Ranking the Greatest Sports Social Media Moments of 2016

Was Danny Willett's brother the best thing about sports social media in 2016? Could be.  

It's no secret social media can be a negative and scary place. It's also the home of the Marshawn Lynch-iguana mashup, though, so it can't be all bad.  

In fact, there were many fantastic sports social media moments in 2016. There were witty tweets, hilarious feuds and epic memes. It's almost impossible to narrow them all down to the 10 best…almost.

The following are 10 social media moments people will remember. They possess varying degrees of hilarity, wittiness and memorability, and they reminded folks the internet can be a wonderful place.  

Warning: A couple of these are NSFW. 

       
Dishonorable Mention

Speaking of the internet being a terrible place, a dishonorable mention goes out to the loathsome people who tweeted mean things to an adult man named Riley Curry, thinking he was the four-year-old daughter of Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry:

"

People tweet horrible things at me thinking I am @StephenCurry30 daughter. I am a 29 yr old man. Social media can be so awful. @MikeAndMike

— riley curry (@rileycurry) June 10, 2016"

Gross. 

OK, on to the happier stuff.

        
10. Hawks Crying Jordan Themselves

People who can laugh at themselves are the best kind of people. So it's especially refreshing to see sports teams displaying that same type of lighthearted, self-deprecating humor on Twitter. Take the Atlanta Hawks, for example. The Cleveland Cavaliers beat them handedly in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, nailing 18 threes in the first half alone. The Hawks social media team handled it brilliantly:

        
Witty and funny. Good stuff.

       
9. The Indians' Savage Trolling of Jose Bautista

It was a good year for MLB Twitter accounts—lots of clever and hilarious material. Exhibit A: The Cleveland Indians vs. former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista.

After his Blue Jays fell into an 0-2 hole against the Indians in the American League Championship Series, Bautista made some cryptic remarks, per Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star, suggesting "circumstances" conspired against him at the plate. (Circumstances like umpires, Jose?) This is how the Indians social media team responded:
       

   
Wit, humor, pop culture references—this tweet had it all. Well done, Tribe.

            
8. Eli Manning Super Bowl Meme

There were several fantastic memes to come out of the 2016 year in sports—Phelps Face, Bill Murray during March Madness—but one stands out as particularly hilarious.

The Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50, and quarterback Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset on the heels of his second title. His family looked on as the Broncos scored a late touchdown to all but wrap up the victory. Everyone cheered, except, well, Peyton's younger brother Eli:
                      

        
The New York Giants QB and two-time Super Bowl champion stood with a look of utter dejection on his face. Naturally, the internet noticed:
      

        
Young Manning later told TMZ Sports (via Ryan Wilson of CBS Sports) he was "just focused on whether they'd go for two and the defense had to step up and make some stops." Suuure.

        
7. Dan Haren's Insider Info

Some people are just good at Twitter. Former MLB pitcher Dan Haren is one of those people. In January, he posted a series of tweets reminiscing about his time in the majors. A sampling:

       
Nothing beats the comedy of naked honesty.

             
6. McLovin vs. Frank Isola

Remember McLovin from Superbad? Of course you do. The actor who played him, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, got into a spontaneous beef with New York Daily News writer Frank Isola in May, and it was magical:

   
Pitch Perfect? Hilarious. 

          
5. Spontaneous Cubs vs. Yankees Twitter Feud

The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs got into some random social media banter in February. Both teams displayed brilliant humor and GIF know-how, and it was delightful (Check out the entire exchange here):

It's OK Cub fans. You still had a decent year.

               
4. Tony X Discovers Hockey

In April, a man named Tony X apparently watched hockey for the first time and documented the experience on Twitter. He chose a gem of a game to start with, Game 7 of the Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues first-round playoff matchup. Warning: Some of his reactions are NSFW:

      
There is more NSFW hilarity here.

          
3. NFL Teams vs. the GIF Ban

In 2016, the NFL issued a memo limiting the type of content teams could use on social media. Specifically, per Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, "Teams also can't take highlights of what happens on the field and make it their own by using their own video or posting highlights from television directly to social media. Teams also can't turn highlights into animated GIFs."

The new "GIF ban" resulted in some of the cleverest social media tactics you'll see this year, including: 

      
Sarcasm at its best.

              
2. Danny Willett's Brother at the Masters

Another person who is good at Twitter? Danny Willett's brother. You might remember Willett as the English golfer who capitalized on Jordan Spieth's Masters collapse to claim his first major win.

His brother, P.J. Willett, live-tweeted the whole thing and catapulted himself into sports stardom in the process:

Now, he probably lost a few fans by jabbing Americans during the Ryder Cup in an article for National Club Golfer's website, but not to worry. The No. 1 sports social media moment has plenty of red, white and blue patriotism.

                   
1. Leslie Jones for 'Merica

When your social media activity earns you a trip to the Olympics, that's big. It's probably safe to call comedian Leslie Jones an American Olympic superfan. Her hilarious videos and commentary were the social media highlights of the Rio Games (and many were NSFW):

        
Hilarious, witty and memorable, Leslie Jones has it all. Her tweets were so boss, in fact, NBC actually extended her an invite to Rio, and she accepted.

Team USA won 121 medals overall, and Jones won sports social media.