I simply can't believe it: I certainly hoped I would be wrong on this

Check out this post, which I did on November 19: Play the MN Lottery; first to go through the ice.

My prognostication was December 18, well it happened a lot earlier than I thought:

Authorities recover body of missing Ely snowmobiler

ELY, Minn. -- A rescue squad has recovered the body of a missing snowmobiler from a lake in northeastern Minnesota.

Engebretson and a companion were riding snowmobiles in a bay Wednesday when Engebretson's snowmobile broke through the ice and sank in 27 feet of water.

So the actual date was December 6. This happens every year, and snowmobilers continue to believe it will never happen to them. I had actually started thinking about this again yesterday on my drive in to work---I saw two ice-fisherman on a lake. It's been really cold for a short time, but I don't think we've had the duration of a really deep freeze that is required to ensure the lakes are frozen properly. There is definitely no shortage of Darwin Award nominees in our state, especially when it comes to some of the winter sport fanatics.