Done?!?

I don't want to get too excited about the news that the players will vote today on the deal to end the lockout. I hope that I never have to stutter that word again. These bozos have hit me in the gut too many times. Through the overtime work (finally) of player chief DeMaurice Smith and Commissioner Roger Goodell, all the stumbling blocks have been knocked out of the way this past weekend. Weekend! They finally work a weekend and see what they get accomplished. It's inconceivable! The most significant hurdle being that the ten plaintiffs have signed off on the antitrust lawsuit. Once that was out of the way, the owners were smiling and the remaining issues slid into place. There are still a few issues that can only be resolved upon the re-certification of the players' union. There is still the vote of the player representatives and of the players, but no deal presented to the players has ever been voted down. If they didn't have the votes, the executive committee would never present it to the players.

The time frame for the coming week bothers me a little, but I'm just getting greedy. Once the players approve the deal, the plan is to have them report to the team facilities starting Wednesday. Upon arrival, they will cast their individual votes on the deal as well as to vote to join the union. By Friday, all players, or enough to call it done, will have voted to make it official. Again, at this stage votes in the positive are pretty much a foregone conclusion. Saturday is when free agency and all hell breaks loose. Apparently, teams will be able to negotiate with their own free agents starting Wednesday, but no contracts can be signed until Saturday. I assume that also includes draft picks. I don't understand why things can't start rolling on Tuesday. It's only a day. After five draining months, what's a day? I suppose that I just want NFL things back to normal as soon as possible. Finally, it looks to be on the way.