High school sports has certainly been different because of COVID-19. Now comes the strange case of a basketball coach who has been slapped on the wrist by the WPIAL for using Twitter to question a technical foul he received after using the word “dammit” toward an official.
The WPIAL board of directors has publicly censured Woodland Hills boys coach Matt Furjanic and recommended Woodland Hills take further action against Furjanic if the district feels it is justified for Furjanic not adhering to sportsmanship expectations as outlined by PIAA by-laws.
The WPIAL made its decision after the board of directors conducted a hearing with Furjanic on Wednesday afternoon. Is this a case of a high school governing body starting to police social media?
“We don’t want to get involved with policing social media,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said. “But schools need to make coaches aware that social media is not the form they should be using to address complaints.”
Woodland Hills athletic director Ron Coursey added: “I can’t go into detail because it’s a personnel matter. Just know that we’re conducting our own internal investigation, as well, and we’ll address it if we feel it’s appropriate.”
At issue is a PIAA rule concerning the public criticism of sports officials. In a game last Friday, Furjanic was issued a technical foul. He told the WPIAL board Wednesday that the technical was assessed because he complained about the lack of a traveling call against Gateway and said to an official, “dammit, that’s steps.”
The PIAA established a new rule this year to try and curb offensive language toward officials. The new rule says a player or coach can get a two-game suspension if ejected for “using foul or vulgar language, ethnic or racially insensitive comments or physical contact.”
But Furjanic wasn’t ejected. He was simply assessed a technical foul. The game was finished and it would’ve probably been case closed. After the game, Furjanic informed Coursey that he received a technical for saying “dammit.” But Furjanic complicated matters Sunday when he said this on his Twitter account and also tagged the WPIAL Twitter account:
“Well the new cursing rule I got a T for Dammit. My Mom used to say that & she never cursed. Seems HS officials can be subjective in this rule. Needs clarity. If I put God in front I see. My Mother never said those 2 together. Maybe a list of words should be given out. @wpial7.”
Furjanic’s tweet is now deleted from his account. At the start of the hearing, WPIAL president Scott Seltzer told Furjanic the hearing was called because of Furjanic’s tweet, and not because he received a technical.
“Why did you take to social media to, for a lack of a better word, complain about a call?” Seltzer asked Furjanic.
Furjanic is in his second season of his second stint at Woodland Hills but has been coaching basketball in six different decades. He took Robert Morris University to two NCAA tournaments in the early 1980s and coached at junior college in Florida from 2000-17. He acknowledged it was a mistake to tweet his feelings. He apologized a few different times for the move. But he contended that “dammit” is not swearing.
Furjanic points out that he has a policy with his Woodland Hills players that they must run if they swear at practice or in a game.
“In my opinion, it’s very subjective on what is a curse word,” Furjanic told the WPIAL board.
He suggested the WPIAL come up with a list of words that are not allowed. Members of the board scoffed at that idea.
The WPIAL said any other unsportsmanlike actions from Furjanic would result in more discipline. The WPIAL also wants Woodland Hills to come up with a plan to inform all of the district’s coaches about rules concerning sportsmanship and what appropriate steps should be taken to address complaints. Scheuneman said Furjanic should’ve taken up the matter first with Coursey and then one of the WPIAL’s supervisors of officials. Furjanic said he did send an e-mail to Ron Tyburski, who assigns some officials for WPIAL basketball. But Furjanic said he never got a response.
“If this can serve as an example to (coaches and players) about social media, that will be a good thing,” Scheuneman said.
Botta retires
One of the longest-tenured head coaches in WPIAL football has coached his final game.
Greg Botta, Franklin Regional’s coach for 27 seasons, has decided to retire. Botta built Franklin Regional into a prominent program, winning WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2005 and being named the Post-Gazette Coach of the Year.
Botta started at Franklin Regional in 1994 and had the Panthers in the WPIAL Class 3A championship the following year. In his career, he made the WPIAL playoffs 19 times, including 16 consecutive seasons from 2004-19. He won eight or more games nine times.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: January 13, 2021, 10:35 p.m.