Fifty teams.  Three sports.  One weekend.  This Memorial Day weekend 2009, the City of Brotherly Love Softball League will host the Liberty Bell Classic; the Falcons Soccer Club will host [yes, another] Liberty Bell Classic tournament; and the Fins Aquatics Club will host Come Out and Swim, its 9th international swim meet.

With an anticipated attendance of over 1,200 athletes, this is Philadelphia’s largest LGBT multi-sport event ever.  The weekend will have all the excitement of a mini gay Olympics.  Though competing separately, athletes and athletic supporters will come together at numerous social activities.   Spectators are welcome at all sporting events, and the entire city is invited to join in the revelry.  Here’s the rundown:

Friday, May 22

Register, relax and survey the competition.  The Falcons have un petit soiree at Stir from 6 to 9pm.  Meanwhile, the Fins and softball folks are taking over 12th Air Command (aka X.I.I.).  Softball players are on the second floor and swimmers on the outside deck.  These events tend to be low key, but are always a lot of fun watching visitors arrive from out of town.

Saturday, May 23

The men’s softball action will commence at Metropolitan Park and Stauffer Fields in West Deptford and Deptford, NJ, respectively.  Check out the site for details.

The soccer tournament is from 10:30a-5p at Edgely Field in Fairmount Park.

The Fins meet is 9a-3p at Sheerr Pool in University City.  Post-meet downtime is at Mikey’s Bar & Grill, just a few blocks away, followed in the evening by a dinner and awards banquet.

PARTIES: Participants from all three competitions will be celebrating together.  From 7p-11p, Tavern on Camac is hosting a block party on Camac Street.  And starting at 9pm, PhillyGayCalendar is hosting its first JOCK party at Pure.  Falcons and Fins have discount cards for Pure, good up until midnight. [EDITORS NOTE: Get your wrist band from pure before midnight, and come and go all night – after midnight the price goes up!]

Sunday, May 24

The softball and soccer hosts wrap up their tournaments on Sunday.  The Falcons play from 11a-3p, followed by a BBQ, at Edgely Field again. CBLSL concludes its tournament in NJ with closing ceremonies and a Bar Crawl in the evening.  The only Fins event on Sunday is a women’s picnic brunch; contact Kacie King (kaciebee@gmail.com) for details.

I will leave you with two of my favorite sports-related movie quotes:
“If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.” – Grease
“U-G-L-Y, you ain’t got no alibi.  You ugly!” – Wildcats