The Geek Elite: First Edition – Denver

Earlier this month, we kicked off our 20^th Anniversary celebration with a special quiz in a special spot. Since Denver was the birthplace of Geeks Who Drink, it only seemed fitting that we start our birthday party in the same place—showing some love to our hometown, our local quizzers, our devoted quizmasters, and our awesome venues.

That’s how our team ended up setting up shop at Max Taps Co. in Highland Ranch, where we’ve been quizzing for nearly a straight decade. Strictly speaking, Max Taps Co. hadn’t even been born yet when Geeks was first making a name in the pub quiz industry. Even so, it’s a place that has had Geeks Who Drink in its DNA since they first opened their doors, always hosted by veteran quizmaster Jeff Metius.

Now Max Taps Co. is all grown up, with two locations in Greater Denver—both of which offer Geeks Who Drink pub quiz during the week, and a theme quiz once a month.

And on the Saturday of our Geek Elite event, we couldn’t have asked for a better spot (or better weather) to host our little quiz…though to call it “little” would be an insult to our mighty editorial team. Twenty years in the business has made them skilled in creating quizzes on a national scale, conscientious of niche knowledge, geographical biases, and the “get rates” we monitor in all our content. Making a quiz for a smaller, more curated audience, though, meant they could go a lot bigger in their attitude and creativity.

We won’t spill the beans on the whole quiz—we have more on the way, after all—but some of the highlights include a round on the Denver-born businesses Geeks Who Drinks shares company with, in-hand crossword grid for Round 3, and a masterfully written “then and now” round that showed just how much the world has or hasn’t changed since we first got started in 2006. Plus, a truly masterful visual round by our beloved editor Grant, who filmed…

Well. We’ll just let you experience that one for yourself.

Quizzers were moved to tears with laughter—or maybe that was just our marketing manager.

It was quite the crew who showed up for the show. In Geek Bowl style, we had some of our all-star quizmasters jump in to host different rounds and—because we can’t resist being a little extra at times—doing a karaoke-style Round 2 where hosts stepped up to the mic to show that they’re more than just their brains and sparkling personalities.

In addition to those helping produce the quiz, there were quizmasters who showed up to play along. There were quizmasters who are no longer quizmasters but remain quizmasters at heart. There were quizmasters who aren’t technically quizmasters in a hosting sense, but just in the sense that they have mastered our quizzes for years and years. And still—it was just a fraction of the amazing folks that have helped Geeks Who Drink get to where it is today.

And where quizmasters go, their loyal teams and quizzers shall follow. We had teams drive in from all over Colorado to get in on the fun and reunite with faces they may not have seen since their Geek Bowl days. It should come as no surprise, really, that as the quiz went on and the top scores began to take shape, it was some of our longest playing teams that secured the top slots.

1st Place was awarded to Team “Are You There Godzilla, It’s Me Mothra,” former Geek Bowl winners in their own right, and 2nd Place to Team “Chocolate Chip Wookiees,” an alliance of two of Jeff’s longtime regular teams. 3rd Place was initially a three-way tie, forcing us to break out our rarely-used tiebreakers. Ultimately, it was Team “Mile High Platypi” that took the third place-mantle, edging out the equally awesome named Teams “Be Gay, Do Crime” and “McDonald’s Smoking Section.”

By the end of the night, we’d awarded a total of $1,000 in cash prizes and more than half a dozen boxes of classic Geeks Who Drink merchandise, relics that haven’t been seen in years. Not to mention, our hungry, hungry hosts and quizzers completely bought out the food truck’s supplies and put a significant dent in the on-tap selection behind the bar. After all, we picked the name Geeks Who Drink for a reason.

We can’t say enough thank you’s to the folks who came out to participate, to Dave and Max Taps Co. for hosting our craziness, and to the heroes that helped get us to this twenty-year mark. We have more celebrations to plan, more stories to share, and more awesome people to spotlight—so watch this space for more news, and make sure you’re subscribed to the Geeks Who Drink newsletter for the latest updates on what’s going down in your neighborhood.

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FULL FINAL SCORES

1. Are You There Godzilla, It’s Me Mothra – 88 Points
2. Chocolate Chip Wookiees – 81 Points
3. Mile High Platypi – 80 Points
4. Be Gay, Do Crime – 80 Points
5. McDonald’s Smoking Section – 80 Points
6. Scorediggers – 77 Points
7. The Power of One Wrathful Chaka Khan – 76 Points
8. F@#$ Mountain – 75 Points
9. The Smashed Club – 75 Points
10. Dungeons & Dragons & Diners & Drive-Ins & Dives – 72 Points
11. Kentchuky Debris – 72 Points
12. Let the rookie win – 72 Points
13. The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Dicks – 71 Points
14. Wow! 20 years of learning and friendship and sexual conquest(s) – 71 Points
15. Pleasant Mother Pheasant Pluckers – 70 Points
16. Quizbots in Disguise – 67 Points
17. Always Comes in 2nd (at Irish Rover) – 63 Points
18. Definitely Maybe – 60 Points
19. Medical Marvels – 60 Points
20. Birds Aren’t Real – 58 Points
21. In Dog Beers, We’ve Only Had One – 51 Points
22. The Gui Goobs – 47 Points
23. Urinary Fact-Infection – 46 Points
24. Jeff’s Mom came again tonight – 45 Points
25. Chicken tendies with friendies – 44 Points
26. Saturnian and the Solar Girls – 41 Points
27. Barely 90s babes – 37 Points
28. Grad Moms – 15 Points
29. Lassahoos – 7 Points