(Wake up Baltimore - and they laugh when I say they need to trade for Teddy Ginn)

Unlike the fans in Baltimore, Ohio State fans know that Troy Smith can play. However, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have to fight for his position - and fight he is. While I haven’t been able to get up to training camp to check things out for myself, the writers at the Baltimore Sun have been blogging from there daily. I’ll give you a summary if you haven’t been following their posts.

Early on in the quarterback battle, it looked like Delaware rookie Joe Flacco (no, that’s not a typo - Delaware) and Troy Smith were struggling while returning veteran Kyle Boller was — well he was doing about as average as he always is.

Now that’s he’s warmed up however, Troy Smith is starting to turn a few heads. He’s starting to thread passes in tight situations even though his receivers are having a little trouble catching them. Meanwhile, Flacco is showing signs of a rookie with a long way to go. And as I continue to point out on the Baltimore Sun’s web page, Smith has had some serious experience in big games. Again, something the Baltimore fans fail to understand. You’ll see however that my comment seemed to change the course of the discussion on the Sun’s page and my Smith backers came out to support (hint: I’m the Jim who clarified Annapolisbuckeye’s earlier comment)

Oh, and while Flacco struggles, Boller limped off the field today with one shoe off.

If you’re a betting fan however, the odds aren’t too good. The bookies in Vegas have given Smith the second spot at 3:1, with Flacco at 4:1 and Boller at 1:2. You can check the odds at Betus.com but for the life of me I couldn’t find the actual link. I was notified through an email.

The problem for Smith however is that if he does manage to land the starting position, there may not be much of an offensive line left for him to play behind. While the Ravens offense has been no standout, they are dropping daily with injuries. In an earlier post, I wrote about the “Tragedy of Troy Smith.” I still believe it only this time it may be a safety thing - like a Notre Dame quarterback bailing out as a matter of self preservation.

I still think it sucks that a class act like Smith finds himself on a team like the Ravens. Something tells me that throwing a penalty flag into the crowd would fly on Smith’s former team.

In other NFL news
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting today that former Buckeye Quinn Pitcock is retiring from the NFL after only one season with the Colts. According to the Dispatch, there is no apparent reason for his retirement but wow, something must be up. He finally made it to the big show, on a damn good team, and walks after one year.