It was 2 years ago when I walked into Russo's, my local bookstore/post office annex/card shop on a cold winter day. I had just earned my $5 allowance, that my 10 year old self tried to earn every week through chores, and went to look for a good book. I heard a clamoring excitement come from the back of the store. Curiously, I approached the back timidly, to see several boys my age and older, going head to head it seemed with cards. "What is this?" I wondered. I asked a boy what it was and he said it was a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament. I stepped closer into the crowd and saw the creatures on the cards and thought they looked silly. I backed away from the cluster of kids, and approached the glass counter top, which showcased lots of cards underneath its smooth, shiny surface. I saw lots of cards from my favorite team, the Angels, which had pieces of jersey and autographs on them! I was amazed! I asked the man behind the counter how one attained such cards? He told me that they were pulled from packs. I looked behind the counter, and saw boxes of cards containing rows and rows upon rows of packs. I asked him for a pack, and he handed me a 2004 Topps pack. I was about to rip it open, when he told me I had to pay for it. "Of course, stupid," I silently yelled at my self, embarrassed from my mistake. The clerk told me it was $2 and I promptly payed him, as soon as I could whip out my wad of $1 bills. I walked away from the counter, and opened the pack, furiously, with great vigor. My heartbeat was getting heavier, and I went card by card slowly, with a carefulness only seen by surgeons performing quadruple bypass surgery. When I reached the last card of the pack, I yelped for joy, for before me held an Angel, and my favorite player, Darin Erstad.