BENTONVILLE -- George Schroeder and Chuck Barrett became the newest members of the Arkansas Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame on Wednesday when they were inducted during a Hawgs Illustrated Sports Club Luncheon.
Schroeder grew up in Little Rock and his first full-time sportswriting job was with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from 1991-99 after he had been an intern at the Arkansas Democrat the previous two years.
Barrett, who is from Clarksville, is in his 17th season as the radio play-by-play announcer for University of Arkansas football games and also has been the UA men's basketball play-by-play announcer since the 2010-11 season. He was the Razorbacks' baseball radio play-by-play announcer from 1992-2014.
Schroeder left the Democrat-Gazette, where he covered a variety of sports, to become the Oklahoma football beat writer for the Daily Oklahoman. He then became a columnist for the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard and covered college football on a national basis for USA Today.
"I'm beyond grateful to be here, because I'm home," Schroeder said. "We haven't lived in Arkansas since 2000, but it's home."
Schroeder, president of the Football Writers Association of America in 2009, was honored nine times nationally by the Associated Press Sports Editors for his work. He also wrote a book, "Hogs: A History," which chronicled Arkansas football.
During his acceptance speech, Schroeder thanked many of his colleagues at the Democrat-Gazette, notably sports editor Wally Hall and Jeff Krupsaw, the newspaper's long-time deputy sports editor known for his ability to make good stories better.
"I am so indebted to Wally and Jeff and so many other people who laid the foundation for me," Schroeder said. "They helped me grow from not knowing anything about [writing for a newspaper] -- other than having read it and trying to mimic what I had seen from people -- to becoming better at a craft. And that's what it is. It's a craft."
Schroeder, who now lives in Fort Worth, has completed a Masters of Theological Studies from Southwestern Seminary and plans to work in church ministry. He also has been teaching journalism classes at Baylor University.
Barrett said he felt humbled and honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"I've always just been so proud to be on the radio," Barrett said. "That's what I wanted to do when I was a kid. That's all I wanted to do. I've had an opportunity to do it for a long, long time.
"It's a privilege to get to do what I do, and I want you to know I don't take it for granted. I grew up in a little house on Brown Street in Clarksville, hoping some day my path might take me to the Razorbacks.
"I've had an opportunity to do what I have for a long, long time, and I'm very grateful."
Barrett, honored as Arkansas Sportscaster of the Year three times, became known statewide while hosting the popular talk radio show "Sportsrap" from 1994-2007.
In 1994, Barrett joined the Arkansas Razorback Sports Network working on the pregame and halftime shows of football radio broadcasts.
As Barrett told a story Wednesday, he feared his first year at ARSN might be his last when he didn't do a good job of screening a caller into the pregame show, which featured Ray Tucker and former Arkansas and NFL quarterback Joe Ferguson.
A female caller named Mary called and asked to go on the air.
"I said, 'OK Mary, we'll get you on in a second,' " Barrett said.
What Barrett didn't know was that during that morning time slot, the station Mary listened to normally aired a gardening show.
Instead of asking about football, Mary asked about flowers.
"Ray Tucker said, 'Mary, you're on the air,' " Barrett said. "Mary said, 'I'm having a little trouble getting my begonias to grow, and I'm not quite sure what to do.' "
Barrett said he thought he might be fired.
"It was my job to make sure things like that didn't happen," Barrett said. "But Joe Ferguson, God bless him, never missed a beat.
"Joe said, 'Mary, I'd put some water on those begonias and some sunshine, and I think they're going to grow.' So she hung up."
Barrett kept his job and now is a Hall of Famer along with Schroeder.