It’s Always in the Last Place You Look

Angelo Taylor, 400-meter hurdle and 1,600-meter relay gold medalist from Georgia Tech, was in a panic when he thought he had lost one of his medals in Sydney, Australia after taking it to a club to gain free admission.

When he came out, he checked his pockets and the medal wasn’t there.

“I was feeling empty inside. I thought I had lost it,” he said.

He found it--around his neck.

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Trivia time: Who is the youngest player to pitch a World Series shutout?

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Fish story: When Americans win gold medals, they sometimes get their likeness on a cereal box.

After Norway defeated the United States in the women’s soccer final, Jon Stewart of the Sacramento Bee wonders if they will enjoy their picture on a jar of herring.

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More Stewart: “Marion Jones, Wonder Woman to C.J. Hunter’s The Thing, won a gold medal in the 200 meters, which she trained for by running around her husband twice.”

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Lucky parents: Cheryl and John Welsh of suburban Chicago have one son playing quarterback at Idaho and another at Western Michigan. This week, through a rare scheduling gem, they will see both play--in West Virginia.

Western Michigan played Marshall in Huntington on Thursday night. On Saturday, Idaho plays West Virginia in Morgantown, about four hours away.

It will be the first time mom and dad have seen both sons play in the same week.

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Mother’s calling: Oscar De La Hoya’s father dreamed of his son becoming a boxer. His mother, a professional singer, dreamed of him becoming a singer.

He is halfway there.

“It’s like somebody being trapped in somebody else’s body. That’s exactly the way I’ve been feeling,” he said. “And now with my singing, I can be the real me.”

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Bigger than life: Willie Stargell had to wipe away the tears when he heard that the Pittsburgh Pirates were erecting a 12-foot statue of him at their new ballpark.

“This is doing a number on me,” the Hall of Fame first baseman said. “Pittsburgh is one of the few teams that’s been playing since the early 1900s and to have a compliment like this is special, very special.”

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The closer: There’s nothing Michael Jeffas likes better than the final game before a stadium says goodbye to baseball. In almost three decades, he has been there for a lot of them, including Chicago’s Comiskey Park, San Francisco’s 3Com Park, and most recently he helped turn out the lights at 48-year-old County Stadium in Milwaukee.

“The baseball game is really superfluous,” Jeffas, 53, said. “It’s more enjoyable to enjoy the people and all their memories. I’m Irish--this is kind of like an Irish wake where you come to celebrate the life of a stadium.”

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Defensive gem: An NHL trophy that was once awarded to former Montreal Canadien great Doug Harvey is being put up for auction. It commemorates the four consecutive trophies won by Harvey from 1955-58 as the NHL’s top defenseman.

Michael Rogozinsky, president of a Toronto auction house, estimates the selling price to be between $3,000 and $4,000.

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Attention IOC: From Sporting News’ Caught on the Fly:

“Finally, now that the flame’s doused, the worst-kept Sydney secret (next to juiced jocks) is public: The IOC needs fallback position because no way Athens does the ’04 Games. Too little security, too late venue-building. Plan A (as in Aussie): The five-ring circus Down Under all over again.”

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Trivia answer: Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles, who was 20 in 1966 when he beat the Dodgers, 6-0.

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And finally: Karrie Webb, the Tiger Woods of women’s golf, remembers her first tournament. She was 8, playing in her Australian hometown of Ayr.

“I shot 156 that day, and they gave me the Encouragement Award,” she told Golf Digest. “Obviously, it meant, ‘that was a good try, but you’re a long way behind--keep practicing.’ ”