Top 10: Things I hate about the lockout

Yeah, these guys are definitely on the list...

There is no point in beating around the bush, the lockout has decimated all the happiness soul, or as td30ismvp put it, my soul has been locked out.

The articles have been… well, non-existent. It became tiresome to let alone read articles about fat-cats bickering about splitting up a multi-billion dollar pie.

So in a hail mary of an attempt, I give you these rankings. I hope this suffices.

10. Season ticket holders are being asked to pay up

I know not every team is doing this, but I find it ridiculous that teams are asking season ticket holders to dig into their pockets before a deal has been made.

9. You’re hot and you’re cold

It seems like twice a day you read a story that states a deal is imminent, only to see hours later that the two sides couldn’t be farther apart.

8. The NFLPA*

So if the NFLPA* has dissolved, what is DeMaurice Smith‘s actual job? I hate the fact that they’re having their cake and eating it too, while just whining about every little detail along the way.

I’m sorry you were offered The Worst Deal in the History of Sports, but you should really focus on the important details instead of deliberately holding out so you can go to court.

7. Free Agency has been ruined

March is the most popular time of the offseason due to the opening of Free Agency. Better said, March was the most popular time of the offseason. If a deal is done soon Free Agency should open and it will be pure chaos.

The green Bronco front office will have to be sharp on their game and can afford no mistakes.

6. Training camp has/will be ruined

Around this time of the year we would all be anxious to see videos and news reports about player’s performances at training camp. I know I would be excited to see how the rooks Rahim Moore and Quinton Carter match up against Brian Dawkins, Darcel McBath, and David Bruton. I would like for Von Miller and Tim Tebow to have an updated playbook. What will happen is that training camp will still go on (for as little as it may be) but everything will be extremely rushed.

5. Outspoken players

A player’s personality is a lot like a McDonalds hamburger, you love the way it tastes, you just don’t want to know how it got there.

During the lockout, the fans have had to hear the most ridiculous things from several players. Adrian Peterson compared playing in the NFL to slavery, Rashard Mendenhall agreed with him (and also spewed 9/11 conspiracy theories), Derrick Mason called Roger Goodell a joke because he cared about ‘blood tests’ for HGH, Chester Pitts called Goodell a fraud and then made a video with Raheem Brock called ‘Crankin’ the Commish‘, and there are just too many to put into this run-on sentence. Frankly, it’s sad that we have to see this side of many players.

It is obvious that many of the players are out of touch with their fan-base, and even reality for that matter.

4. Logan Mankins & Vincent Jackson

With a deal ‘imminent’, Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson are doing their best to derail it unless his franchise tag is removed. Their demands are either ‘remove my franchise tag’ or ‘give me $10 million for the last season, the one I sat out of’. Greg Bedard from the Boston Globe has a quote from league on this issue.

“Two guys are going to hold up a huge pay day for 1,898 other guys? After two years? When neither ever went to a meeting, a hearing, a mediation session or even showed up in court? Good luck with that,” the source said.

Mankins and Jackson represent the pinnacle of selfishness.

3. Peyton Manning & Drew Brees

Remember that time I told you about the two players Mankins and Jackson, who were trying to hold up a deal so they could get their franchise tag removed? Well Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are doing the same thing too. Greg Bedard is breaking the news again.

“An NFL source with direct knowledge of negotiations said Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints are requesting to be exempt from the franchise tag for the rest of their careers.”

2. The NFL’s image is tainted

Right now it is impossible to separate greediness and petty squabbling away from the NFL. The fans simply want to see football as the regularly do, instead they have to see the true greed and pettiness run right up the backbone of the NFL.

1. The obvious showing that the League and Players could care less about the fans

The people who foot the bill, are the ones who have no control over the situation.

That’s just some of what I can’t stand about the lockout. What about you Bronco nation… for those of you still left out there.