In November, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on giving.The September leaves had just begun to transition from chlorophyll-filled green to translucent yellow. I was sitting in my Brooklyn apartment in 2014 chatting with my dad, a die-hard Ravens fan.The conversation took an awkward turn to the topic of running back Ray Rice, who had been caught on video dragging his unconscious then-fiancé Janay Palmer out of a Las Vegas hotel elevator.The NFL had done a poor job of handling the domestic abuse from the jump, but once the video was made public for the world to see, the league decided to part ways with Rice.This felt wrong to my father.It was the first time Id yelled at him for what I considered victim blaming. He did not condone the act, but the language he used certainly would make any feminists head spin.In that moment I thought: If seemingly kind and good and smart men like my father didnt understand domestic abuse or misogyny, we were at a loss of ever reaching the men who arent good.Almost two years after the Rice incident, former NFL star Darren Sharper was sentenced to 18 years in prison for raping half a dozen women. No bold statements from the NFL. No condemnation from his colleagues. It was just quiet.He was even nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only to receive not a single vote from the selection committee.Still.I was done with the NFL.NFL players wives and girlfriends were suffering at the hands of its men. Physical and sexual assault was handled abysmally by the league, with no sign of an organization that was moving toward actually caring about women.Then along came Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy.Levy stands at 6-foot-1. His smooth, latte-colored face is adorned by a thick beard that looks like it holds the keys to black boy magic. By all measures, he is a unicorn in an industry that has a lot of reckoning to do with how it supports and rewards violent men.Only 29 years young, he is wise. He has done the work to unlearn misogyny and become aware of its perils. This is a man who uses the term hyper-masculinity in interviews. For a football player, this makes you wonder if the Mayans prediction of the world ending is lurking around the corner.Levy has charged his fellow athletes with the task of speaking up on the dehumanization of women. His Man Up piece for The Players Tribune in April makes it clear what consent is and what its not. He thinks the NFL should do more about domestic violence awareness.In one of his most remarkable acts of human decency, Levy is donating money to have 11,000 rape kits that were found in a warehouse, abandoned by prosecutors, tested.His stance is clear: Dismissing a description of sexual assault as locker-room talk is a mistake.Wherever the NFL found this man, the league is lucky to have him.Im not in the business of handing out fresh-baked cookies to men for being decent human beings. But acknowledgement is due. Few professional athletes have this level of understanding about misogyny, so this feels magical. It feels like a win for all the work we black feminists have been doing.To preserve my sanity, Ive given up the idea of educating men who dont get it. More than changing minds, as wed hope educating men would do, it brings harassment.Ive been called everything from a Negro bed wench to a b---- for calling men out on their sexism. Discussing rape culture, consent and violence against women has been mostly futile.Remember, I yelled at my own dad over sexism. Levy restored a tiny piece of optimism in me about men -- athletes too -- being able to unlearn the toxicity of patriarchy. His commitment to issues that are typically cast to the side for women to fix alone is a reminder that the work we do is not in vain.Ill remind myself of Levys awakening when I grow weary and think, Whats the point? Because slow change is still change.Being a black feminist deeply committed to the black community and womens rights has been discouraging. Enraging. Even hopeless. Like I said, sometimes I think men will never get it.Levy is proof that they can, though. And while my willingness to teach men is reserved only for the men I care about, I now have a little more faith that they will in turn teach other men. Levy gave me hope that all who wander are not lost. And being lost doesnt mean one has to stay there.Bené Viera is a Brooklyn-based journalist who writes about culture, race and gender. Her work has appeared in GQ, Vulture, ESSENCE, Cosmopolitan, VIBE, Glamour and ELLE. When shes not writing shes stanning for Nas. Follow her on Twitter at @beneviera.Michael Porter Jr. Jersey . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. http://www.cheapnuggetsjerseys.com/ . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. Cheap Denver Nuggets Jerseys . 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Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea.TORONTO -- No matter what he tries, nothing seems to be working for struggling Royals starter Chris Young.Josh Donaldson hit two solo home runs, Troy Tulowitzki had a three-run blast and the Toronto Blue Jays connected four times off Young to beat Kansas City 8-3 on Tuesday night.Young (2-8) matched Runelvys Hernandezs team record by allowing at least one home run in 13 consecutive starts. Hernandez did it from October 2005 to August 2006.Young allowed six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. Winless in nine starts, Young described his season as beyond frustrating.My body feels good, its just the results havent been there, he said. Its a frustrating feeling. I feel like Ive let the team down and its horrible.Young (2-8) has surrendered a major league-worst 26 home runs this season.Manager Ned Yost said Young tried moving to the third-base side of the mound to give him more deception.At the beginning of the game, it looked like he was real sharp, Yost said. He just ran into severe trouble in the third.Donaldson connected in the first inning and went back-to-back with Ezequiel Carrera in the third. It marked the eighth multihomer game of Donaldsons career and the fifth time this season the Blue Jays have hit consecutive homers.Three batters later, Tulowitzki chased Young with his seventh homer in 15 games since returning from the disabled list.Mentally its tough, Young said. Ive never struggled like this.It was the 34th time in team history that the Blue Jays have hit three home runs in an inning. They last did it May 7, 2014, against Philadelphia.Torontos R.A. Dickey (6-9) allowed two runs, none earned, and four hits in seven innings to win for the first time in niine home starts this season.dddddddddddd The knuckleballer came in 0-6 with a 5.14 ERA at home.Yost said Dickeys knuckleball was as good as weve ever seen it.Kansas Citys Cheslor Cuthbert hit a two run homer off Dickey and finished with three RBI.Named an AL All-Star reserve earlier in the evening, Donaldson has scored 77 runs, a franchise record for runs before the All-Star break. Carlos Delgado had 76 in 2003.Fellow All-Star Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and an RBI, raising his ML-leading total to 77.Kansas City lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped to 16-29 on the road.STARRING ROLESRoyals 1B Eric Hosmer and C Salvador Perez will start the All-Star Game for the AL. RHPs Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera were selected to the pitching staff but Davis (forearm) will miss the game because of injury. RHP Marco Estrada will also represent Toronto, while Blue Jays OF Michael Saunders is one of five candidates for the Final Vote competition.DAMAGE CONTROLTwenty of the 26 home runs hit off Young have been solo shots.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Davis was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 1. The Royals selected RHP Brooks Pounders from Triple-A Omaha and designated LHP Tyler Olson for assignment.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Ian Kennedy (6-7, 4.04) starts Wednesdays series finale. Kennedy has allowed 20 home runs, including one in each of his past six starts.Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (6-4, 5.08) allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings against Cleveland in his most recent start after allowing 38 earned runs in his previous eight outings ' ' '