A friend of ours always used to say, "We tease because we love." While that always seemed like a convenient excuse for him to continue peppering us with verbal jabs, we get it. Good-natured ribbing is a part of life, and when done in the right spirit, it helps us all laugh a bit at the more ridiculous aspects of the world.
Hence, our third annual Cluck-ups. The idea was hatched years ago by an Indy staff that had stockpiled bits of silly, surreal or otherwise bizarre news throughout the year—and wanted to do anything but the typical year-end retrospective. The name derives from the never-ending chicken debates that defined the Missoula City Council in 2007, which just happened to be the same year we brought these awards to print. We've kept both the format and the name intact because, for better or worse, we have no shortage of people—including us (see sidebar)—who have laid an egg this year.
