If there was a boxing match somewhere in Bridgeport, Lou Bogash Jr. would usually be there. Pleasure Beach. Savin Rock. Walnut Beach. It didn't matter. The Armory on Main Street. The outdoor arena on State Street. Bogash paid his dime or his quarter and watched the fights.

But it wasn't just boxing.

From the turn of the century until the early 1930s, Bridgeport had professional baseball, going back to James O'Rourke's Orators and then with the Crossmen, the Bolts, the Hustlers, the Americans, the Bears and the Bees. They played at Candelite Stadium and Seaside Park. They played at the Barnum Baseball Grounds at Athletic Park and at Newfield Park.

But from 1932 until 1941 and then again from 1942 until 1947, there wasn't any baseball. There were other things, however. There was midget car racing at Candelite in the late 1940s. There was basketball, too, with the Bridgeport Newfield Steelers, the Bridgeport Aer-O-Sals and the Bridgeport Roesslers in the old American Basketball League in the '40s, playing games at the Armory.

There were also the Blue Ribbons and the Lenox and the Springwoods that played in the Eastern Basketball League.

However, it all slowly faded away. And after 1950, there was no professional sports of any kind until 1998 when the Bridgeport Bluefish came to the newly constructed 5,300-seat Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Over the last decade, more than 2.5 million people have attended Bluefish games, and based on that overwhelming early success, the

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9,000-seat Arena at Harbor Yard — home to the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Sound Tigers — was opened in 2001.

Because of these two facilities, the city sports history has experienced a significant rebirth. In 2004, 2006 and in 2008, the NCAA women's tournament has played to mostly sold-out crowds at the Arena. The city has hosted two Atlantic League all-star games, and in 1999, 1999, 2002 and 2006 the Atlantic League championship series took place at the Ballpark, while in 2001-02 the Sound Tigers played in the AHL's Calder Cup finals.

"I go to two or three events a year at the Arena," Nick Vancho, a member of the Bridgeport Old Timers, said. "I hope it keeps flourishing. The Harbor Yard facility is fantastic, so is the ballpark."

Last summer the Arena played host to a championship boxing match between Norwalk's Travis Simms and Canada's Joachim Alcine. More than 6,000 people watched Simms fall in a 10-round unanimous decision. It was the first time since the late 1950s that the city had hosted a professional boxing match and Bogash Jr. hopes that it's not the last.

"With the Arena, we can do so much."

That became obvious in 2004, when the Arena hosted the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament's first- and second-round games. The NCAA was impressed enough with the facility at Harbor Yard that in 2006 it awarded the women's East Regional to Bridgeport. And in March the building again hosted the NCAA women's first-and second-round games.

"They've had the women's [NCAA] tournament there," Vancho said. "But Fairfield [University] is not drawing. Winning would bring a lot more people in."

In 2001, the Stags moved out of their on-campus home at Alumni Hall and started playing games at the Arena. In 2006, they moved the floor closer to one end of the building in order to make the setting more intimate, cutting capacity from around 9,000 to 5,278. Despite that, Fairfield is still trying to make its mark at the Arena, averaging just 2,648 in 13 games last season, going 7-6.

The Ballpark is currently undergoing some much-needed renovations heading into its 11th season of hosting Atlantic League baseball. And no one can argue with the overall success of the franchise and what it's done for the community. Harbor Yard has hosted two all-star games, the team has made the playoffs six times and won the 1999 championship.

In the first three years, the Bluefish drew 305,000, 355,000 and 316,000 people. And while attendance has leveled off since — the 'Fish averaged 2,426 last season — the team is well on its way toward the 3 million mark (2,567,202) in total attendance. "The field looks great. It's very professional," Bogash Jr. said. "I enjoy going to the ballpark."