Adios Mr. Nate

If your name is Kathy Ballard, Nicole Blietschau, or Antonio Mendoza you should stop reading now. The next five words might hurt you too much.

Nathan Ballard is a traitor.

Ballard's form of treachery isn't new behavior. Sport stars have been betraying their teams and fans to pursue higher paychecks for as long as I can remember.

Ballard has done the same, leaving the school that first gave him the chance to be a mentor for a rival school offering higher pay. A Hillcrest Huskie no more, Ballard now dons the blue and gray of Wellsville Elementary in search of riches (30 cent raise), with fame (mentor of the year possibilities) and love(Wellsville Boss Heather Martinos) as cover-up motives.

I've always wondered how sport stars can abandon the teams they've long played for in search of more money. Now I wonder how a perfectly happy mentor can bail on the kids he taught and the school he loved for lucrative desires. Does loyalty no longer exist in the world? Does it mean nothing to play for the same team for your whole career? What of John Stockton and LaVell Edwards, who remained faithful to their teams for a combined 48 years? They were offered more prestigious jobs with higher pay, but they never left their teams. They remained faithful.

If there were one person that I thought understood the importance of loyalty, it was you Nathan. Unknown to the public you turned down an offer to swim for powerhouse Skyline High School, opting instead to swim for your alma mater, Granger High. When sent to Chile you displayed your loyalty to the U.S. by never purchasing a Chilean flag nor a Chilean soccer jersey. Yet when Wellsville Elementary offered the 30 cent raise plus gas money compensation, you threw your loyalty out the window. I hope you enjoy the money. Maybe you can take Benedict Arnold to lunch. But before you shove that Cafe Rio salad down your throat, I want you to remember one person, your former Hillcrest mentee, Antonio Mendoza.

Your destiny was to shape this young Mexican's mind. You were called to prevent him from a future filled with Spanish, soccer, and slicked-back hair. You were the chosen one; he who would openly teach Anthony English and secretly teach him the Gospel. To whom will he now turn? I can already hear his pain in my ears.

"Donde esta Mr. Nate? Donde esta Mr. Nate?"
I hate that I will have to deliver the news.
"He's gone Anthony. Gone forever."
He won't be the only one to cry that day.

Mr. Nate, from my knees I beseech you. Please.For our sake, forsake the money. Return to Hillcrest your birthplace. Return to me your co-worker. But most of all return to Anthony, your prodigy.