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Perhaps Bob Costas is human after all.
A consummate broadcasting professional, the veteran NBC anchor can come off a bit stilted and rigid at times. He's smooth insofar as handling his responsibilities on camera, but Costas' rare attempts to appear relatable usually end up falling flat.
This was not the case on Thursday night, however. Costas appeared on NBC's broadcast of the Winter Olympics and popped up for Jay Leno's final episode of The Tonight Show.
Both were ridiculous, less than Costas-y moments, starting with the NBC anchor explaining away his puffy Eye of Sauron. Indeed, viewers tuning in for NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics encountered a strange, spectacled version of Costas.
While Costas' decision to don glasses for the broadcast was puzzling, concern skyrocketed when viewers noticed his left eye was nearly swollen shut.
Wasn't he warned about the tainted Sochi water? RT @Steve_R_Walker: "What is up with Bob Costas' left eye?" http://ift.tt/1l7xFl5 Steve Ortiz (@stevieort) February 7, 2014
According to Chris Chase of For The Win, Costas took a brief moment near the beginning of the Olympic broadcast to explain his Terminator eye to the viewing public and confirm he was soldiering through an eye infection:
Bear with me for a moment as I spare my friends in the press office countless inquiries. I have no choice [but] to go all Peabody and Sherman on you for the next couple of nights since I woke up this morning with my left eye swollen shut and just about as red as the old Soviet flag. According to the NBC doctors here, it's some kind of minor infection which should resolve itself by the weekend. If only all my issues would resolve themselves that quickly.
Costas didn't explain how the infection came about, but we can only pray he didn't drink or wash his face with Sochi water.
That's not green tea, guys. It's jaundiced regret.
Conditions in Sochi are... less than ideal. Spoiler: don't drink the water. http://t.co/7M0vs28PWK http://ift.tt/1l7xHJx Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) February 5, 2014
According to Ty Duffy of The Big Lead, Costas also made everyone's inner freshman giggle by uttering the name of Russian feminist punk rock group "Pussy Riot" later in the broadcast.
The good news is Costas wasn't done for the night. Later in the evening, the anchor made a brief (and likely pre-taped appearance) during Jay Leno's last hurrah as host of The Tonight Show.
According to Stephen Douglas of The Big Lead, Costas went on air (with a less gunky but still leaky eye) and woofed back a swig of "Jack Daniel's."
To head off the Bob Costas/whiskey truthers, it did appear that the contents of the bottle fizzed up after Costas' chug, meaning it was probably Coca-Cola.
Either way, it was an unforgettable night for NBC viewers, who were privy to not just one strange, Costas-y instance, but three.
Be on the lookout for more golden Costas moments this weekend. Red-Eye Costas might look like a terminator, but he's far from the boring, preachy Bob Costas to which we're accustomed.
On the other hand, he may not be healed "by the weekend." We could potentially be looking at an entire Winter Olympics of Costas' cyborg vision, because as we all know, time heals everything but crazy eyes. Join me on Twitter for more sports news @Dr_Carson
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