Based on recent history, any eligibility hearing for Rob Gronkowski, a tight end with a national reputation who has transferred from a Buffalo, N.Y., school to Woodland Hills High School, should be an open-and-shut case. Gronkowski should be ruled eligible. After all, he's moving with one of his parents, who will live with him at least part of the time.

That should put him several eligibility steps ahead of Tino Sunseri, a quarterback who transferred from a high school in North Carolina to Central Catholic without his parents.

Sunseri, who clearly transferred for athletic intent, was ruled eligible by the WPIAL.

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It was a disheartening -- and stupefying -- decision for anyone who cares about high school sports. It was another step down the wrong path. It was another step away from the historic concept of one neighborhood against another to one all-star team against one neighborhood.

The losers are those who believe in the old-fashioned concept of high school sports and all the young athletes who must compete against these all-star teams.

By granting eligibility to Sunseri, the WPIAL made the best team in the region -- composed of players from all over the region -- significantly better with the addition of a blue-chip quarterback. Whiny followers of Central Catholic justified the move by insisting Sunseri only wanted to play at the high school of his father. Some went further to point out that any critics of the decision were "anti-Catholic."

It's amazing how blind people can be when their own self-interest is involved.

Sunseri shamelessly transferred for athletic intent. It wasn't about playing at his dad's school. It wasn't about the academic excellence of Central Catholic. It was about playing for an outstanding football team.

Shame on the WPIAL for granting him eligibility.

Now comes Gronkowski, whose case is remarkably similar to Sunseri with one major difference. Woodland Hills appears to be innocent. Based on available information, Woodland Hills and its coach George Novak did nothing wrong.

The Gronkowski family is either extraordinarily naive or outrageously brazen. It made no attempt to hide the fact the transfer was for athletic intent. Gordon Gronkowski, who already has had two sons win Division I-A football scholarships, certainly should know how the game is played, which makes you think he was more brazen than naive. Maybe he read about Sunseri's being granted eligibility and figured his son had a better case.

In comments made to the Post-Gazette, he made no attempt to suggest the transfer was but anything for athletic intent.

"... we caught a couple of Woodland Hills games on TV in Buffalo. There's just not the quality of football in the state of New York that there is here. We want him [Rob] to play with good talent around him instead of getting triple-teamed."

Based on that statement alone, Rob Gronkowski immediately should be sent back to Buffalo.

But that would be inconsistent with the Sunseri ruling, which was made in June.

Suggestions seeping out of the WPIAL hearing for Sunseri indicate there was a legitimate reason for the transfer. Until we hear that reason, though, we'll stick with the belief the transfer was for athletic intent alone and was a colossal mistake by the WPIAL, which disregarded its responsibility to all other teams and players it represents.

These eligibility cases keep piling up on the WPIAL, and a lot of them are far more nuanced than the ones involving Gronkowski and Sunseri. Compounding the problem is the threat of legal recourse by the transferring family against governing bodies such as the WPIAL.

There's no easy solution, but the best one already is being discussed. It involves a standing rule that all transfers are ineligible for their first semester. That takes the burden of proof away from the WPIAL and puts it on the transferring athlete. Instead of the WPIAL having to prove the player transferred for athletic intent, the player will have to prove he didn't.

It won't solve all the problems, but it would be a major step in the right direction and, hopefully, plans are afoot to implement it.