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Dean Blevins celebrates 20 tumultuous years at News 9…

11:52 AM EDT on August 8, 2017

Dean Blevins (a.k.a. the Ron Burgundy of the Oklahoma sports media landscape) is celebrating his 20 year anniversary with News 9 this week. He and his News 9 co-workers marked the occasion like anyone else would – by having cake in the employee breakroom and reminiscing about the time Barry Switzer gave him a black eye.

Here's the video:

Uhm, anyone else disappointed that Barry Switzer and a few ladies from Night Trips didn't jump out of cake spraying champagne? I guess they were saving that for the after party at Toby Keith's "I Love Dean Blevins" anniversary bash.

How you view Dean Blevins probably depends on when you were born, and how many of your sisters dated him. If you're a baby boomer or beyond, you probably remember him as one of the greatest high school athletes in Oklahoma history – a handsome, articulate, co-ed chasing good old boy who transitioned into the go-to source for usually incorrect news and opinion about Sooner sports and Thunder basketball.

If you're a Gen Xer, Millennial or obscure local social blogger, you probably have a different take. You're aware that Dean was a great athlete, but he now comes across as a stereotypical washed-up old jock – a meathead living off past glory who doesn't understand social media, modern culture or the concept of reliable reporting.

Regardless of your views, you have to give Dean credit for making it 20 years with one channel in the TV news biz. He's the ultimate survivor. He's made it through dangerous falls at golf courses, embarrassing on-air gaffes, a litany of social media fails, extremely unreliable reporting, and very unhealthy man-crushes on Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal and Rosser. Hell, the guy even tweeted video of "somebody's daughter" flashing Al Eschbach in New Orleans and only got off with only a two-week suspension. I don't think anyone else in this market is that bullet proof.

With Dean celebrating his anniversary this week, I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back at some of his greatest moments since TLO has been in existence. Check them out:

Urinating on Live Radio

There's a reason we call him "Dean the Stream." In perhaps the greatest moment in Oklahoma sports radio history, Regular Jim Traber and Al Eshbach called Dean at home while he was recovering from surgery. An obviously inebriated Dean talked about his surgery, friends, and then to the horror and hysterical amusement of Jim and Al, proceeded to take a very very audible bathroom break on live radio.

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Melting Pot Tweet

This tweet about the language choices of the poor souls who serve him Milk Duds, coffee and fuel was Dean's first foray into the social media outrage waters. He quickly deleted the tweet, but not until a firestorm of social media complaints and an official statement from News 9.

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#CumInHandy2Night Hashtag

Dean has always had a thing for creating weird new words. He also has an unhealthy obsession with hashtags. This two things came to a blow during a Bedlam baseball game. Let's just hope the people who serve him beer speak English.

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Bourbon Street Flasher

This tweet, and our award-winning investigative reporting of it, resulted in Dean being suspended for two weeks. That was probably a good thing for the people of Oklahoma City, but a nightmare for the greenskeepers, waiters and caddies at Oak Tree.

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Kevin Durant to re-sign with OKC

A few weeks before KD tore out our city's collective heart and ate it before our very own eyes, Dean Blevins reported that Kevin Durant was basically a lock to sign in OKC. Thanks to Dean's history of reporting bad scoops and incorrect information, I think that's the point when Thunder fans knew that KD was likely gone.

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Smart Ones Investigation

Several years ago, a News 9 mole sent this pic of a chilling, Taken-inspired post-it note Dean left on a Smart One's box in the News 9 freezer. Although the Smart Ones thief has never been found, many people believe it was Robyn Marsh.

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Anyway, those are just a few of our happier moments. If we missed one, share it in the comments.

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