RYAN MILLER PRANK CALL: MSNBC Apologizes, Interviews Real Team USA Olympic Hockey Goalie (VIDEO)

MSNBC was duped Friday during a phone interview with a person claiming to be Ryan Miller, the goalie for the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

During a live interview, the prank caller pretending to be Ryan Miller guaranteed that the U.S. would win the gold medal in the finals on Sunday.

MSNBC later interrupted "Hardball" to explain and apologize for the mistake. Willie Geist interviewed the real Ryan Miller and apologized for the mistake. Miller told Geist that he would never be so cocky as to guarantee gold.

Friday's prank call was the second on-air sports prank call this week. A caller pretending to be former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook pranked ESPN. That joke became clear when the fake Brian Westbrook said he looked forward to "worshipping Howard Stern's prostate."

WATCH: Geist gets pranked, then offers apology

Comments

[mcmutter]

04:23 PM on 03/02/2010

Can't do journalism without a real journalist, these clowns think all you gotta do is smile and make up an opinion .....

[booki]

02:38 PM on 03/02/2010

hey it happened to Sarah Palin.......Sarkozy:, tremember .she even invited "him "to go hunting with her..
Willie has worked long hours covering the Olympics for those of us who love MSNBC, and Willie. so what...........if some prankster called in......
Willie did an outstanding job, and i am grateful for his coverage......and his sense of fun.
Willie rocks. way too early........is my fav!

[jukesgrrl]

02:07 PM on 03/02/2010

Shows you how much research Willie does for his pieces, that are supposed to be humorous yet rarely are.

[jackM50]

01:03 AM on 03/02/2010

Pranks are dumb, inherently dumb. There's nothing intersting about them.

[LeeCalif]

06:59 PM on 03/01/2010

Bang up job, NBC.

[ConjureMan]

01:00 PM on 03/01/2010

It is quite easy to understand how it happened, if one takes into account that Willie G. got his start as Tucker Carlson's but-boy way back when that schm-_ck was at MSNBC.

[Guy Incognito]

09:23 AM on 03/01/2010

NBC couldn't tell the difference between Terry Fox (cross country runner and cancer victim) and Michael J. Fox (actor with Parkinson's disease). To top it off, MJF appeared at the closing ceremonies, but I wasn't watching the NBC feed, so I don't know if they acknowledged their mistake.

[jukesgrrl]

01:52 PM on 03/02/2010

No, they didn't. Big surprise, hug?

[Winthorpe]

11:56 PM on 02/28/2010

"I'm sorry, I mentioned Russia. I meant Finland in today's game."

That might have been your first clue, Willie.

[collies1]

09:06 AM on 03/01/2010

" Daddy they are picking on me. Get me a better job, please daddy"!!!
Your son
Willie

[Winthorpe]

12:48 PM on 03/01/2010

I don't even know who his dad is. I should have speculated about how he got the job.

[Pegi]

11:55 AM on 02/28/2010

this just shows the whole mentality of the morning joe crew, they are as du mb as dirt. esp. mika.

[ECB]

02:35 PM on 02/28/2010

True

[NYCforObama]

06:21 PM on 02/28/2010

Agreed.

[Winthorpe]

11:56 PM on 02/28/2010

Please apologize to dirt.

[healthnews]

11:54 AM on 02/28/2010

Ted Koppel a few years ago during that gigantic power outage across the northeastern US. Ted Koppel totally fell for it, too. Willie Geist is quite stupid though.
http://smackdowntv.manyaklari.com/

[tanya1111]

07:57 AM on 02/28/2010

These pranksters could learn a whole lot from my child. Like oh, how the prank needs to be funny....

[LittleSanityLeft]

09:59 AM on 03/01/2010

Flying too high over your head maybe? It's not meant to be funny it's meant to embarrass the network. It's meant to show that modern media isn't about getting it right, just getting it first. The prank gets the "you can trust us, we're in the know personalities" to go on their own networks and essentially say "you can't really trust us we really don't know what we're talking about". And of course, It's meant to give national exposure to the prankster.

Tickling your funny bone, if possible, is just the cherry on the sundae.

[tanya1111]

10:41 AM on 03/01/2010

oh yeah gee.... way over my head... WAY WAY to intellectual for me. Pretending to be a hockey goalie... I guess you gotta aim high... maybe after college I will get it....

I stand by the assertion that the whole point of a prank phone call is to be funny.

[BKROOBNZAI]

10:46 AM on 03/01/2010

Spoken like a person who has never made a prank call. The humor is the cream in the prank call, any so called embarrassment on the part of the network would be the cherry. Get your metaphors straight groshdambit.

[SuperRyan]

01:43 AM on 02/28/2010

As much as I'm hoping for Miller to have the worst game of his life on Sunday. I must say his response to the prank call was a class act. He didn't tear into anyone, he just corrected speech that does not reflect his own thoughts.
And to the NBC guy; If you ever have a pro hockey player accidently say field instead of ice, you are being pranked 100% of the time. And very few hockey players are as arrogant as the fake Ryan Miller was, disregard that rule if it's Avery.

[CintiBlue]

09:58 AM on 02/28/2010

I'm not a hockey viewer but even I can appreciate your "field vs. ice" phrase. Good one!

[TheBaffler]

11:05 PM on 02/27/2010

Who fluffs Joe when Willie's off on side jobs like this?

[Bytor85326]

11:17 PM on 02/27/2010

Keith Olbermann.

Now you know why Keith is so angry.

[Captain Sensible]

11:53 PM on 02/27/2010

Why don't you go play with your snow dog now?

[Solja]

06:28 AM on 02/28/2010

You obviously know him or you wouldn't keep using his name.

Olberman, I'm sure, agrees with stupid Scarborough almost NONE of the time.

The answer is Mika. LOL

[collies1]

09:07 AM on 03/01/2010

lmao!!

[shimari]

09:47 PM on 02/27/2010

A caller pretending to be former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook pranked ESPN. That joke became clear when the fake Brian Westbrook said he looked forward to "worshipping Howard Stern's prostate."

-----------

So, what was it about that quote that tipped them off?

I can't figure it out.

[Bytor85326]

09:38 PM on 02/27/2010

I thought MSNBC was the prison documentaries channel.

[Paul Pamrow]

01:38 AM on 02/28/2010

I just can't wait for the next airing of "Lockup: San Quentin." Just what I expect from my cable news channels.

[thebirdstheword]

07:42 AM on 03/01/2010

when are they gonna get legit and hire their own steve doocy?

[Solja]

06:29 AM on 02/28/2010

Only Friday nights and Saturdays. Otherwise, it's news.

CNN just runs on a continuous, never-ending loop.

Faux creates "news".

[jukesgrrl]

01:54 PM on 03/02/2010

LOL 'cause that's the truth.