clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Chomping at Bits: Abby Wambach's fond farewell

There's only one Abby. And she was ours.

By Andy Hutchins
Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Chomping at Bits comes stocked with the best Florida Gators links and news we can find, and some other stuff. Got a link you think we should check out? Email us at AlligatorArmy@gmail.com, subject line CAB, or find us on Twitter at @AlligatorArmy or on Facebook at Facebook.com/AlligatorArmy.

Abby Wambach gets a legend's farewell: The greatest American soccer player in history wrote what seems to be the final chapter of her playing career on Wednesday, playing 71 minutes in an exhibition loss against China. That Abby Wambach didn't score or even get an assist — thanks, Carli Lloyd, for once more saving your goals for only the most crucial moments of international competition — is only a footnote to how fond this farewell was.

Wambach sent a stirring message through a Gatorade ad on Wednesday, asking fans and the future legends who will follow in her footsteps to forget her, and go so far that those footsteps are only to a base camp on the mountaintop. (And deleting her social media accounts, in our ephemeral society, is a fine way of reinforcing that message.)

But given the tributes to her that Nike and U.S. Soccer and Florida published, it's hard not to think that mountaintop is higher than even Abby's willing to admit.

True to form, Wambach was both the lion in winter and the goofy kid who loves to enjoy life — the one whose late nights at Florida once conflicted with her training — she is at heart in her own goodbye.

The hashtag trotted out on Wednesday to pay tribute to Wambach was #OnlyOneAbby, a play on the old soccer chant "There's ONLY ONE (Name Name)." It's one you very rarely hear for women's players, or for Americans. Abby Wambach deserved it. Maybe the best thing you can say about Abby Wambach is that, actually: She deserved a sendoff like this. (Pat Dooley, The Gainesville Sun)

Football ticket prices rising: More on this later this morning, but: There's gonna be a lot of unjustified whining from spoiled fans about this. (Chris Harry, Florida Gators)

FloridaGators.com is live: And it's really gorgeous. Question: Do I use "Florida Gators" as the link when I'm writing CABs? I'm sure I'm going with "Florida's official site" when citing it in posts. (Scott Carter, Florida Gators)

Florida announces JUCO signees: Dre Massey, Eddy Pineiro, and Mark Thompson join a growing list of Gators signed and primed to arrive in January. (Scott Carter, Florida Gators)

Five Gators named volleyball All-Americans: Rhamat Alhassan got a first-team nod. (Kelly Reynolds, Florida Gators)

Your Gators moments of zen:

The comments are yours.