Michael Lang

Ex DSF Broadcaster and current Thunder GM

DSF 95-98 Thunder 99-present

Inducted in 2002

 

Since the re-birth of the league in 1995, Michael Lang has never been far from view, be it as the face of DSF or in his current post of General Manger of the Berlin Thunder. It's fitting that we chose to induct him into the Hall of Fame on the heels of last season when his Thunder team won their first World Bowl championship and earned Michael his first World Bowl ring.

Michael is from Ansbach in Germany, and first got into broadcasting when he interned for RTL in 1992. But it was during a year abroad in the US in 1993 that he developed his love of American sports while working for radio stations both in Tampa and Washington. He returned to Germany in 1994 and started working for DSF, becoming one of their key sports broadcasters as well as aiding in the marketing of US sports.

We first met Michael in 1998, during our historic Tripleheader. At game one in Dusseldorf we told him we would see him in 2 days in Barcelona (where he was then covering the Galaxy game) and he thought we were crazy! But sure enough we ran into him then and he promised us a beer later in the season in Frankfurt, a promise which he duly kept.

However his DSF days were coming to a close, as with the impending relocation of the Monarchs franchise to Berlin, he was hot favourite to be General Manager of the new operation. So it came as no surprise that at World Bowl 98 in Frankfurt, he was named GM of the Thunder.

World Bowl Winner, Amsterdam 2001

The Thunder however had a rocky start in their early days. For one, the team stunk. No more was this evident than their home opener when the Claymores posted a record 48 points past their defense. New coach Wes Chandler seemed to struggle too, and appeared out of his depth early. But after a woeful 0-4 start, the team pulled it together to finish 3-7. However the perception of the team as a loser was a stigma that carried on in 2000, and another last place finish at 3-7 didn't help under new coach Pete Vaas. Other issues plagued the team too, and with a less than ideal located stadium, the Thunder were not able to pull in the size of crowds expected in Frankfurt or Dusseldorf. (Despite the low turnouts, would you believe that local residents complained about the noise?)

 

Micheal has many fans across the league, World Bowl 98.

 

2001 however provided light at the end of the tunnel for the Thunder. The time got hot down the stretch behind the arm of Jonathan Quinn and roared into World Bowl IX against the favoured 9-1 Barcelona Dragons. Game MVP Quinn stayed hot with a couple of TD passes and the Thunder roared to a 24-17 win to give Lang his first championship. Hopefully it will be the springboard to better times for the Berlin franchise. We are confident that Michael can see to that!

 

Welcome to the Hall of Fame Michael!

 

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