My rant on the way negotiations are going

I just read an article on the NFL home page and I'm fucking pissed. I'm so tired of hearing about how far apart the sides are on this and that, but for the love of Jebus I feel like neither side gives a flying crap about the fans and the game as long as their pockets are lined to the max. The quotes that have really fired me up below:

significant work on how rookies will be compensated still must be done, according to multiple sources, with both parties at odds over how much negotiation will remain in the signing process and how much will be straight slotting, in which players will receive a preordained raise over the person drafted in their spot the previous year. The parties have worked on the issue for weeks but aren't seen as being near a consensus.

WHAT THE FUCK!!! I hate first round rookie contracts more than just about anything else in football. And the one thing I hate more than rookie contracts is mother fucking rookie holdouts!! I don't want any room for negotiations, straight up NBA style; You get x amount for x slot plus (or minus) x% which should match the percentage that the salary cap is changed that year. Knock a couple years off if need be (4 is plenty to prove yourself, after 3 years hold out all you want for an extension) to make the players happy. For God's sake, why is this so contentious! This really only has an effect on the top 10-15 draft picks.

I'm not sure any fan likes the rookies commanding such huge salaries right off the bat, but the players are still clinging to dear life for it. I have no idea why so many of these guys are ready to sacrifice so much for so few who actually benefit from it. Even moreso, it would mean mean more money for current players. Then there's the few hundred million fans who they are putting at stake with this, but really we all know that we have no say in this, so long as those guys get theirs. But seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF FIGHTING ABOUT THIS!!

Then there's this tidbit:

There are issues involving veteran free agency, too. The owners have requested the right of first refusal to retain their existing free agents coming out of the lockout. But it's a divisive issue, termed by several sources as "a deal-breaker" from the players' perspective.

Honestly I'm not too familiar with the contact extensions that they used and want to maintain this year, but the owners voted to put themselves in this mess. So by not extending their players earlier the owners weakened a few of the players position and therefore the overall NFLPA's stance, yet they risk losing those players to free agency. NOTE TO OWNERS: You can't ask to extend those contracts! You dug the hole you you're in on purpose you shitheads, don't ask the players to let you off the hook now!

The players aren't spotless on this one either. I don't mind that they are working on it, but when I hear the term "dealbreaker" for shit like this I get pissed. Just fucking break off everything because a few players will have to wait a year to rape the clubs for everything they have rather than right now, that's cool. But the owners seem willing to give on that issue, I just hate that it's even an issue when there's so much more to work on, not to mention bandying about that fucking term with it.

Then there's this gem:

The parties haven't really started discussing how they will settle the pending litigation involved with the Brady et al v. National Football League antitrust case, which also is a potentially big hurdle, nor have they covered whether the NFL Players Association will reconstitute itself as a union and if federal judicial oversight will be involved in the future collective bargaining agreement.

So while they're fucking squabbling over these issues that I seriously can't figure out what the fighting is for, there's another huge hurdle they have to clear right behind it. These assholes are up against the clock and no one seems to be able to fucking tell time! Being that they have until what seems to be the universal deadline of the 15th I am beginning to lose confidence that this is going to happen.

I hate the fact that I am so addicted to the NFL that I am hanging on every thread of news that is coming out of there. But I do know that if this keeps up and they manage to miss the deadline and this goes back to the courts I will be finding another way to spend my Sundays. It will be like an addiction that I didn't want to quit, but I lost my supply. Would I go back to it? Who knows. If my new "hobby" of choice were to take root, why would I? I don't want to feel this helpless that something that means so much to me could be taken away without any control. It feels more like a relationship on the rocks than any hobby of mine ever should.

I feel like idle threats of boycotts and such are silly, as while we're still talking about the NFL it's still obviously what we want. It's got us good and probably has me for life. But if it lets the fans go (as opposed to the other way around) and the cycle is broken then it may take a long time to get some people back, and some may chose to stay away for life. I know I will try my hardest to make that happen personally. These little bits and pieces that they are arguing about right now may be peanuts to what they will lose in the long run.

Sorry for all the cursing, I feel like it was the only way I could really express my feelings at the moment.