I hate April Fools’ Day. I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment. Everyone tends to either go too far or too cute, causing the holiday to just become a tournament (a tournament a tournament) of lies. To actually pull off a prank on April Fools’ Day in 2014 is to be legitimately subversive.
That’s why the prank on Pardon the Interruption on Tuesday both works and doesn’t work for me. You can listen to the podcast edition here. The show leads off with the “breaking story” that Larry Bird is returning to coach the Indiana Pacers in the midst of their recent swoon.
Now, PTI is not a news program. It’s taped a couple of hours before it airs and it almost exclusively features opinions of its two hosts. Not a single intelligent person would believe that the show would ever break a news story. It’s even done April Fools jokes in the past, so it’s not like any new ground is being broken here.
That said, if you’re able to fool people, more power to you.
Because Mike and Tony sold it so well “@LBrothersMedia: @PTI @michaelsmith Smith, you actually believed Bird was gonna coach though?”
— Michael Smith (@michaelsmith) April 1, 2014
man, @pti must be playing me. i wouldn’t appreciate that. RT @cal_edwards: April fools right..!
— bomani (@bomani_jones) April 1, 2014
PTI just got me good with the April fool’s news that Larry Bird fired Frank Vogel today. Smh.
— Evan Cleaver (@EvanCleaver) April 1, 2014
More a bit on the shock of Frank Vogel being fired by Larry Bird, and Bird becoming the head coach again.
— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) April 1, 2014
Larry don’t play. Fired Frank Vogel QUICK. The Pacers are a mess lol
— G (@MrGChristopher) April 1, 2014
For his own part, Pacers coach (and the would-be fired) Frank Vogel is a huge fan of the show. He’d been disappointed recently with their “killing” of him. So, I guess the prank is good, and PTI wins April Fools’ Day.
