US Olympic coach and surfing hall-of-famer Brett Simpson calls for immediate arrest of WSL staff after Pipe Masters suspended following CEO Erik Logan’s positive test for COVID-19: “Lock the staff up! Let these surfers surf man! We are losing our sport!”

"I don’t see any other sport shutting it all down for a couple random cases??”

The US Olympic surf team’s coach and surfing hall-of-famer Brett Simpson has gone to social media to demand the immediate incarceration of WSL staff after CEO Erik Logan tested positive for COVID-19 forcing the suspension of the Pipeline Masters. 

The immensely popular Simpson, who is thirty-three years old and has skin pigmentation consistent with rust, wrote on the WSL’s IG page,

“Lock the staff up! Let these surfers surf man! We are losing our sport!! I don’t see any other sport shutting it all down for a couple random cases??”

Real talk! 

East Coast shredder Brett Barley joined the chorus, 

“What’s a positive test even worth? Plenty of false positives (false negatives too) amongst the testing… and plenty of people see little to no symptoms. Put the positive testing staff outside the comp zone and move on… let the surfers surf! Some of those guys have sacrificed IMMENSE amounts to leave their home country to get here and compete, and can’t just go home. The show must go on.”

A few surf fans disagreed, this clever man even working a little systemic racism into the mix. 

Been going on a long time. White privilege = haole entitlement = Everyone who comes here including @brettbarley @wsl @elo_eriklogan Interesting that all these privileged D-grade surfers from elsewhere think they are allowed to have a say here

Balance, of course, came from The Inertia, 

“Man. We know how hard everyone has been working to make pro surfing come back to life. An extremely daunting task given the breadth of international competitors and logistical challenge of hosting international competitions around the globe during a pandemic. We’re sending positive, healthy vibes to everyone – remaining optimistic for a good update soon.”

Although the wisest voice, I think, was @brindles who wrote,

The only winner in this debacle is clearly @beach_grit.