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Here are the 2016 April Fools' gags that weren't completely terrible

By Mark Hinog

It's April Fools' Day, which means everywhere you look on the Internet, there's going to be a trap. Sometimes it can be cruel, like the time an Indiana professor told his class Tom Crean got fired in front of the coach's daughter. Sometimes it can backfire horribly, like Gmail's "Mic Drop" prank. And sometimes it can be done right.

Like the wise Josh Gondelman once said:

So let's celebrate the ones who know how jokes work, starting with ...

Pokémon and college football subreddits switch places for a day

This may have been inspired by our recent feature where we converted every FBS team into a Pokémon we thought suited them the best. Even if it wasn't, the fact that they committed to this bit, and garnered some great reactions, deserves a round of applause. Now you should sing the Pokérap, but replace every Pokémon with a team name.

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The Golden State Warriors tricked Festus Ezeli into thinking he got cut

The downside to this is that it's ultimately an advertisement for Lyft -- also the premise is pretty messed up, the more you think about it -- but the prank was excellent enough to make you forget that fact. It remains to be seen how Ezeli reacts when they, uh, actually cut him in the future (for whatever reason.) In the meantime, here's a cake fight.

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Oregon Ducks are making an LED field

This would've been pretty awesome to see a team transform their field into a full LED light show, as seen in the video above. A hint that this wasn't going to happen: the person quoted in the release is Hank Scorpio, best known as the James Bond-esque villain from The Simpsons episode "You Only Move Twice:"

The field is being constructed by Gelos LED Systems, a subsidiary of the Globex Corporation, a high-tech company based out of Cypress Creek.

"Finally our product will come to light." Hank Scorpio, CEO of Globex Corporation said.

* * *

GQ gets invaded by George Costanza

No, this isn't photoshopped. On their home page, GQ actually has images of George Costanza as image placeholders for articles. Too bad the articles are real and don't involve Costanza whatsoever. One can only dream, though.

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Famous basketball hairstyles on Basketball Reference

As a spiritual sequel to Baseball Reference's facial hair gag, Basketball Reference is letting users add new hairstyles to every player's photo, from Larry Bird's mustache to Julius Erving's afro -- literally any player you search. Now you know what LeBron looks like with Birdman's afro.

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Boston Celtics are selling Brooklyn Nets pullover hoodies

This isn't so much an April Fools' prank as it is another reminder that the Celtics -- one of the better teams in the East -- have the coveted, unprotected first-round draft pick from the gloomy Nets this year, something they almost reportedly gave up before the trade deadline for Jahlil Okafor. Way to twist the knife, Boston.

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Louisiana-Lafayette football's crawfish helmets

Sometimes jokes can backfire (in a good way) on April Fools' Day because it can be so good it makes people actually want it to be real. This crawfish helmet that Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth tweeted on Friday is most likely an April Fools' joke. But it needs to be a real thing.

Seriously, please make these helmets. Don't toy with our emotions.

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April Fools' Day: A garbage holiday for jerks and brands

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