As I've discussed with a few members over the past few days - the reasons for closing the N.E.T. as it had become known, were simply due to inappropriate images and remarks that started to get posted. Most of the inappropriate content was removed before more than a couple people saw it but it was getting worse over the last couple days of the thread. Seeing as we have members and visitors of all ages and backgrounds, we made a decision to close the N.E.T. due to the problems that were being reported by numerous members and visitors. We have fans, players, coaches, recruits and others that view the site and we must make sure to keep things appropriate for all individuals.
As I've eluded to in the past, I'm working on a major upgrade to the site. One of the features will be a way to allow members to have private "social groups" where they can discuss what they want, obviously within reason, and it'll be restricted to only members that elect to join said groups. By doing things this way, we'll allow members to communicate in a more private way without having to resort to PMs or off-site communication methods. Having social groups will allow for the same direct conversation that we currently have, but in a more private and out-of-site form. I'll release more information on the new features and how it can be used when I get the remaining bugs worked out of the system.
Note - I'm not saying the private social groups will not be moderated, they just won't be held to the exact same standards as the openly viewable portions of the site since they'll require a member to opt-in to access the content. We'll work as moderators to define exactly what will and won't be allowed but that will come with testing in the coming days/weeks so I don't have exact details right now.
I'm still trying my hardest to get the upgrade rolled out ASAP and just have a few minor things left to finish.