I'm with Chuck on this one. This is a community, and although we all share a passion for officiating, that is not the only aspect to our personalities or our interests or our lives. This forum works really well because we like each other (generally speaking
) and respect each other. That feeling grows from getting to know each other as people as well as officials. The occassional off topic post promotes that sense of community. I am neither a Yankees nor a Red Sox fan, but I feel a sense of commraderie with those who are as I read their light-hearted banter. And on days when I just don't care, I skip those threads. Heck, I even skip the officiating related threads I don't care about. It just ain't that hard.
Perhaps, rather than unilaterally imposing a policy on the community because of a few (almost certainly a small number) complainers, those with the power to impose such policies ought to poll the general population to see how the majority feel?