initLoad();

function initLoad() : void
{
	var contentLoader : Loader = new Loader();
	var s : Sprite = new Sprite();
	var link : String = "http://isokon.net/post/cloudvcloud.jpg";
	
	// here we are adding the child of what the utility returns
	s.addChild( load( link, contentLoader ));
	addChild(s);
}

// the loading utility
function load( url:String, l:Loader ) : Loader {
	l.load( new URLRequest( url ) );
	return l;
}

When you just need something small and simple.

Simple little loader utility

ActionScript 3