Bob Costas, who is NBC's lead sportscaster during the Olympic Games, looked noticeably different when he appeared on the Today show late last week.

Bob Costas Wears Glasses On Air

Commenting on the first day of Sochi 2014 events on Thursday, Costas seemed to be accessorizing with a stylish pair of eyeglasses. According to the sportscaster, the glasses weren't for fashion – they were mandatory due to a nasty eye infection.

“Bear with me for a moment as I spare my friends in the press office countless inquiries. I have no choice 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,” Costas explained, throwing in an old cartoon joke in the process.

“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, but that’s another story,” Costas added with self-deprecating humor.

People who viewed Costa’s different appearance, which included a slightly red and half-closed left eye, took to the Internet to figure out what was wrong him, having missed his explanation.

“Bob has some sort of infection which has his left eye completely red and almost completely closed, making it impossible to put a contact lens in it,” Costas’ assistant explained to Deadspin, who’d asked for clarification for a reader. “It just came on within the last 24 hours, the NBC doctors in Sochi are treating it, and they think it should resolve itself by the weekend. Until then, he has no choice but to go with the glasses on air.”

Twitter Jokes About Costas' Eye

With the information about Costas’ infection, social media users have been taking the opportunity to make a few harmless jokes at the sportscaster’s expense.

– Chelsea Regan

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