[zeprock]

I too love the rush of pulling a nice card from a fresh pack. I don't play the lottery but I'm sure it is the same feeling. Back in 2002 I bought a pack of Stadium Club and carefully opened the pack to see a Barry Bonds jersey card inside and I immediately passed the pack to my young son and told him to go through the cards and see if I got anything good. You should have seen the excitement when he pulled out the Bonds card. That was priceless.

I don't buy much wax anymore and concentrate more on singles of my favorite players and am always excited when I acquire a card I didn't already have. I personally collect so many different players that I will always be able to find cards to add so there is no finality of completing a set or a collection. I like that I don't have to end a search.

What I love the most is going to a card show and going through boxes of 10 for a dollar or similar deals and pulling piles of cards to go home with me. It's been way too long since I've been able to attend a show in my area so I miss that a lot.

I enjoy the entire process of adding cards to my collection. Entering them on Beckett, entering them into my backup files on my computer, sleeving the most valuable cards and putting them in their new homes and marking them off my want list. Some find that tedious but not me. I enjoy sitting in front of the tv with a binder of cards in my lap shuffling each card to the right to make room for my newest addition to fit in order while my wife drones on about whatever it is that she drones on about. As long as I nod a lot and say, "Yes Dear", I'm good.

I like maintaining my website at Zeprock.com. I bought a The Idiot's Guide to HTML book and used that to design my site myself back in 2002. I have a Gallery that features my favorite and most valuable cards of all of the players I collect and love getting a "new" card to feature.

I like browsing through the forums here on Beckett and sharing my knowledge and gaining knowledge too at times. This site is the first site I log on to after my email each morning and I keep the site up all day while I'm working and am fortunate that I can constantly check in and out.

I love the history of the game. I love the nuances. I love the stats and the comparisons. What a great game!

I love to play. I played sandlot ball, little league, junior high school and varsity, men's softball, pickup games, coached little league and senior little league and softball. I'm 60 and still go to the batting cages and face 90mph pitches and I can still make contact and every once in a while drive one. I still go to the school ball field with friends and pitch and hit and field.

I could go on and on about Cooperstown and fellow collectors and such but this post is already fairly long. I guess I love that I can talk and discuss this hobby at length most anytime.

God first. Wife second. Baseball third. Everything else falls after that.