A consumer's guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it's in play here.

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

By LARRY STEWART

Feb. 23, 1999 12 AM PT

What: ESPN Classic

Classic Sports Network, launched in 1995 in 6,500 homes, quickly grew in popularity and became ESPN Classic after the network was acquired by ESPN on Oct. 8, 1997. It is now seen in nearly 20 million homes, and on March 1 will undergo some major changes.

If you’re like most viewers, you may have stumbled on the network while channel surfing. You’re clicking along and suddenly you’re captivated watching Wilt Chamberlain against Bill Russell. Or you see Bill Sharman and two of his Boston Celtic teammates on an old “Sports Challenge” with Dick Enberg.

Questions come our way regarding programming, such as, what is on when? TV Guide and most other publications do not have the space to list ESPN Classic’s lineup. The lineup is listed on the network’s Web site, https://www.classicsports.com, which can also be reached through https://www.ESPN.com.

ESPN Classic is undergoing some major changes on March 1 to make it more viewer friendly, including a more consistent lineup. For example, Mondays at 6 p.m. will be baseball night, and Tuesdays at 5 p.m. and Thursdays at 6 p.m. will be football nights. The first week of every month will be themed--classic upsets, classic finishes, classic comebacks. The first week in March will focus on classic finishes, such as the 1994 Michigan-Colorado football game, the 1983 North Carolina State-Houston NCAA basketball title game.

Under the new format, viewers will be able to help program the network. Each Sunday, several two-hour programs will be listed on the opening page of ESPN.com. Viewers can vote until Thursday, and the winner will be televised the next Sunday at 4 p.m. For instance, viewers can vote on several NCAA championship games beginning Sunday, and the winner will be shown March 7.

Mini-marathons of related programming will fill weekends. On March 6, beginning at 10 a.m., six hours of “Boxing’s Greatest Champions” will be shown. The next day will feature seven hours of “The Week in the NFL,” with Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier.

Weekday afternoon blocks, 12:30 to 4 p.m., will consist of such classic favorites as “Home Run Derby,” “Classic Sports Legends,” and “The Way It Was.” There will be back-to-back episodes of “Sports Challenge” weekdays 4-5 p.m.

ESPN Classic has always been a great network, and the reorganization should make it ever better.