BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Ohio Valley Conference commissioner Beth DeBauche announced the launch of a new fan-focused blog, www.ovcextra.com, which features compelling, offbeat, and social media-sourced content from around the league.

Fans, students, student-athletes, coaches, alumni and others associated with the OVC and its 12 member schools will be featured on the blog, and are invited to contribute content to it.

At its launch, the blog features content such as:

· Belmont men's basketball coach (and avid golfer) Rick Byrd offering his list of his 10 all-time favorite golf courses.
· Q&A with TSU "Aristocrat of Bands" drum major Phillip Brown discussing his love of the band and the Tigers
· Jacksonville State team trainer Jim Skidmore on his 40-year career in the business
· Eastern Kentucky's nationally recognized, high-concept football 'intro video'
· Links to national media coverage of OVC student-athletes
· Streaming OVC Instagram and Twitter feeds

Each blog post includes social media 'share' functionality, allowing readers to share their favorite posts with their Twitter and Facebook followers. The blog is the latest innovation from the conference, which launched its OVC Digital Network last year. The OVC Digital Network provides free, live, high-definition streaming video of OVC athletic contests from a variety of sports, and can be found at www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com.

"We see the OVCextra blog as the latest example of our forward-thinking efforts to engage our passionate fans and provide them unique content," DeBauche said. "I hope everyone with an interest in the OVC will check out the blog and share their comments and content ideas. The whole idea is to have fun with it, to create content that can be shared through social media, and in turn raise the profile of our conference."

DeBauche said that fans are encouraged to submit photos, video or other content ideas to the blog, and can do so through a "submit" button found on the blog's home page.