moderately useful. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is collision detection. If there's a spike in acceleration, you've hit something.