New York City mayor and giant among men Bill de Blasio has announced that he will not be attending this year’s Groundhog Day ceremony. Does his decision have anything to do with the sudden, mysterious death of the very same groundhog he sent flying just days prior back in 2014? We’ll let you decide.

Low-rent Punxsutawney Phil impersonator Jimmy the Groundhog has the easy annual task of predicting each February whether Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, will experience six more weeks of winter (yes: it is in Wisconsin). This year, the job got to him a little bit as he whispered his prognostication into Mayor Jonathan Freund's ear: The weather will be—got your ear, sucker! I'm biting your damn ear off! How you like me now?

Northeasterners trudging through snow and slush on their way to work this morning, have hope: Staten Island Chuck did not see his shadow—or the (allegedly) deathly hands of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Mayor Bill has doomed us all to another four years of Soviet winter with his mishandling of Staten Island Chuck, and Phil, the Punxsatawney stalwart, confirms winter will continue for at least another six weeks.

So, the little marmot on, uh, Gobbler's Knob in central Pennsylvania saw his shadow, now it's six more interminable weeks of this Winter In Name Only. Die, Groundhog Day.

So, the little marmot on, uh, Gobbler's Knob in central Pennsylvania saw his shadow, now it's six more interminable weeks of this Winter In Name Only. Die, Groundhog Day.

So, the little marmot on, uh, Gobbler's Knob in central Pennsylvania saw his shadow, now it's six more interminable weeks of this Winter In Name Only. Die, Groundhog Day.

So, the little marmot on, uh, Gobbler's Knob in central Pennsylvania saw his shadow, now it's six more interminable weeks of this Winter In Name Only. Die, Groundhog Day.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg was relieved that the groundhog voluntarily left his cabin during yesterday's Groundhog Day event, saying, "That was so much better than having to reach in and let the little son of a bitch bite you." Amen.

The Way We Live Now: requesting a do-over. We made our best guess, and it didn't work out. Let's run it back. Let's try again. Let's make a different bet. Let's get a refund, and re-invest! Repay us, immediately!

In honor of today's holiday, here is a compilation of all the Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) moments from the classic Bill Murray comedy. You remember Ned Ryerson?

Not to be outdone by stupid Channel 7's gaffe earlier this week, Australia's Channel 10 News had some tricks up their sleeves as well: Report news, make subtle yet funny movie reference, mess with viewer's heads.

Merry Groundhog Day! This morning Punxsutawney Phil "saw his shadow," meaning six more weeks of winter. Jesus. Every year we politely pay attention to these Pagans and their animal rituals and in return they fuck us. Enough already. [CNN]

Watch Groundhog Day instantly on Netflix. This 1993 movie starring Bill Murray is a classic and addionally, a previous Freeze Frame on Gawker.TV.

Gay rodent Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.