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In November, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on giving.Ive been thinking a lot about losing lately, about its inevitability, and how it hurts just as bad every time. Sometimes it teaches you something, and sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes you fail despite doing everything right.If that big fail happens when youre at the top of your game, it can be a gift, as Ronda Rousey will demonstrate next month when she enters the Octagon for the first time in more than a year.Her return is brave, and I tell myself this a lot: Going back to the spot where you failed and trying again is brave.The last time Rousey was in the ring, after winning and hanging onto the UFC womens bantamweight belt over the course of six fights, Holly Holm destroyed her with a knockout kick to the head.There were, it seems, two reactions to that loss; those of us who thought Rousey was invincible, and then were shocked and disappointed to discover that she wasnt.We like our superheroes to always win. Rousey made winning look easy: fights won in 34 seconds, or 14 seconds, often by arm bar.Then there were the people who emerged to say why they couldve predicted Rouseys loss, why shed been unprepared, or distracted by celebrity and media interviews, and that she was too arrogant for her own good.The former Olympic judo medalist never struck me as arrogant. More like driven. This is a woman who started judo at 11, and whose own mother, a judoka who once won gold at the World Judo championship, used to wake her up by trying to execute an arm bar.Compared to her mom, Rousey thought of herself as laid-back. Of her upbringing, she said, The rule was you could pick anything you wanted to do in the world, but you just had to be the best in the world at it.Just.She did and she tried. She worried her body was too masculine. She binged and purged to maintain her weight class. After she took the bronze in judo in the 2008 Olympics, she struggled with depression, drank, bartended, and at points lived out of her car.When she found MMA, she wanted those wins badly, and along the way, she transformed womens MMA.Whenever people talk about how cocky and arrogant I am, it blows me away, because I worked so hard to develop self-confidence, she told the New Yorker in 2014.Rousey at the top of her game is something to behold. She glares. She struts. She cries after a win. She is an out-there character in a no-holds-barred sport, her quotes provocative, pithy and playful. Every one of my muscles is here for a purpose, she once said. And if she talked smack before fights, it was partly a manifestation of all that will, not to mention a means of making sure shed prove herself right in the ring.Im willing to die in here, she said in 2014, during blustery pre-game fight interviews.Theres an interview Rousey did with UFC analyst Joe Rogan last year, before the Holm fight, where she talks about seeing herself a bit like actor Heath Ledgers Joker, a villain the audience cant help but root for. Protagonists react, while antagonists make things happen, she says.Rousey is that rare public female figure who is quite open about the fact that she does not care about being liked. After she wouldnt touch gloves with Holm before her fight -- when she lost, Lady Gaga posted an Instagram of her being pummeled with the caption, Thats what you get for not touching gloves! -- those of us that loved Rouseys swagger felt the familiar sting at a woman getting her comeuppance. We wondered when the sports world -- heck, when the rest of the world -- would be ready for a female antihero.In the months since that fight, Rousey has talked about how it felt to lose. After she got clipped by Holm, she said, I wasnt really there anymore, using language shed once used triumphantly to describe her effect on another opponent. The master of her own body, who trains by climbing trees, who describes herself as a ninja when shes feeling good, didnt even feel like she was inside it. And everybody was watching.Afterward, she told Ellen DeGeneres she felt suicidal. I was like, What am I anymore if Im not this? She said this with tears running down her face, knotting her hands together in her lap. Im thinking what my actual purpose is, and maybe just winning all the time isnt whats best, she added. Maybe I just had to be the example of picking myself up off the floor for everyone. Maybe thats what Im meant for.Ive been thinking a lot about winning lately -- about what it gives you, and what it deprives you of. How we get virtue and victory mixed up sometimes, and wind up valuing the wrong thing. The truth is, most of us dont win all the time; heck, most of us dont win half the time. Most of us know that feeling of losing better than we know the feeling of winning.Next months bout might be one of Rouseys last. I want her to win again. Im a courageous person because Im a scared person, Rousey said years ago.I believe her. Custom Soccer Jerseys Store . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury. Custom Soccer Jerseys Outlet . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. http://www.customjerseyssoccer.com/ . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Custom Soccer Jerseys Sale . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Wholesale Custom Soccer Jerseys . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Stuart Thompson, the Ireland allrounder, has confirmed that he is taking an indefinite break from professional cricket to receive treatment for performance anxiety. Thompson, 24, confirmed the development after withdrawing from a domestic fixture for North-West Warriors.I have realised it is in my best interests and everyone else involved in the squad and Cricket Ireland to be open and honest about my situation, said Thompson, who has played 11 ODIs and 17 T20Is. I have been struggling this season which culminated in needing a complete break from the game.With the backing of Cricket Ireland, I have received expert help and I now understand a lot more about my condition and how I can overcome it. I am now looking forward to practicing methods to manage my anxiety and hope to return to cricket very soon. Ive the best team around me to help me through it and looking forward to the challengee ahead.ddddddddddddThompson is the second international cricketer to take an indefinite break from the game because of anxiety-related issues. Sarah Taylor, the England Women wicketkeeper, announced she was undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in a bid to rid herself of anxiety issues that have resulted in such acute panic attacks that she had to run off the field.Richard Holdsworth, the performance director of Cricket Ireland, said Thompson was in touch with experts to get over his condition. Stuart is getting expert support which we are confident will get him back in the game soon. Stuart will continue to take a break from the game but hopes to be back very soon. We would again ask that he be allowed to recover in private for the immediate future. ' ' '