As an apparent response to ESPN Mobile's aggressive, we-will-destroy-you-resistance-is-futile push for ESPN Mobile, Sports Illustrated — whose swimsuit issue comes out this week, by the way — has signed up head alpha dog columnist Rick Reilly to do a weekly three-minute video exlusively for Verizon VCAST subscribers. Well, that's exclusively for VCAST subscribers for a 24-hour window, after which the video is unleashed upon an unsuspecting populace.

Whatever your thoughts on Reilly — about once a month we think he's brilliant, and the rest of the time we wonder how he was able to type that many words in half an hour — the video is, well, pretty brutal. Reilly seems visibly uncomfortable with the concept, and his regular-guy schtick works much better in print than in dopey, "George Michael Sports Machine"-'70s-style cutting techniques. Imagine Bill Simmons' cartoon, except with less work put into it. It seems beneath Reilly somehow, like someone whispered, "Hey, another check in the mail this month, just sit still for three minutes" and he said, "OK, it's the Web, I don't understand it anyway!" And we end up with this.

Of course, we're seeing it outside that 24-hour VCAST exclusive window. Maybe it was really edgy and current when it first ran.

Riffs Of Reilly [SI.com]

(And no, we have no idea why Reilly is wearing that. We just found the picture.)