Three years ago, the PIAA unfastened the seatbelt and let high school basketball coaches stand during games.
Coaches loved it.
Free of their chairs, they could pace, flail about, gesture wildly, pretty much do whatever they need to provided they stayed within the coaches box. Suddenly some of the more animated coaches -- say Red Lion's Parrish Petry or Delone Catholic's Gerry Eckenrode -- could double as in-game entertainment.
Now, the governing body wants to rein things in.
According to the Associated Press, sent a memo to basketball officials asking them to patrol the coaches box more carefully.
It seems some coaches are walking about to freely. Others, according to the memo, are taking advantage of the rule to badger officials. As a result, the memo states, "the number of coaching ejections has risen significantly." After a coach receives one technical foul, he or she is required to sit for the rest of the game.
Tim O'Malley, executive director of District 7, even said the PIAA might have to rethink letting coaches stand in the future.
Or, at least make them stand in the corner.
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