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. Max Fried Braves Jersey . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. 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DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings attempted to address the departure of Pavel Datsyuk by agreeing with Frans Nielsen to a six-year, $31.5 million contract Friday in the opening hours of free agency.Hes a centerman we needed after losing one in Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. We think he can play 200 feet, in all situations, including penalty killing and on the power play.Nielsen averaged 51 points over the last three years with the New York Islanders. The 32-year-old Nielsen, who is from Denmark, has scored 119 goals and added 230 assists over his decade in the NHL.Thomas Vanek also agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Red Wings. The Minnesota Wild bought out the final year of Vaneks contract and following a disappointing two-year stint with the team.Were hoping that weve got a motivated athlete, Holland said.The 32-year-old Austrian scored a career-low 18 goals last season, but has been a proven scorer in the past with 316 goals since Buffalo drafted him No. 3 overall in 2003 and he made his NHL debut two years later.Forward Darren Helm and defenseman Alexey Marchenko agreed to deals with Detroit to stay with the team just before they would have been available on the market.The Red Wings retained Helm with a five-year contract, counting $3.85 million against the salary cap each season. Helm had 13 goals and 26 points last season. He has 72 goals and 90 assists since making his debut during the 2007-08 season.As you watch the Stanley Cup playoffs, it re-emphaasized the importance of speed, and thats something Darren has, Holland said.dddddddddddd. Hes just 29 and we think hes going to have speed throughout the term of his deal. And, Im told he took less money to stay. Hes a homegrown player, a draft pick of ours, and were glad to keep him because hes becoming a bit of a leader.The Red Wings are also keeping Marchenko for two more seasons, taking $1.45 million off their cap each year. Marchenko is coming off his first full season in the NHL. The Russian played in 66 games last season, scoring twice and adding nine assists.Detroit desperately needed to add someone at center after Datsyuk decided he was done playing for the franchise and in the NHL. The Red Wings also added depth at the position later on the first day of free agency, agreeing to a one-year, $800,000 deal with Steve Ott. The 33-year-old Ott, coming off an injury-shortened season in St. Louis, has 106 career goals.Datsyuks agent, Dan Milstein, told The Associated Press on Friday afternoon that his client hadnt yet agreed to a deal to play in Russia next season. The Red Wings gained salary-cap relief by trading Datsyuk to the Arizona Coyotes a week ago. He has a year remaining on his contract and will count $7.5 million against Arizonas salary cap. Even though it is a formality, the Coyotes have not signed off on Datsyuk playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. ' ' '