OMAHA, Neb. — Arkansas fans have dominated the city of Omaha in the last week as momentum builds toward a first baseball national championship.
More and more fans – and former players – have poured into the city to watch the Razorbacks fight their way to within one game of College World Series title at TD Ameritrade Park.
Chuck Barrett had to join in the fun. The long-time play-by-play man for Arkansas baseball made the trip from his home in the Florida panhandle Monday just in time to watch the 4-1 victory over Oregon State to open the championship series.
“I wasn't going to miss it,” said Barrett, now the voice of football and basketball broadcasts for the Razorbacks.
“It's a special deal and I wanted to be here. I'm like everyone else all over the state who has ever been a part of Razorback baseball. Everything that's inside of me started with Razorback baseball.”
That's probably an understatement. Barrett was in on the ground floor as the Razorback baseball network began in 1992, the year the Hogs came into the SEC.
“I'm 55 and 23 of those years I was with the baseball team,” he said. “I'm like so many others I've seen here in the last two days; a part of me is the way it is because of Norm DeBriyn. It's a personal deal, not just a baseball game.”
Barrett went straight to the radio booth to shake hands with his successor, baseball play-by-play man Phil Elson, and color analyst Bubba Carpenter to wish them well for the championship series.
“I listen to them,” Barrett said. “I enjoy their work.
“I'm listening or watching on my phone. I get the broadcast on the app, listen to those guys and enjoy it.”
Barrett decided on the Omaha trip soon after an 11-5 win over Texas on June 17.
“I thought then that they were the best team here,” he said. “Now, things have to go right for you, but I watched every pitch of every game here and I knew I had to come.
“I think I'm like all the others I've seen here in the last two days, so many former players and just people who have worked with baseball as managers, trainers and about anything else. They feel a part of this and have to be here."
Arkansas baseball has changed a lot from when Barrett began calling games on AM stations in the early '90s. It took years for the Razorbacks' program to build the statewide backing they have now.
“I remember that first year I did baseball, in '92. We rode those buses," Barrett said. "These guys now are rock stars. They have charter flights. We rode the bus and sometimes there was no air conditioner.
“That first year for me, I didn't get a room. I had a rollaway and shared the room with the sports information director and the trainer.
“You think that doesn't sound so great, but it was great. To be around Norm and the program, that was great.
“Hey, I remember the 2 a.m. bus rides, playing cards. It was a great time and I look back on all of that fondly.”
There was no real radio network in 1992. It was one station, Fayetteville's KFAY.
“The next year Matt Shanklin, in marketing, came to me and said we should build a network, so we did,” he said. “We sort of faked it.”
By that, Barrett meant the system wasn't big-time.
“KFAY had a bank of phones, eight I think,” he said. “So we had one phone coming in from the broadcast, another one going to the (radio) board, then six going out to different stations. So we could have six stations.
“Someone from marketing, usually Matt, would come by and make the calls to the stations and put them on hold. The play-by-play would come through as a hold signal. I'd call it very primitive. Sometimes the phone lines would disconnect and you'd start over.”
It might have been a small-time operation, but Barrett pushed for a big-time product.
“I always thought we could sound as good as the Cardinals broadcast,” he said. “I do remember that by the time Norm's '99 team won the SEC, it was a big deal. I don't know how much that resonated throughout the state what had been accomplished, but we knew it inside the athletic program.
“Then, when Dave Van Horn arrived and we went to Omaha in '04, everything changed. We didn't have a problem getting stations and things just took off.”
Now, the broadcast is part of the property managed by IMG. It makes money and is on 100,000-watt stations across the state.
“Actually, it makes real money,” Barrett said. “I'm not saying IMG is getting rich off of Razorback baseball, but it's different than when I did games.”
Maybe there was no money in it for Barrett back in the '90s, but he will forever be grateful for that start in college radio.
“It gave me credibility,” he said. “And, it also gave me a chance to improve my ability to do games.
“I've always said you do 60 games a year in baseball. It takes five years to get that many in football. I was doing five games a week and it allowed me to work and get better.
“There was about 10 years that I worked in anonymity. I think after about 1,000 games I finally thought we were pretty good with a broadcast.”
Barrett, who stepped down from the baseball broadcasts in 2014, has chills thinking about what may be happening over the course of the next two days with the Hogs needing just one more victory for their first baseball national title.
“I think about the basketball championship in 1994, or even back to 1964 with the football championship,” Barrett said. “Those were big moments. This is a big moment, too.
“I wasn't in Charlotte in '94 because I was doing baseball games. I went to Dickson Street to celebrate. It's going to be like that back home tonight or tomorrow night. Yes, it's a big, big moment.
“I went over to the Marriott after the game (Tuesday) night and it was special. I saw so many former players. They all wanted to be a part of this, because they were a part of the process of getting here.
“Everyone is happy for the team and Dave, but they are happy for Norm, too. Everyone who has ridden on those buses is beaming about where the program is right now.”
Barrett has as good of a perspective on Van Horn as anyone. He notes a change in his demeanor as the years have progressed.
“What he's done with this team is awesome,” Barrett said. “I think it's an example of the winning edge that Dave Van Horn brings to a team.
“He's always had it, but it's evolved through the years. I thought OSU played tight last night and Arkansas played loose.
“You have to be loose. The Dave I see now allows his players to be loose. Now, as a player, he was always a fighter and a middle infielder and a player who had that edge about him. Maybe he was tight at times.
“But he's learned that he's got to get his players a little looser for the big moments. He's got the team playing that way right now.
“I am sure his demeanor is a little different now. When you play 75 games in a year, the team's character is going to be exposed. It just happens in baseball. This team has the character of the coach and he is different now.
“I don't think there is any question that the winning edge comes from the head coach. This team has that quiet confidence and they are certain of every step they take. They walk with confidence, just like Dave.”
Barrett had a front row seat for the action.
“I really didn't know where I was going to sit,” he said. “I was told that the baseball team had two seats on the front row. Dave had used them to scout. I checked to make sure no one was going to sit there and that's where I went at the start of the game. It was a great seat.”
There was no thought of joining in on the broadcast.
“I wasn't going to do that to Phil and Bubba,” he said. “I've tried to stay as far away from them as I could. I did want to see them before the game and then get in the stands. I had a blast.
“Like I said, it's special to be here. The vibe is incredible. I don't think I'll ever forget it as long as I'm able to remember anything.”
But the Hogs need one more victory. That will lead to a great Razorback celebration in Omaha. Barrett does not want to miss it.