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Bob Costas to Matt Lauer: 'You're coming out of the bullpen again tonight'

Bob Costas called in to TODAY on Wednesday to announce that, once again, Matt Lauer will be taking over for him tonight to cover the Olympics."Actually, I don't feel that bad," he said of his current condition, "and the irony of it is, we've all felt worse than I feel right now and gone into work...I've done lots of ball games and events feeling much less than my best, but in this case it's just i
Bob Costas is once again handing over Olympic coverage to Matt Lauer Wednesday.
Bob Costas is once again handing over Olympic coverage to Matt Lauer Wednesday.Today

Bob Costas called in to TODAY on Wednesday to announce that, once again, Matt Lauer will be taking over for him tonight to cover the Olympics.

"Actually, I don't feel that bad," he said of his current condition, "and the irony of it is, we've all felt worse than I feel right now and gone into work...I've done lots of ball games and events feeling much less than my best, but in this case it's just involuntary. It's an eye infection, and my eyes are so blurry and watery and become so light-sensitive that even in dim light they're constantly tearing up.

Watch the video: Costas taps Lauer to host prime time Wednesday

"I can't possibly be in the studio, so it's not a case of just saying, 'What the heck, I'll go in not feeling well," he added, breaking the news to Matt: "You're coming out of the bullpen again tonight."

On Tuesday, the veteran sports anchor announced on TODAY that he would be handing over coverage of the Olympics to Lauer that night, as his eye infections had worsened. "Let's hope it's only tonight," he said at the time.

"I had to go in early, not to practice my lines, but to Lysol your whole dressing room,'' Lauer said about filling in on Tuesday. 

Tuesday night marked the first time since 1988 that NBC's prime time Olympics coverage had been anchored by anyone other than Costas. He plans to make it up to Matt for filling in for him. 

"In return for this, I promise to step in on the next 10 'Steals and Deals' and 'Ambush Makeovers,''' Costas joked.