RIO DE JANEIRO -- U.S. mens gymnastics coach Mark Williams watched the womens team in awe.It was only the opening night of competition, the team qualifications. But Williams later called it one of the best gymnastics meets Ive ever watched.It was a statement of national pride. And at the same time, speaking minutes after the U.S. mens team finished fifth in team finals for the second consecutive Olympic Games, it was an expression of envy.How can the men get what the women -- one night later, gold medalists for the second straight Olympics -- now possess as almost their brand? And, because this is what we do in our country, what in heavens name is wrong with the mens program.Im open to suggestions, Williams said.The men lost because they uncharacteristically stumbled on three occasions they normally would not -- two performers on floor and a third on high bar.Weve got to figure it out so guys arent flustered by anything and its just a day at the office, he said. Watching the womens team last night was so impressive. It was amazing. We want to be like that.The U.S. mens team is as likeable a bunch of elite athletes as youre ever going to find. They are unabashedly spirited and optimistic, personified by Sam Mikulaks infectious cheerleading and urging himself and his teammates to put on a show.After Monday nights team final, the five were as stand-up as could be, facing reporters for every last question, including Danell Leyva, who committed the final error of the night when he lost his grip on high bar. And all stood solidly behind Leyva, consoling him in the moment and later emphasizing the teams responsibility for falling from second place in qualifications to fifth, two nights later.It would be easy to be skeptical at Mikulak suggesting that the chest-pounding spirit that fueled a late rally should have accompanied the team as it took the floor. Just as you can wonder if they have a so-called killer instinct when you hear Alex Naddour say, We always say we want to get a medal, we want to be out on the podium, but we want to go out there and put our hearts out there and thats what we did.Leyva unabashedly raved about Simone Biles last week, calling the 19-year-old a huge role model of mine, honestly.Like huge, he said. Ive been trying to emulate the way she goes about her gymnastics. She enjoys it. The last two years just watching her really helped me enjoy my gymnastics more.Williams said after watching the women in qualifications, I was hoping that we would come out and be on fire as well. Theres got to be that energy, he said. Simone is just so comfortable out on the floor. It would be great to have that. Paul Hamm sort of had that spark where he led the team in 2004 and kind of put the team on his back, and that certainly helps. It makes everyone feel comfortable.Talking about the womens team, Anthony Hernandez, the father of Laurie, one of its gold-medal winning members, said the women embrace pressure and clearly its a recurring theme.This is easy for them, Hernandez said. I dont mean it lightly, but Martha [Karolyi], shes always on top of things. Shes always having mock competitions at the ranch, so these young ladies are battle-tested. So when they come out here, yeah, sure, theres anxiety, but theyre used to the wars.The women also work with a sports psychology coach whom Biles and Hernandez have praised for helping them deal with the stress and pressure of competition.The same coach, Robert Andrews, worked with the men before the 2012 Olympics, but he said not everyone bought into what he was trying to teach, which included overcoming injuries. And in an interview with ESPN.com on Monday, he lashed out at USA Gymnastics, blaming selfishness for the mens current deficiencies.The sad thing for me was USA Gymnastics paid my way to London, gave me tickets and I never got to see the team while I was in London, Andrews said this week in an interview with ESPN.coms Alyssa Roenigk. Certain individuals in the system wouldnt give me access to the team and it backfired. Poor decisions were made by one or two people at USA Gymnastics that affected their confidence and belief, and it shook that whole system and those guys went onto that floor fragile because of those decisions.Andrews, now working with the Houston Texans, blamed one or two people within the program who wanted to control things and have all the glory and said, This is how weve always done it, and they wanted to make the Olympics about them.This is going to piss some people off that Im saying this, but Im OK with that, Andrews continued. It was wrong. Their decisions backfired and those guys went onto the floor [at the 2012 Games] confused and distracted, and the result showed. It took me months to get over that. What we could have done with that team in London and if we had the chance to build upon that in 2016 -- I had guys calling me three years later asking me to come back to the program.There are other, pragmatic reasons for why the U.S. men are not better. And a pretty good source in one of the greatest male gymnasts in history believes it is not fair to compare them to the women.The [U.S. women] can go out and have a terrible meet tonight and theyll still likely win the team competition, Bart Conner, a two-time gold medalist in the all-around and team competition at the 1984 Olympics, said Tuesday afternoon before the womens final. An important distinction to realize in this period of time is that there is a very big difference in mens and womens gymnastics.With the large emigration of Eastern European coaches to the U.S. some 30 years ago, womens programs in countries like Belarus, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Romania, the homeland of Conners wife Nadia Comaneci, as well as China, were decimated, Conner reminded us. And they still have not recovered.Its a double-edged sword because weve benefited from their expertise, Conner said. The U.S. women have never been better and the rest of the world has never been worse. Romania doesnt even have a full team. The Belarus team is made up of gymnasts from California who have never been to Belarus.The U.S. women are magnificent and unbeatable. But its more competitive in mens competition. The top six to eight programs are all magnificent. One or two mistakes in the mens competition and youre off the podium.Conner also pointed out the inherent difference between male and female gymnasts. While women are typically in their teens with lives relatively uncomplicated, the men are often dealing with post-college careers and some, such as Alex Naddour, have wives and children.There are also fewer boys than girls who pursue the sport in the U.S. because of fewer collegiate opportunities for males. In 2015, there were 63 womens Division I programs to just 15 mens programs.There probably needs to be a complete review on how to improve performance or results [for the U.S. national team], Connor said. I think they need to do a little soul-searching to find out how to get a little better. But I dont think theres need for a dramatic overhaul. Theyre pretty close. ... Its not in a state of catastrophe.Williams praised Martha Karolyi, the 73-year-old Hungarian-Romanian national team coordinator for the womens program, for getting it right. Martha and husband Bela defected to the U.S. from Romania in 1981, and they have trained nine Olympic champions.By getting it right, Martha Kraolyi is the one voice for the womens programs and there is cohesion in their program that does not exist with the men.Its difficult because we have so many different places theyre coming from, Williams said. But there should be a very strong voice that makes it so that everyone is doing what theyre told to do and that doesnt always happen.Martha Karolyi was asked on Tuesday if she still intends to retire as womens national team coordinator, and she said yes. She was then half-jokingly asked if the U.S. mens program had contacted her, and she laughed and said, No, no. They didnt. I dont know what happened with their program. Theyre very strong gymnasts. .... 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A code of silence often prevents witnesses and victims from speaking out -- though some do. These are the stories of three victims.Josh VillegasBreaking The Silence“I was just too scared to tell.”In 2013, Josh Villegas was a 14-year-old freshman on the Oak Hills High School football team in Hesperia, California, when he says he was attacked while using a urinal inside a locker room bathroom. Overpowered by teammates, Josh says he was pinned against a wall face-first while another teammate sodomized him with his fingers. No suspects were identified and the case resulted in no criminal charges. But in July 2014, Josh and his mother sued the school district, alleging that coaches and administrators allowed to exist a long-lasting tradition of ritual hazing and sadomasochistic sexual beatings. School officials, who completed their own investigation in about two days, found no wrongdoing and deny those allegations. That investigation was led by Bill Holland, a school police officer on the districts payroll, who had previously served as a volunteer freshman football coach. Joshs legal team has questioned the credibility and thoroughness of Hollands work.Jordan PreavyAbsent Authority Tracy Stopford, Jordan Preavys mother: “Having that sexual abuse in front of his team devastated him. Devastated.”In September 2011, at least two older teammates of Jordan Preavy, a junior on the Milton High School football team in Vermont, used a broom handle to sodomize the 16-year-old through his clothing as part of a hazing ritual. Witnesses told police that Jordans head snapped back and he looked pained, yelling No! and Get off! Jordan never told his parents about the incident. Nearly a year later, on Aug. 28, 2012, just a few weeks after his 17th birthday, Jordan committed suicide. Milton school administrators first became aware in May 2013 that Jordan had been hazed, but they didnt report the incident to the proper authorities or notify Jordans parents. It would be another year before police, while investigating other allegations of hazing on the Milton football team, discovered and finally informed the family about Jordans hazing. Today, Jordans parents are convinced that the incident contributed to his decision to take his own life and are suing the school district, claiming it failed to protect their son from being hazed. In a court response to the lawsuit, the district denied culpability, arguing that the broom handle did not break Jordans clothing: It is not likely that Preavy killed himself because on one occasion an object was pressed against his clothing in the buttocks. An independent report commissioned by the school district, though, criticized its officials for failing to report the attack on Jordan to authorities as required by school policy and state law. A criminal investigation into hazing on the Milton football team eventually led to the conviction of five football players on various charges.DArcy McKeownStanding Up“It takes a lot to get through this. But I think for me what ended up driving it was just focusing on that one goal: stopping it. ... If I didnt speak out, I didnt feel anyone else there that night would.”In 2005, 18-year-old DArcy McKeown was a high-profile incoming center for the McGill University football team in Montreal. Soon after he arrived, he started hearing degrading and violent threats from some veteran players, including ominous references to “Dr. Broom” and a bizarre hazing ritual. DArcy shared his fears with his father, Bob McKeown, a CFL veteran and well-known TV journalist. Bob says he couldnt have imagined that the threats were more than just tough talk, so he advised DArcy to go along and be one of the guys. But on an August night on a squash court, away from staff and coaches, DArcy was sodomized with a broom handle while teammates cheered from the bleachers above. By the next day, DArcy was determined to fight back. He reported the incident to his head coach, and when he wasnt satisfied with his response, he went to the athletic director, university president and provost. DArcys actions eventually led to player suspensions, forfeited games and major revisions to McGills hazing policies. He ultimately decided to play football for the University of Toronto, walking away from McGill having never played a down.In thhese three cases, school administrators often minimized the events or were ill-equipped to investigate what happened.dddddddddddd. The results were long-lasting and traumatic: “Im always looking over my shoulder,” Josh Villegas says. “Im always on edge.”“Its become much more violent, sexually, since the internet,” says psychologist Susan Lipkins, who focuses her work on hazing. She believes that kids have become desensitized to sexuality and see this form of hazing as a way to humiliate others. “And I think with each year it gets worse and worse.” Hazing in AmericaLast year, Vermont passed “Jordans Law,” which requires school officials to report all hazing incidents to the Department for Children and Families within 24 hours. Before, districts had been allowed to conduct their own investigations first. Across the country, though, six states still have no hazing laws, seven have laws that dont extend to the high school level, 13 exclude “athletic events” from hazing laws, and only one state, Nebraska, actually mentions sexual penetration in its hazing law. Below, a state-by-state breakdown of laws, as well as a listing of all the reports found by OTL of sodomy hazing in high schools since 2011.StateIllegal?Felony or MisdemeanorIncidents Since 2011School, town and place of incidentAlabamaYesMisdemeanorAlaskaNoN/AArizonaYesLaw doesnt specifyArkansasYesMisdemeanorCaliforniaYesLaw doesnt specify3Oak Hills High, Hesperia (locker room); Westlake High, Westlake Village (hotel room); La Puente High, La Puente (storage room)ColoradoYesMisdemeanor1Norwood (bus)ConnecticutYesLaw doesnt specifyDelawareYesMisdemeanorFloridaYesLaw doesnt specify1Cooper High, Cooper City (hotel room)GeorgiaYesMisdemeanor1Parkview High, Lilburn (hotel room)HawaiiNoN/AIdahoYesMisdemeanor1Dietrich High, Dietrich (locker room)IllinoisYesLaw doesnt specify3St. Francis de Sales High, Chicago (locker room); Plano High, Plano (locker room); Maine West High, Des Plaines (training run)IndianaYesLaw doesnt specify2Clark High, Hammond (locker room); Wood Memorial High, Oakland City (unknown)IowaYesMisdemeanor2Clarion-Goldfield-Dows High, Clarion (side room); Nodaway Valley High, Greenfield (locker room)KansasYesMisdemeanor1Great Bend High, Great Bend (bus)KentuckyYesLaw doesnt specifyLouisianaYesMisdemeanorMaineYesLaw doesnt specifyMarylandYesMisdemeanorMassachusettsYesMisdemeanor2Somerville High, Somerville (camp); Chelmsford High, Chelmsford (camp)MichiganYesLaw doesnt specify1Constantine High, Constantine (house)MinnesotaYesLaw doesnt specify1Browerville High, Browerville (locker room/classroom)MississippiYesMisdemeanorMissouriYesLaw doesnt specify2Hardin-Central High, Hardin (locker room); Principia Upper, St. Louis (dorm/camp)MontanaNoN/A1Glacier High, Kalispell (bus)NebraskaYesMisdemeanor1Maxwell High, Omaha (camp)NevadaYesMisdemeanorNew HampshireYesMisdemeanorNew JerseyYesFelony1Sayreville War Memorial High, Sayreville (locker room)New MexicoNoN/ANew YorkYesMisdemeanor1Bronx High School of Science, New York (unknown)North CarolinaYesMisdemeanor1McDowell County High, Marion (locker room)North DakotaYesMisdemeanorOhioYesMisdemeanorOklahomaYesMisdemeanor3Southmoore High, Moore (locker room); Norman High, Norman (bus); Ardmore High, Ardmore (unknown)OregonYesLaw doesnt specify2Grant High, Portland (locker room); Philomath High, Philomath (camp)PennsylvaniaYesMisdemeanor2Conestoga High, Berwyn (locker room); Leechburg High, Leechburg (locker room)Rhode IslandYesMisdemeanorSouth CarolinaYesLaw doesnt specify1Walhalla High, Walhalla (bus)South DakotaNoN/ATennesseeYesLaw doesnt specify1Ooltewah High, Ooltewah (cabin)TexasYesMisdemeanor1Edison High, San Antonio (locker room)UtahYesMisdemeanor1Bountiful High, Bountiful (bus)VermontYesMisdemeanor1Milton High, Milton (locker room)VirginiaYesMisdemeanor2Strasburg High, Strasburg (bus); Spotsylvania High, Spotsylvania (locker room)WashingtonYesMisdemeanor2Juanita High, Kirkland (locker room); Capital High, Olympia (locker room)West VirginiaYesLaw doesnt specifyWisconsinYesLaw doesnt specify1Lincoln High, Wisconsin Rapids (locker room)WyomingNoN/AWhat has to change? Lipkins says there needs to be greater awareness and accountability, so that victims feel more comfortable coming forward and going to the courts. “If we cant break the code of silence, were not going to change things.”Reporting by John Barr, Pia Malbran, Arty Berko, Andy Lockett and Jason Kostura.FOR MORE, STREAM THE FULL EPISODE OF OUTSIDE THE LINES PRIMETIME ON WATCHESPN. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. ' ' '