The Year In... Mutton

So the last month has been chock full of end-of-decade retrospectives in addition to the typical end-of-year remembrances. We'll do our own anyway. Today, to start: mutton-bustin'. Like you expected anything else.

It all started back in July, when the erstwhile Los Angeles Times published a stirring trend story about mutton bustin', which the reporter, Kate Linthicum, described as "a little-known but beloved rodeo event where kids a couple years out of diapers ride sheep just like the big boys ride bulls. Suburban parents put their kids in Little League. In the country, where rodeo is king, parents sign up their kids for mutton bustin'." God bless 'em. Truer, more influential sentences have never been written.

The world — and Deadspin — was forever changed.

• Let's remember, though, that mutton bustin' had inauspicious beginnings on this very site.

• We bookended the day with another photo of a little child crashing violently off a mutton's back. One more time and...

• ... trend! It's never too early for sheep.

• And if it's a news story, it's fodder for a point- counterpoint on the Deadspin op-ed pages. Moe and Pareene deserve a Pulitzer.

• Turns out mutton bustin' is nothing new. Little children become NFL linebackers by falling off mutton. And eating their Wheaties.

• Mutton bustin': It's as cool as the under side of the sheep!

• It's even caught on in Japan, where "mutton bustin'" translates to "pig rodeo."

• By the end of August, mutton is played out. Goats are in.

• Kidding! Close your eyes, and hold on tight, kiddies.

• Six months later, ESPN's crack I-team is on the case, complete with mutton cam. Our work here is done.

No children were harmed in the making of this post. We hope. Merry Christmas.