<table> </table> <strong><span class="subhead">Missing something shiny?</span></strong></p><p>Olympic gold medalist swimmer <strong>Brendan Hansen</strong>, on his way home to Austin, Texas, after attending a bachelor party in Philadelphia, lost his gold medal from the Beijing Olympics on the Southwest flight. He was carrying the medal in a side pocket of his backpack. He realized the medal was gone when getting off the plane in Texas.</p><p>A woman on the flight found the medal on the floor in the back of the plane and contacted the University of Texas on the belief that any swimming medalist in the area was affiliated with the school. Hansen got a call from the university&#8217;s athletic department, asking: &#8220;Brendan, are you missing something shiny?&#8221;</p><p>Hansen gave the woman a check, and she said she would donate it to charity.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Prep player in coma</span></strong></p><p><strong>Luke Southard</strong>, a Pratt (Kan.) High School player injured in a football game at Scott City on Friday, remains in critical condition in intensive care at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colo. He is breathing on his own and shows no signs of paralysis. He remains medically sedated.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">A Fish out of water</span></strong></p><p>Doubles star <strong>Bob Bryan </strong>will miss this weekend&#8217;s Davis Cup semifinal against Spain because of a shoulder injury. That puts <strong>Mardy Fish </strong>on the doubles team with Bob&#8217;s twin brother <strong>Mike</strong>. The matches will be played at the Las Ventas bullfighting arena in Madrid.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">A lot of Seve in Sergio</span></strong></p><p>European Ryder Cup captain <strong>Nick Faldo </strong>likes what he sees in <strong>Sergio Garcia</strong>, who can&#8217;t seem to win a major and can&#8217;t seem to miss from 20 feet while playing in a Ryder Cup match.</p><p>&#8220;He brings a lot of passion to this team,&#8217; Faldo said. &#8220;When you see Sergio, you see <strong>Seve (Ballesteros)</strong>. They love this event.&#8221; Garcia has never lost in eight alternate-shot matches and has a 14-4-2 record in four Ryder Cup events.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Elsewhere</span></strong></p><p>&#8226;BMWOracle Racing, the sailing syndicate that has the America&#8217;s Cup locked up in court, says it will enter the Jan. 31-Feb. 14 match racing series in New Zealand for America&#8217;s Cup teams.</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Tom Boonen </strong>of Belgium won the 16th stage of the Spanish Vuelta. <strong>Alberto Contador </strong>remained the overall leader, 1:17 ahead of teammate <strong>Levi Leipheimer</strong>.</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Serena Williams</strong>, 26, will publish a memoir that will be released in 2009. Bidding for the book reached at least $1.3 million, though financial terms were not disclosed.</p><p>&#8226;Former Giants receiver <strong>Mark Ingram</strong> was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for bank fraud and money laundering.