The NFL wanted to include 18 more games in their upcoming schedule as part of the collective bargaining agreement, but many of the players, coaches, and general managers see that as a major problem. And as such, no new games will be added.

So what’s wrong with giving fans even more games to cheer on, and giving the owners more revenue from those games? It’s just not possible, especially in states where the climate gets very cold come mid-January, and players and fans are outside for hours at a time. In states such as New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Buffalo, by the time January rolls around, there’s already plenty of snow on the field and temperatures are just far too low for anyone to be out there for any length of time.

So, one of the two or three proposed weeks would need to come at the beginning of the season, which would make that one week fall in line with Labor Day weekend. The problem with that is that the NFL mandated in 2001 that no football is to start that weekend, as too many fans use that weekend as vacation time before heading back to school and work.

The other problem, says some teams, are the short careers of football players. With the average player playing only three or four years before they must exit the league due to injury, adding 18 games is a major risk. During that time, good players who are already getting injured during the regular season could become even more severely injured, shortening their time in the league to just two years, or perhaps even just one! That risk, is just one that doesn’t need to be taken.

As it stands, the NFL is currently hoping to still extend the football season to President’s Day weekend. But that’s not going to happen this year and, as some executives have made it clear, they’re hoping to stop that from ever happening.

The Indiana State Fair is still in shock from the disaster that struck this past weekend when the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand collapsed just before the Sugarland concert, killing five. Sugarland is devastated by the loss, and sent their condolences almost immediately via Twitter. While the fair grounds were closed all weekend after the tragedy, and a memorial service held yesterday morning before the grounds were reopened, many were left wondering what would happen to the rest of the fair’s events and mainly, concert line-ups. And while there was rumor that all acts would be rescheduled, only a few of them and some big names have been cancelled.

Janet Jackson was going to appear at the fair on Wednesday, August 17, but that show has been cancelled; as has the Lady Antebellum concert that was scheduled for Friday. Train and Maroon 5 were also set to perform at the fair and while those shows will go on, the new location for them has not yet been announced; both groups will perform on Thursday, August 18. But who knows just how that show will go? James Valentine, guitarist for Maroon 5, said that he didn’t know if going ahead with the show was right, saying “It just doesn’t seem like the right sort of atmosphere, y’know? It’ll probably take some time to heal. It’s such a tragedy.”

No doubt there will be a few memorials held for the victims throughout both shows. But still, Maroon 5 doesn’t feel as though that’s enough. They will be holding a benefit concert for the victims of Saturday’s accident, although details of that show have not yet been released.

After a lot of debate on whether or not the Coliseum stadium, currently being used by the University of Southern California would also be used for an NFL team, it seems it was much ado about nothing. That doesn’t mean that USC has to give up their stomping grounds, nor does it mean that L.A.’s NFL future is bleak. In fact, just the opposite as a new deal has been made that will give everyone what they want — USC a stadium pretty much all their own, and an NFL team that will also have their own place to call home. After the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to a “non-binding agreement” that will allow a new stadium to be built in downtown Los Angeles.

The agreement allows Anschutz Entertainment Group to build a new stadium right next to the Staples Center, which makes it a great location for another sports venue. The stadium will cost $1.2 billion to build and will hold 72,000 seats. Construction will begin in 2012, once the current West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center is demolished; the building will be completed in 2015. The name of the new building will be Farmers Field, but what will the name of the team playing there be?

No one has the answer to that — yet. The city fully agrees that the new building and a new team will create jobs, bring revenue to the city and finally (and most importantly,) give Angelinos an NFL team to cheer for once again. And while it may not be known just which team will be the lucky ones to make the new building their home, city officials are hoping to have an NFL team back playing in the city by 2016. Even if Farmers Field is not yet complete, they are hoping that a team could use the Coliseum in the meanwhile; which might just bring that debate back to the forefront in a few years.

It’s a big day for American Idol stars! While the winner of this past season’s Idol, Scott McCreery, will release his first video later on today, the young lady that stood beside him during the finale released her video for her debut single yesterday. Lauren Alaina, runner-up in the show but already a big star, has just released her video for her song, Like My Mother Does, and it proves once again that Idol is the birthing place of some very big country stars.

In the video, Lauren is seen sitting on the porch of what seems to be her childhood home while video clips and photographs of Lauren and her mother are flashed on-screen. And while it looks like a Mississippi or Tennessee home, the video was actually shot in California with Nashville native, Shaun Silva directing, to give it that authentic Southern flare. The video doesn’t solely reflect on Lauren as a little girl though; we also get clips and tidbits of Lauren in the studio recording her first song. It’s pretty fitting, since Lauren says that she wanted the video to show who she was, who she is, and where she came from.

Lauren says that the video is a tribute to thank the person really responsible for her newfound career, but Mom’s not the only one Lauren wants to thank — she also wants to thank country radio! Lauren said right after the single was released that she was overwhelmed it was being played by so many, and so often, and she was itching to get out there and “personally thank” everyone for all of their support.

Check out Lauren’s new video for her first debut single, Like My Mother Does below; and watch for Scott McCreery’s video, I Love You This Big, below as well!

Pete Wentz has come a long way from his days as a Fallout Boy, and he celebrated that fact by giving the world its first taste of his new band, Black Cards, at Lollapalooza this past weekend. There he was joined by fellow Black Cards band mate, Bebe Rexha, performing five songs from their debut album; and the sound was something entirely unexpected from Pete Wentz. Not surprising, Pete said himself at the event, as his music from Fallout Boyz was all “about catharsis and emoting.” Whereas the new, still unnamed album is “about fun and having a good time.”

The band is planning to release the album later this summer or in the early fall to give fans an idea what exactly the Black Cards are all about. While the recording of it is finished, it’s still going back and forth between a few different labels. In addition to Wentz’s new sound, the album also features guest artists such as Chiddy Bang, Tyler Glenn, and Shaggy.

Blink 182 gives us another reason to love them! While it’s been 8 years since the group has released an album, a single, or a video, they’ve more than made up for it with the video for their new song “Up All Night.” But don’t think that this is your big chance to finally get a glimpse of the band you’ve been missing — the entire video is made up of fans videos that have been collected by AT&T and Blink 182.

The video starts off with a dedication from the band saying that they want to reward fans who used the band’s music without their permission, and so they’ve dedicated a video to them. To check out all the mattress surfing, air guitar strumming, and just regular hopping and jumping around kind of fun brought to you by Blink fans just like yourself, check out the video below!

Slash has been teasing fans with promises of a new album for weeks now and he’s finally given up the goods as to when they can expect to see it in stores — but that still won’t be until March or April of 2012. Still, having proven his merit as a solo artist to fans, Slash is not relying on big names this time to promote the album. One of the tidbits that he’s already released about the album is that he’s working strictly with live vocalist, Myles Kennedy on this project. Kennedy also helped write the album and toured with Slash this summer.

We also wanted to give you a little refresher of how awesome Slash is! Check out this video to see him in action.

Who wouldn’t enjoy meeting Belle, Jasmine and Ariel in person? You can meet all of these princesses and more at the Disney on Ice Show. The latest theme of Disney on Ice (running since 1981) is “Dare to Dream” and it adds two new classics into the mix: Tangled and The Princess and the Frog.

The storyline follows Rapunzel, Flynn, and Maximus, and eventually they meet other princesses along the way, including Princess Tiana, Cinderella, and other popular Disney princesses, such as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Jasmine from Aladdin, and even Pocahontas! In fact, all of Disney’s classic love stories are highlighted, including Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Mulan.

In case you’re wondering, this production is primarily a children’s show, and doesn’t have the sophisticated dialogue that adults enjoy in new Disney films. However, it does offer real life fairy tales in the way of figure skaters dressed as Disney cartoon characters. The music and the plotlines of the story are taken straight from the source material, and the skaters are always “in character.” (They’re even billed by their characters, and not their real names) The Disney on Ice show may also include other popular productions such as Toy Story, which recreate famous movie moments on ice, as well as Mickey and Minnie’s Magical Journey, which stars even more famous “cameos” by the likes of Simba and Nala, and Lilo and Stitch.

Disney on Ice may seem relatively new, but in actuality, it dates back over three decades, and plays all over the world, including Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. To see a live cast of Disney performing right in front of you, is a wonderful feat your child won’t soon forget. It’s as if the characters from the movie crawl out of the screen and into a theater. You know the music, you know the characters, but you haven’t truly experienced the Disney world until you see these lovable characters in physical form. You don’t have to wait until your next Disney World vacation, since Disney on Ice tours all over the country–or to infinity and beyond as one of their bubbly characters might say.

Move over, Spice Girls and make room, Destiny’s Child, there’s a new girl band for the new age, and they go by the name of Duchess — or their offstage personas, Annie, Shanie, Nadine, and Jamie. These four girls are working hard to make their British girl band, Duchess, big and part of that is teaming up with some pretty big names like Rihanna, Lady GaGa, and Black-Eyed Peas for their first album, All the Boyz. The album is currently in production, but fans who are waiting for a fresh-eyed look at what girl bands are all about, it will be on sale in stores and online very soon.

In the meantime, Duchess has introduced themselves to us with their first video, their first single, and the title track to their record, All the Boyz. Catch the video below to get your first taste of the Duchess!

For reasons that the rumor mill is dubbing “internal conflicts,” the band Disturbed has announced that after the few shows that they have left from now until the end of August, they will be taking an indefinite hiatus. Rumors just started swirling last week that the band may break up, when a fan asked the band’s lead singer, David Draiman, directly about the future of the band. Draiman replied that although the future of the band is uncertain, they are definitely planning on an “indefinite hiatus” after their August shows; he declined to give any further comment as to the reason for the break.

Right now, Disturbed is in New Jersey alongside Megadeth and Godsmack for the 2011 Mayhem Festival. Once that wraps up on August 14, the group will travel to South America to play a few dates there; after that, the group will be on hiatus.