When Brian Williams interviewed uber-swimmer Michael Phelps for Sunday’s Nightly News, he asked the Olympic champ how it felt to have Bruce Springsteen dedicate Born in the USA to him at a Friday concert in Jacksonville, Florida.
One small teeny problem, though: such a tribute hadn’t occurred.
Today, on the Daily Nightly blog, NBC’s Bob Costas identifies himself as the source of the bad info:
I had every reason to believe this information was accurate, and its source was reliable. In fact, I had intended to use it in my own interview with Phelps, but when time didn’t allow for it, I passed the story on to Brian, who did use it…So, I just wanted to set the record straight — and apologize to my friend Brian Williams, one of the best newsmen and biggest Springsteen fans I know.
(Now if The Boss could just cover our butts by giving Mr. Phelps a shout-out on Thursday night in Nashville, or Saturday night in my hometown of St. Louis — a show I’d definitely be at were I not in Beijing — I think I’d feel a lot better.)