Fast Break

FOOTBALL

Strahan set to join Fox lineup

Michael Strahan is taking his gap-toothed grin to Fox.

The charismatic former New York Giants defensive end, who retired earlier this month, will join the network’s NFL pregame show, a person with knowledge of the hiring confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday. The person requested anonymity because the announcement had not yet been made. Fox is scheduled to hold a news conference today.

The move was first reported by SI.com.

The 36-year-old Strahan made seven Pro Bowls in his 15 NFL seasons and recorded the fifth most sacks in league history. He went out on top, winning a Super Bowl title in February.

Golf

Mediate has no issue with Miller

Rocco Mediate says he’s not bothered by NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller saying the 45-year old golfer “looks like the guy who cleans Tiger’s swimming pool,” and “Guys with the name ‘Rocco’ don’t get on the trophy” during the U.S. Open.

Mediate was in Barrington, R.I., on Monday to play in the CVS Caremark Charity Classic at the Rhode Island Country Club. He won the tournament five years ago.

Miller apologized Friday for his description of Mediate, who is of Italian heritage. Miller said the comments had nothing to do with Mediate’s ethnicity, and he meant to convey his affection and admiration for Mediate’s “everyman qualities.”

Mediate told WJAR-TV that Miller’s comments had been blown out of proportion.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “He definitely didn’t do it on purpose.”

Broadcasting

Imus brings race back to airwaves

Don Imus has once again injected race into his radio show.

During an on-air conversation Monday about the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, Imus asked, “What color is he?”

Told by sports announcer Warner Wolf that Jones is “African-American,” Imus responded: “There you go. Now we know.”

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton issued a statement calling the exchange disturbing “because it plays into stereotypes.” He says his National Action Network was still deciding how to respond.

Imus was fired from his previous show last year after he made a racially charged comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team.