USWNT

Who do you think is better at kicking something, Carli Lloyd or Vince Wilfork?

The producers of HBO show "Hard Knocks" endeavored to find out the answer by having the World Cup Golden Ball winner take on the All-Pro defensive tackle in a friendly field goal-kicking contest. 

We won't spoil the ending, but we will say that Wilfork, who it can be assumed has far less kicking things experience than Lloyd impressed with his kicking things ablility.

We should have know this, though, because Vince Wilfork is always loose. He said so himself.

It’s been just a few days since she announced her decision to retire, and Rachel van Hollebeke is busy. She starts medical school on Monday, August 31st, just six days after her announcement on the 25th. That’s six days until a transition that is four years in the making begins. 

Rachel has been deferring acceptance to medical school since 2011. Her decision means that her soccer career is ending, and as much as she has been looking forward to medical school, it was a hard choice to make. 

This is just too much soccer talent for one meeting. Lionel Messi, hands-down the best male soccer player in the world, was in Houston training with the Argentine national team. Carli Lloyd, hands-hown the best female soccer player in the world, was also in Houston, because she plays for the Houston Dash of the NWSL. A rendesvous seemed obvious. And it happened. 

Collegiate soccer programs began to truly emerge sometime in the 1980s. For women, the passage of Title IX opened up opportunities for female athletes that were only available to men playing football (the oblong type) and basketball. Men’s soccer programs have been around significantly longer (the first NCAA championship was played in 1959), but consistently take a backseat to padded football and madness of basketball.

Very soon, Carli Lloyd wil be able to add the title "published author" to her already impressive list of accolades.

Lloyd signed a book deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for her memoir, set to be released later in 2016.

The book is expected to cover Lloyd's soccer career, including the time she almost quit the sport entirely.

The USWNT's biggest competition so far in their victory tour has come from their own bus. Yesterday, Hope Solo tweeted a picture of her and her teammates being escorted to practice by fans in Chattanooga. 

What happens when the bus breaks down? Awesome fans escort you to training! Thanks #Chattanooga! #USWNT pic.twitter.com/EThBMAEsBW

U.S. Soccer announced Monday that midfielder Lori Chalupny will retire at the end of the USWNT's 10-game World Cup Victory Tour.

Carli Lloyd's pitch was high and wide, but that is a trifling complaint. At least she did better than poor Gio dos Santos. Lloyd threw out the first pitch for the Seattle Mariners while she and her Houston Dash teammates were in town for a game against the Seattle Reign (which the Reign won, 2-1). 

It is hard to call any team a headliner in a victory tour when the team going on that tour in the United States Women’s National team. The Americans are always going to be the stars, but with the additions of two games against Brazil on the docket for October 21st and 25th, their victory tour has secured one of the best teams in the world. 

Following the USWNT's World Cup win last month, coach Jill Ellis has been handed a new contract, which is expected to last through the 2019 World Cup and possibly beyond.

Ellis's former contract could have kept her at the helm of the USWNT for up to five more years, but instead she and US Soccer voided that one and hammered out a new contract.