Heh.. well, don't feel bad, I can't say I found it on
my first try either :-)

As far as it being sloppy programming -- perhaps that is
a bit strong of a word, but the guy who has to maintain your
code when you are gone would most likely enjoy knowing when
you are done using a particular file :-) Or even if you
go to work on it later on, having that close statement
would clearly state that you are finished with the filehandle,
and might make your life a bit easier.

But, as a Perl programmer, it's you're absolute right to
code it that way if thats how you want to and you feel it
makes you're life easier :-)
-Eric