Yeah, the fiery Finn is back people.

But there are some concerns that Kimi Raikkonen won’t be as committed as he once was when we kickoff the brand new 2012 F1 season. Well, as far as Kimi is concerned, that just won’t be the case.

Fans who fear that Kimi Raikkonen won’t be 100 per cent committed to Formula One when he returns in 2012 can rest assured that the Finn is fully motivated.

Raikkonen, who won the 2007 World Championship with Ferrari, will make a comeback with Lotus Renault GP next year after spending two seasons in the World Rally Championship.

The Finn’s relaxed demeanour earned him the nickname “Iceman” during his previous stint in Formula One, but not everyone was impressed with his style and he was often accused of lacking enthusiasm for the sport. Raikkonen, though, has been quick to brush aside concerns that he won’t be motivated when he returns, saying he doesn’t “really care about what people say”.

“The main reason was that I never really lost the passion for racing in Formula 1, just maybe for all the other things around it,” he said. “But when I did some NASCAR races this year I noticed that I was increasingly missing the racing side – to race against each other – because in rallying you really race against the clock.”

“And then I got the call from certain people in Formula 1…”

Apparently, they are. Who do they want in return? Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets.

Yeah, I guess this is one huge news that will get the 2011-12 NBA basketball season going. Unfortunately for the Boston Celtics, they are not close to dealing Rondo to New Orleans for Paul, a league source told the Globe’s Gary Washburn yesterday, though there have been discussions about this trade in the past.

The notion that the Boston Celtics would be open to trading Rondo has been out there, and realistically, any player can be traded at any time. The news that the Celtics might be open to trading Rondo is like saying water is wet.

But the rumors kicked up again yesterday when ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard said Danny Ainge would be open to kicking the tires on a deal for Rajon Rondo. Fair enough. Cue the “what kind of player could the Celtics get in return?” talk.

That answer came later in the day, when SI.com’s Sam Amick said that Ainge has been trying to shop Rondo to the Hornets for All-Star point guard Chris Paul. While Rondo is a top-10 point guard no matter your opinion of him, Paul is generally regarded as being ranked somewhere higher. Amick’s source said the Hornets weren’t necessarily interested in parting with Paul in a two-team deal.

Cue the third team rumors. According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Ainge has contacted the Indiana Pacers as a possible third party, to see if they could…

With the NBA lockout over, the rest of the world turns back its attention to the Miami Heat.

Remember them? Yes, they’re the same group of guys who fell flat on their faces trying to win a championship many sports analysts already awarded to them even before last season began. Heading to the brand new, although short, 2011-12 NBA basketball season, the Heat has a whole lot of stuff to prove to themselves, and to the rest of the league.

What we’ve learned over the past 149 days without basketball: Soul-sucking acronyms like BRI (Basketball Related Income). What we haven’t learned: If the Miami Heat has indeed healed.

Fans had zero interest in the former and unrelenting interest in the latter, and that’s why news that the basketball lockout is now over — ”Finally,” in the word of Heat star Dwyane Wade — is met in South Florida with a glee and relief and anticipation unlike anywhere else in America.

No basketball team had more to lose if this season had indeed been cancelled while owners and players fought over billions of dollars in a flabbergasting affront to fans trapped in a recession. And no team has more to play for when the season now resumes as a blessed sports gift on Christmas Day.

Last we saw them together, Heat giant Chris Bosh was collapsing…

That is the question on everybody’s mind. Well, those who follow soccer anyway.

While David Beckham said that he and his family plan to relocate permanently to the United States after his playing career is over, he remains undecided whether he’ll return to the L.A. Galaxy for one more season after helping the club win the MLS title a few days ago or switch to French side Paris St Germain.

However, in an exclusive interview, David Beckham told Yahoo! Sports that he and his wife, Victoria, and their four children will continue to spend the bulk of their time at their luxury Beverly Hills mansion for years to come.

”We have had such a great five years here,” Beckham said. ”We plan on keeping our house here and spending the majority of our time here as a family. It is a great place for our children to grow up. We have been treated so well in this country, so we won’t be getting rid of our house.”

”When you live in California the weather is amazing every single day. For our children to be able to go to school and come home and go to the beach or jump in the pool, you don’t get that many places in the world. The whole friendliness of everybody – it has been very laid back. We get a certain amount of privacy with certain things we do in the U.S., that has been very nice to have.”

”Over the years it has always been about the professional side, what…”

Yep, he just wins baby.

Despite all the doubters and naysayers, especially after he suffered his very first loss (and a humiliating one at that…) as a starter this 2011 NFL football season, Tim Tebow just kept on winning.

Yeah, after suffering his first loss as a starter to the Detroit Lions a few weeks ago, Tim Tebow has been racking up wins since.

Sure, he may not look as good as Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers doing it but the fact of the matter is, he continues to lead the Denver Broncos to win games and the last time I checked, wins are the only things that matter in the NFL.

Last Sunday, Tebow had an opportunity to lead the Broncos once again to yet another win against the San Diego Chargers. And once again, he delivered. Tebow Time had just seconds to spare in overtime before the Broncos beat the staggering Chargers.

Matt Prater kicked a 37-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in overtime to lift Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos to a 16-13 victory Sunday over the Chargers, who’ve lost six straight games for the first time in 10 years. The Broncos narrowly avoided the first NFL tie since Cincinnati and Philadelphia ended deadlocked at 13 on Nov. 16, 2008.

Tebow, now 5-1 as the Broncos’ starter, led Denver from its…

Yes, you read it, the NBA lockout is over.

They say nobody cares about the NBA until Christmas Day, right? Well, lucky for those people, that’s exactly when the 2011-12 NBA basketball season is scheduled to start, December 25, Christmas Day.

Somehow, by the grace of God, the NBA players and the NBA owners found it within themselves to come to terms on a deal that would open the doors to a business known for generating $4 billion per year.

According to multiple reports, a tentative handshake deal has been put in place between the NBA players and the NBA owners that will allow for a 66-game 2011-12 season beginning on Christmas Day.

The fine points were reportedly worked out at about 3 a.m. on Saturday, after a 15-hour, last-ditch negotiating effort that didn’t look like it would even happen just 48 hours earlier.

”We’ve reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations,” NBA commissioner David Stern said, ”but we’re optimistic that that will all come to pass, and that the NBA season will begin on Dec. 25, Christmas Day, with a tripleheader.”

With the NBA lockout over, training camps will open on…

Of course, he needs to beat the debuting Alistair Overeem first.

“I’m back,” Brock Lesnar crowed at a press conference promoting his title eliminator against Alistair Overeem (35-11 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC 141. And judging by the screams of those in attendance, that’s good news for business.

Lesnar, who was forced to withdraw from a title eliminator at UFC 131 against Junior Dos Santos when the illness struck, said it took him “about six hours” to feel right again after a surgical procedure, which removed a 12-inch section of his lower intestine.

“I avoided the surgery for as long as I could,” Brock Lesnar said. “It was just a major decision. When you’ve got to go under the knife and have someone take out our intestines, it’s a big deal.”

Not a big enough deal, of course, to keep him from getting back the hulking physique that puts him in a league of his own in the big-man division. Asked of about video that suggested he had lost some of his bulk as the result of his illness, he issued his right arm and…

Looks like they haven’t given up just yet.

While the NBA continues to sink further down to obscurity, that hasn’t stopped the NBA owners and players from trying to salvage the 2011 NBA basketball season. Well, what’s left of it anyway.

Yeah, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, negotiations aimed at ending the NBA lockout have resumed, with a quick settlement necessary to start the season by Christmas.

The discussions began quietly Tuesday and are expected to continue through the Thanksgiving holiday, the people told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Wednesday because the talks between these NBA owners and players were supposed to remain confidential.

The talks between representatives of the owners and players are now centered on settling their lawsuits: The NBA players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league in Minnesota and the league filed a pre-emptive suit in New York, seeking to prove the lockout was legal.

Neither side commented on the talks, first reported by Yahoo Sports, though the league said in a statement it ”remains in favor of a negotiated resolution” to the lockout.

The news revived the hopes of saving the Christmas slate, when…

And Cowboys linebacker Bradie James is really looking forward to it.

After a slow start to the 2011 NFL football season, the Dallas Cowboys have crawled to respectability just in time before the season heads to crunch time. At 6-4, they still have more than a shot in making the postseason, provided they don’t lose that much heading to January.

On Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys will once again be on national TV as they take on the struggling Miami Dolphins. And as customary, we’ll probably see one of them Cowboys break out the Turkey Dance.

Bradie James is looking forward to it.

The arm-flapping, neck-bobbing dance has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition for the Dallas Cowboys ever since defensive end Jason Hatcher came up with the idea the week of the team’s Thanksgiving Day game in 2008 against Seattle.

That day, the Cowboys’ defense sacked Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck seven times, had one interception and forced a fumble as Dallas defensive players danced around the field on national television all day in a 34-9 win. James had two of the sacks that day in the last Thanksgiving game at…

For the first time on Thanksgiving, two brothers will try to outplay the other as head coaches on opposite sides of the field.

But that is only one of the subplots coming into this Ravens – 49ers game as the 2011 NFL football season celebrates Thanksgiving. No sir. Sure, the first-ever showdown between two head coaches who happen to be brothers, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, is certainly an interesting twist on the league’s Thanksgiving tradition and it’s a wonderful tribute to the Harbaugh family – particularly mom and dad – but it’s important for everyone to keep this family affair in its proper perspective.

It is just one subplot in a game that is full of them. The Baltimore Ravens are entering their second week of wondering just how long they are going to have to play without injured superstar Ray Lewis. Both teams are working on a heavily condensed practice and preparation schedule.

The San Francisco 49ers have the added disadvantage of having to fly coast-to-coast for the second time in barely three weeks. Trust me on this, those are the kinds of things that are at the very top of the priority list for both coaches, even as they play along with what is — admittedly — a pretty cool human interest story.

John Harbaugh may look like a touchy-feely guy when he flashes that 100-watt smile, but if you’ve been paying attention the last 3 ½ years, you’ve probably figured out that he was dead serious when he laid out his top three priorities at his introductory media conference.

“The team, the team and the…”