Haines has lived in Spokane, Washington; Forty Fort, Pennsylvania; and Lexington, Massachusetts, and attended high school at Washington-Lee in Arlington, Virginia.

[1] Haines began his broadcasting career in 1962 in Mitchell, South Dakota, at KORN radio and television.

[6] He also oversaw negotiations with ABC, CBS, ESPN and Fox Broadcasting Company for coverage of college football and basketball games.

Haines is also known for the failed attempt to form a college football game in Russia, the Glasnost Bowl (1989)[17] He served as president of the University Faculty Club at Virginia Tech 1979–1981.

In 2007, Haines was published in the Charlotte Business Journal, contributing a piece called "A Tribute to Community".