Terry Hanson

Hanson was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on June 16, 1947. He earned a bachelor's degree in Education from St. Benedict’s College (now Benedictine College) in Atchison, Kansas, in 1968; two years later, in 1970, Hanson earned his master's degree in Education from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. After this, he began his professional career at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he was the head coach in both soccer and baseball, and he was named the National Soccer Coach of the Year in 1974 by the NAIA.[1]

Hanson spent four summers as an associate scout for two major league baseball teams: the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres. He also spent five seasons as a senior executive for three North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams: the Rochester Lancers,[2] the Washington Diplomats,[3] and the Atlanta Chiefs.[4][5]

From 1980 to 1984, Hanson worked as a Turner Sports executive.[6] In 1982, Hanson, Robert Wussler, and Russ Potts successfully outbid CBS to air what was dubbed "The Game of the Decade" on Turner Network Television—a college basketball game pitting The University of Virginia against the Georgetown Hoyas in a matchup which featured the two biggest stars in college basketball at the time, Ralph Sampson and Patrick Ewing. This was an important step for sports broadcasting on cable television, as high-profile sporting event broadcasts had always been featured on major networks prior to this. it was also the first use of the name "Turner Network Television" (or TNT).[7]

From 1984-1991, Hanson was a PGA Tour executive serving as Director of Communications and Broadcasting. He also negotiated network coverage.[8]

Hanson was hired in 1991 to oversee the Raycom Sports events division, which included the Blockbuster Bowl and the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions, later titled by Harris Teeter, Food Lion and Hardee’s, which was a high-profile college basketball tournament.[9]

Since 2007, Hanson had been a regular ensemble member on The John Boy and Billy Big Show.[10] He had also done television color analyst work in college basketball and professional soccer. He retired in January 2020, and moved to St. Louis, MO to be closer to his family.

In 2005, Charlotte Observer writer Michael Gordon wrote an article titled, “Life, Death and Terry Hanson.”[11] In the article, Gordon documents four separate times in Hanson’s life when he was in the right place at the right time to come to a person’s rescue:

• 1970—While Hanson was the baseball and soccer coach at St. Benedict’s College in Atchison, Kansas, he performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a retired Army officer, who had collapsed in front of Hanson’s office. At the age of 23, Hanson was unable to save his life.
• 1972—Hanson’s friend, Ed Ireland, went missing on a Saturday night after closing the Knights of Columbus in Atchison, Kan with Hanson and friend Richard Dyer. The following Monday, Hanson, Dyer and Ireland’s brother went searching for their friend. They stopped at every skid mark on a 20-mile stretch of highway. By a stroke of luck, Dyer slipped down an embankment and spotted Ireland pinned underneath his car in the mud.
• 1991—Lloyd Cox, 86 at the time, collapsed at a baseball game. Nearby, Hanson rushed over and performed CPR on Cox for ten minutes. Afterward a paramedic told onlookers had Hanson not stepped into action, they would have watched Cox die.
• 2005—Hanson was at a lunch meeting with friend Andy Abdow, when Abdow collapsed at the restaurant from a heart attack. Hanson performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while two other men assisted; Abdow was later stabilized by repeated shocks from a defibrillator at a hospital where he stayed for 15 days.