After moving here last summer - Hasseltine and his wife, Virginia, live in Howard County with their two preschool daughters - he has approached the job as though it were "a marathon, not a sprint," meeting and introducing stakeholders with an eye toward building a foundation that outlasts any single event. An early project was working with his assistant, Ashley Cottrelle, to create a Web site, marylandsports.us, that chronicles the state's events and venues.
In his spare time, Hasseltine piles the family into his car and sets out for points unknown. That's how he discovered a neighborhood in Ocean City that would be perfect for a pro volleyball tournament "if you could close off the right roads.
"I have this, uh, idiosyncrasy," Hasseltine says. "My wife is trying to get the kids to the beach, and I'm dreaming up events. I can't seem to help it."
He's now in the research stages on a project that would bring a street-level Indy Racing League Grand Prix race to the streets surrounding Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. It would draw 150,000 spectators to Baltimore - they'd sit in temporary bleachers - and might serve as the denouement of the circuit's formula race tour.
If traffic and "noise abatement" studies work out well, the event could happen in 2011.
In the longer term, he hopes to establish a full-fledged Maryland sports commission to engage the state's political might. Just seven states have such commissions so far. "Ours would be the biggest," he says.
For now, the soccer match fits his plans like a header into the upper corner. The game is the only sellout so far in the World Football Challenge, and it should bolster his current mission: trying to persuade soccer authorities to make Baltimore a host city should the U.S. land the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022. The application is due this month.
Friday's match and surrounding hoo-hah have gripped Hasseltine as much as his job.
"I can't wait - I can't wait - to see what atmosphere we're going to have," he says. "Expect singing in at least two languages, face painting, all the crazy passions you associate with international soccer.
"We've never seen anything quite like this - not in Baltimore," he adds. "The beauty is, it could bring a lot more."
Terrance W. "Terry" Hasseltine
Title: Director, Maryland Office of Sports Marketing
Born: Dec. 11, 1969, Rutland, Vt.
Raised: Plaistow, N.H.
Education: B.S. in sport management and physical education, State University of New York Cortland, 1997
Lives: Elkridge, Md.
Married to: Virginia Kostrewski Hasseltine
Children: Alayna, 4, and Adalyn, 1
Currently reading: Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Childhood hero: former Notre Dame and New York Jets football coach Lou Holtz, for the way he overcame small size - and a lisp - to reach the pinnacle of his profession
On his office wall: a banner from Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.; framed Sports Illustrated Cal Ripken cover; specialized Kentucky license plate that helped raise $150,000 for a golfing charity.
Motto created for Maryland sports: Maryland -- Here to Play
