Bob Costas Tells Matt Lauer He Has To Take Over Because His Eyes Are So Bad He Can Barely See

NBC

Bob Costas called Matt Lauer this morning while he was on air to tell him he needed him to fill in for the primetime Olympics coverage tonight.

Costas said that his eyes were so bad that he could barely see. He told the New York Times:

"It was increasingly uncomfortable with each passing night, but I could cope with it. But last night until today, it got to where I couldn't look in the bathroom light without squinting and blinking and my eye watering."

Costas told the "Today Show" he "would have to go to the bullpen" and that Lauer would be "Mariano Rivera."

Lauer paused with a look of surprise on his face, sunk his head as he gasped and then responded "so i'm going to step in for you tonight? the master at olympic prime time?"

After Costas provided some advice on how to pronounce the names of some Russian figure skaters, Lauer later joked that he was going to start drinking vodka to prepare for his new role.

Lauer probably already knew he was going to take over tonight, but still, he did a decent job faking it:

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