Brian Kelly’s departure from LSU is just the latest in a series of big money firings. It’s also a jarring state of affairs for many struggling fans At a time when millions are at risk of going hungry and losing their medical insurance benefits, struggling Americans can at least take solace in knowing that the nation’s college football coaches are doing just fine – especially Brian Kelly. On Sunday LSU relieved Kelly of his coaching duties after his Tigers suffered a resounding home loss to Texas A&M that dropped them out of the AP’s ranking of college football’s top 25 teams. (This is after LSU was ranked as high as third in September and firmly in the top 10 for most of the season.) Kelly, who was in the fourth year of a decade-long contract worth about $100m, will be going home with more than just a box full of purple and gold office trinkets. Continue reading...

* LEDs will flash red for potentially concussive impacts * ‘It will create awareness,’ World Rugby says Rugby union is to introduce flashing LED mouthguards that light up when a player suffers a significant head impact during a match. The mouthguard will flash red if the impact is severe enough to potentially cause a concussion. The referee will then stop play and the player will go off for a head injury assessment. Dr Lindsay Starling, a science and medical manager at World Rugby, said the new system would debut at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which begins next week, before being rolled out across the men’s and women’s elite game. “Match officials and players will be able to see that this player has sustained a big head impact because their mouth guard is flashing red,” she said. “And it will create awareness about head injuries and concussions in the stands and for fans at home, being able to see it on TV.” Continue reading...

* Played internationally in union and league * Led BBC coverage for 38 years Ray French, the former rugby league commentator, has died at the age of 85. He had been living with dementia. He played internationally in union, winning four caps in the second row for England in 1961, before moving to league and joining his home town club, St Helens, that year and helped them win the Challenge Cup in 1966. He appeared four times for Great Britain, in 1968. Continue reading...