Mills seeks upper hand at poker tourney

He always had the poker face. Among the more than 5,600 entrants in the No Limit Hold 'em Championship of the World Series of Poker is former Penn State quarterback Zack Mills.

As of Friday, the Ijamsville, Md., native (his hometown is incorrectly spelled "Igamsville" next to Mills' name on the tournament's Web site) had $41,925 in chips -- nearly 2,000 more than defending champion Dave Raymer.

Mills, who finished his career last November with more individual records (18) and more career losses (19) than any Nittany Lion quarterback, definitely has the demeanor.

Here's hoping fate deals him a better hand at the table than it did his last two seasons on the field.

Receiving rave reviews

The education of Penn State's young receivers by its veteran defensive backs is continuing this summer. Quarterback Michael Robinson meets often with his wideouts to perfect routes and timing and develop chemistry. Senior cornerback Alan Zemaitis and the Nittany Lion secondary haven't waited for invitations to the workouts.

"We don't ask. We go," Zemaitis said this week. "There's no way Mike's going to hold us back from going on the field if we want to. In the beginning, they worked a lot on timing, they asked us not to get in their face so they could work on timing. Now, it's a different story."

Zemaitis is impressed with freshmen wideouts James McDonald, Kevin Cousins and Lydell Sargeant, but none of the receivers have turned his head like Derrick Williams.

"When there are no eyes around, there's a tendency to relax and not go out and give it your all," Zemaitis said. "But he goes out and works and every day he gets better, man. The way that he plays the game is so smooth, it's fluid. and he goes after the ball. I can't wait to see him this year."

Neither can the rest of us.

By Jeff Rice

News Added: 09 July, 2005

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