ATHENS - To best understand what happened to the U.S. women's gymnastics team Tuesday night, one need only review the scoring.
Carly Patterson? A 9.325 on the vault, 9.287 on the bars and 3.567 on the fib. As for Courtney Kupets, she skipped the beam, flubbed the floor and oversold the rationalization.
Yes, the stars of USA Gymnastics could not sway the judges during their routines and had even more trouble convincing themselves afterward.
A silver medal? Yipppee!
And, oh yeah, whoo hoo!
Upon leaving the arena floor they were identically outfitted in cheaper-than-expected jewelry and painfully forced smiles. A half-dozen fabulously talented, remarkably accomplished and exceedingly disappointed athletes.
Oh, this wasn't the embarrassment of Sydney in 2000 when the U.S. couldn't have found a medal with a Geiger counter. This was something different. In some ways, even more painful.
The United States proved itself to be the second-best gymnastics team in the world. And ain't that a crock for a group expecting so much more.
This was the deepest, most talented team ever assembled in America. We knew this, because they told us again and again.
Patterson was the next version of Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton. We expected this, because Martha Karolyi kept talking about it.
Yet, somewhere between fame and infamy, the U.S. lost its grip. And, upon falling, found itself behind Romania.
Patterson whacked one of the uneven parallel bars and got so far removed from her routine, she had to improvise.
Kupets landed offbalance during the floor exercise and had to skip a followup move that would have given her additional points.
And Courtney McCool? She was so erratic during Sunday's preliminaries, she was not chosen to perform any of the 12 routines in the finals.
Those were your three best gymnasts. The ones who were so good, so versatile, the team could afford to carry veterans such as Mohini Bhardwaj and Annia Hatch just for their vault expertise.
This team was so good, the U.S. could afford to leave four members of last year's World Championship squad at home, including double gold medalists Chellsie Memmel and Hollie Vise.
So why did the U.S. finish behind Romania in three of the four events in team competition? How could Patterson, the team's most clutch performer, contribute two of America's lowest scores?
"A dynasty," USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi said, "isn't built in a day."
And legends aren't created by ad executives.
U.S. officials already had touted this team as breakout stars for these Summer Games. Patterson's image is imprinted on millions of McDonald's bags. The Today Show has been breathing heavily.
Heck, they were even being compared to the Magnificent Seven from 1996. Yet, at this moment, they're looking more like the Manufactured Six.
"Everyone wants gold," Kupets said. "But we had our mistakes, so silver is good."
It was a plausible lie, but the team did not sell it well.
When Bela Karolyi found his wife - who succeeded him as the national team coordinator - he appeared to offer consolation rather than congratulations.
"It is what it is," Martha said, shrugging her shoulders.
"It was a courageous and strong performance," Bela replied, wrapping his wife in his arms. "You have nothing to be ashamed of."
When fellow coach Kelli Hill walked by, Bela embraced her and repeated, "It's okay," over and over.
Perhaps it will be okay. Perhaps this group will rebound when individual competition starts later in the week.
Patterson is talented enough to win the all-around title. Several others could compete for medals in various events.
The key is they will have to prove themselves quickly. Thus far they've shown more signs of wobbling than winning. McCool lost her composure Sunday night and needed a pep talk from Bhardwaj, the team captain.
Patterson, after a weak vault and the uneven bars mishap, was pouting on the sidelines until coach Evgeny Marchenko sat her down for a heart to heart.
"Anybody would be down if they made a childish mistake like that," Bela Karolyi said. "She wanted to do the greatest routine ever."
At this point, they should settle for a winning routine.
Hatch and Bhardwaj are not considered medal contenders. Kupets had to pull out of the balance beam Tuesday because of a sore hamstring. McCool's status is up in the air, and Terin Humphrey is solid, if not spectacular.
That leaves Patterson to save the day. An all-around gold could go a long way toward changing the perception from Tuesday night.
"We all have had better days," Patterson said. "We had our little mistakes. It happens. It's already done. We can't change it now. We just have to get ready to come back again."
