'07 PA TE/DE Rob Gronkowski (Arizona signee)

[bobcat84]

Quick! Someone call his Dad and tell him to call TG Sr. Glenville needs a TE.

[osugrad21]

Link

WPIAL to rule on tight end's eligibility
<!-- icons are from http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/ --> By John Grupp
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 19, 2006

The WPIAL Board of Control will hold a hearing Monday to determine the eligibility of star tight end Rob Gronkowski, who transferred to Woodland Hills last week. The hearing, which will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the WPIAL's Green Tree offices, was announced after an investigation by the WPIAL into possible athletic intent.
"We'll get to the bottom of it," WPIAL executive director Tim OMalley said.
Gronkowski, 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, is the seventh-ranked tight end in the nation, according to rivals.com. He transferred from Williamsville North, a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., to Woodland Hills and enrolled Aug. 11

His father, Gordon, owns a national string of physical fitness equipment retailers, including five in the Pittsburgh area, and moved with his son into an apartment in the Woodland Hills School District. O'Malley said the transfer meets the first criteria established in the PIAA by-laws -- moving with either or both parents into the school district. But he said subsequent comments by Gronkowski's father indicated possible football-related motives for the move.
"If it was motivated by considerations other than that he has business here, we need to look into it," O'Malley said.


John Grupp can be reached at jgrupp@tribweb.com

[sandgk]

Maybe his dad should just move into the Montour school district. j/k

Truthfully, there are significant diferences between the Sunseri case and this one involving Gronkowski. Sunseri's move was all about the athletics and was not a true family move. With Gronkowski, his dad wanted to do two things. Take better care of the 5 stores he owns in the area of the 'Burg and give a leg up to his son's budding athletic ambitions.

I for one see nothing wrong with that.

Did I mention before that the Pittsburgh Press is filled with big-city reporter wannabes? Their coverage on this issue is just another example.

[Buckskin86]

Published: August 20, 2006 12:10 am

TIM SCHMITT: Gronkowski deserved a better fate

COMMENTARY

Niagara Gazette

If things don’t pan out in Pittsburgh, and it’s a distinct possibility they won’t, Williamsville North football star Rob Gronkowski will be stuck without a school when the season kicks off.

Too bad.

Gronkowski is as good as we grow ’em and as Jonah Bronstein’s story explained on Saturday, sources said his departure had more to do with a possible suspension than the level of competition. The tight end has gotten offers from major players throughout the country, including Ohio State, Maryland and Arizona.

But when his father, Gordon, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “There’s just not the quality of football in the state of New York that there is here,” it might have sealed his son’s playing fate.

Gronkowski faces a blitz on Monday — a Pennsylvania athletic board will decide if he’s eligible. Pennsylvania schools don’t allow transfers for athletic purposes.

If Gronkowski was facing a suspension, his best bet would have been to serve it and move on. Colleges are still frothing to get a crack at him.

But with drama comes additional baggage. Now, if Gronkowski doesn’t get in, he’ll be forced to sheepishly return. He could go back to Williamsville North, but might try to play with a Catholic school team like St. Francis.

It’s not the way a blue-chip football recruit — something that’s scarce in Western New York — should have to spend his senior season.

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/timsc...232001059.html

[wadc45]

BSB $

8/21/06

By BK...Rob played in Woodland Hills first scrimmage. His top 6 is Ohio State, Clemson, North Carolina, Maryland, Syracuse and Arizona.

[Buckskin86]

WPIAL rules Gronkowski ineligible
Monday, August 21, 2006

By Mike White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rob Gronkowski, a star high school football player with a lofty national reputation, has been ruled ineligible to play this season by the local governing body for high school athletics.

Gronkowski, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound senior who is a high-profile recruit and has numerous college scholarship offers, was benched by the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) today because the league claimed Gronkowski transferred from a school near Buffalo, N.Y., to Woodland Hills a week-and-a-half ago for athletic reasons.

Under Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) rules, which the WPIAL follows, a student-athlete can be ruled ineligible if he transfers schools for athletic reasons. Gronkowski, ranked the No. 2 tight end in the country by one scouting service, left Williamsville North (N.Y.) and enrolled at Woodland Hills Aug. 11. He can appeal the WPIAL's decision to the PIAA and have a hearing in front of that organization Thursday.

The WPIAL Board of Control made its decision after a hearing with Gronkowski today.

"The board felt there was substantial athletic purpose which influenced the transfer," WPIAL Executive Director Tim O'Malley said. "For that reason, we decided to deny his eligibility."

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/06233/715258-100.stm

[unionfutura]

That's par for the course for the WPIAL. I have so many words I can say right now about their "rules and regulations" but this is a family site.