It’s not just joking matter at ESPYs

Shaquille O’Neal was an easy target as he sat in the front row at the taping of the ESPY awards show Wednesday night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

“You excited about Kobe coming to Miami?” co-host Jimmy Kimmel said. As O’Neal’s expression changed from a smile to a scowl, Kimmel added, “Oh, you didn’t hear? But Kobe will only come to the Heat if you agree to go back up the beanstalk.”

And Kobe Bryant, who wasn’t there, was the target of this Kimmel zinger: “There have been a lot of babies in sports this year. Tiger Woods had a baby girl, my co-host, LeBron James, had a baby boy, and the Lakers still have Kobe.”

And, noting the impending arrival of David Beckham in Los Angeles, Kimmel hit Wayne Gretzky with: “Maybe he can do what you did for hockey, and in 15 years no one will be watching soccer either.”

The show, which will be televised Sunday night at 6 on ESPN, obviously includes lots of laughs. There’s a taped skit involving Kimmel, Danica Patrick, a towel and Jerry Tarkanian in a shower scene. Well, let’s just say you have to see it.

But emotional moments are part of the show too. Getting the longest applause of the night was Kay Yow, 66, the North Carolina State women’s basketball coach who was undergoing treatment for breast cancer during this year’s NCAA tournament.

“When we flew to Fresno for the Sweet 16, I had to have a nurse fly with me,” Yow told the audience. “When I flew here on Monday, no nurse.”

Yow was presented with the inaugural Jimmy V ESPY for Perseverance. Coincidentally, Jim Valvano also coached at North Carolina State.

Sometimes lost among all the laughs, the tears, the glory for the honorees and the self-promotion for ESPN is the good that the ESPYs do.

The show and the events surrounding it raise money for the V Foundation, created by ESPN to honor Valvano, who died not long after making his famous “Never Give Up” speech at the first ESPYs in 1993.

The foundation has since raised $60 million for cancer research. On Tuesday, after the ESPY celebrity golf tournament at Industry Hills, ESPN chief George Bodenheimer presented a check of $1.3 million to Nick Valvano, Jim’s brother and the head of the foundation.

“We have only six employees,” Valvano said. “So how can we put on events like this with only six employees? We can only do it with the help of so many people at ESPN.”

On Wednesday, ESPN Radio held an all-day benefit auction, which figures to far exceed the $450,000 that was raised last year. KSPN 710, for its part, raised $61,000.

John Leshney, V Foundation senior vice president, credits Dick Vitale alone with raising millions of dollars. He held a gala at a hotel in his hometown of Sarasota, Fla., in May that raised $1.3 million, after holding an event at his house last year that raised $300,000. And Aug. 3-4 Vitale will serve as the host of the annual V Foundation wine celebration in Napa Valley that is always a huge fundraiser.

Short waves

Tonight’s Angels home game against Texas on FSN West marks the return of the announcing team of Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler. Judging from dozens of e-mails sent our way, they’ve been missed. In recent weeks, the announcers have been Jose Mota and Mark Gubicza, who were tabbed before the season to work 50 telecasts -- mostly road games. Physioc and Hudler are scheduled to work the rest.

The Dodgers’ game Saturday at San Francisco will be regionally televised by Fox. The announcers will be Matt Vasgersian and Tim McCarver. Joe Buck has the day off.

Beckham’s official presentation as a Galaxy player today at 10 a.m. will be televised by FSN Prime Ticket and ESPNews. His debut as a player will be July 21, when the Galaxy plays host to Chelsea of the English Premier League, and ESPN will televise that game.

The Pan American Games run today through July 29, and ESPN Deportes will offer at least 10 hours of daily coverage. The opening ceremony will be televised at 1:30 p.m. today. ESPN2 will televise a few events later in the competition, and ESPN will air the men’s basketball semifinals on July 28. Other ESPN and ESPN Deportes platforms will also have coverage.

Ever wonder what it is like to try to cover more than 100 golfers at once? In a rare look at how golf is produced, CBS will take viewers into the production truck during Saturday’s coverage of the John Deere Classic. The coordinating producer is Lance Barrow and the director is Steve Melton.

NBC has the American Century celebrity tournament at Lake Tahoe this weekend, featuring Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. Also in the field are Al Michaels and Mike Eruzione, two key figures in the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” gold-medal run by the U.S. Olympic hockey team. Michaels and Eruzione are both 100-1 longshots, according to Harrah’s.

CBS will air the first of its three one-hour specials on the Tour de France on Sunday at 11 a.m. Most of the coverage is being provided by Versus.

ESPN will televise the Arena Football League conference title games Saturday back-to-back, beginning at 10 a.m. The championship ArenaBowl July 29 at New Orleans will be televised on ABC.

TNT wraps up its portion of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season Sunday at 1 p.m. with a race from Chicago.

For the WNBA, this is All-Star weekend, highlighted by Sunday’s game at 12:30 p.m. on ABC.

TVG kicks off its Del Mar coverage Wednesday, which is opening day. Included will be a “Racing Roundtable” discussion at 7 p.m. focusing on Del Mar’s new $9-million track. Throughout the meet that ends Sept. 5, TVG will have weekend coverage, Friday through Sunday.

David Hill, Fox Sports chief, will be in front of the camera serving as a judge during a 10-episode reality series, “America’s Next Producer,” which makes it debut on TV Guide Network on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

KSPN 710 has extended its original three-year contract with USC an additional two years.

larry.stewart@latimes.com