"Sorry U.S. soccer," ABBY WAMBACH says as she enters retirement from the women's national team with an open plea for the men's team to dump coach JÜRGEN KLINSMANN. "[There are] too many egos in our men's program right now, and I think the bigger ego of all of them is the one that's leading the charge." The world's most prolific goal scorer has never been shy and her current goal is to change the world, so why stop now? Her hour-plus exit interview with BILL SIMMONS is riveting all the way through and occasionally provocative like that... Her longtime teammate HOPE SOLO writes a touching and amusing farewell... SLATE'S GWENDOLYN OXENHAIM on WAMBACH's influence on female athletes... "THE VERTICAL" is a perfect name for ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI's YAHOO basketball vertical. How on EARTH was it still available? It soft-launched WEDNESDAY with a one-on-one interview with ADAM SILVER, who has a lot of smart things to say about the RAJON RONDO/BILL KENNEDY saga and how the league has handled it... Thoughts on the end of the PATRICK KANE streak... NEBRASKA taking its 5-7 record to the FOSTER FARMS BOWL is the college football equivalent of LITTLE LEAGUE players getting participation trophies, except the CORNHUSKERS' trophy comes with $1.8 million... BILL BELICHICK laughs, heartily, at a press conference. More on this story as it develops.