HARLEM --- There may be no place in the industrial world that seemed farther away from Beijing than the Hoffa house on Fairview Drive.

While Reese Hoffa was half a world away, competing in the Olympics shot put on Friday, his family and friends were held hostage and kept completely in the dark by NBC. Without any Internet access to follow the live scoring, the Hoffas kept a frustrating vigil through all the beach volleyball and swimming and gymnastics that monopolized every second of the coverage.

"That's what bothered me," said Steve Hoffa, whose T-shirt designated him as the "proud dad" of the Lakeside High and University of Georgia grad and reigning world champion. "I would rather see it on TV live, rather than someone calling me after seeing it on the Internet."

After more than 15 hours that included a boisterous cookout Thursday night and breakfast Friday morning, a call from a family friend finally came. It wasn't good news. Hoffa -- a gold medal favorite -- finished seventh in the 12-man finals, more than 5 feet short of his personal best. He scratched on the last two of his six throws.

It was a solemn moment in the house decorated in "Reese's Rooters" signs and red, white and blue tablecloths. All that anticipation ending in a phone call only magnified what Jim McKay so famously dubbed the agony of defeat.

"I just feel bad for him, because he worked so hard to get there," his father said. "I know he's got to feel pretty rough right now. He knows there were a lot of people rooting for him. That bothers him some, because he feels he let them down. But we're proud of him whether he finished first or seventh or 22nd."

Such is the nature of sports, which the quadrennial stage of the Olympics only intensifies. In events that attract the spotlight so rarely (if the network bothers to show them live at all), there is no next year to refocus the sting.

The Hoffas had been waiting for this moment. You could not miss the family's enthusiasm and pride if you drove down Fairview. Vicki Hoffa, Reese's stepmother, had adorned the yard with a 20-foot banner and Burma Shave-style placards that said "Rooting for ... Reese Hoffa ... in Beijing." Her grandchildren, Emma and Anna Morris, stood near the end of the driveway waving signs as passing cars tooted horns.

More than 25 people packed into the house on Thursday night, enjoying a cookout and hoping to catch at least a fleeting glimpse of the shot put qualifying. Even a brief mention of the results would have been welcomed.

"I'm going to see SpongeBob, and I'm not coming back until Reese is on," declared 7-year-old Emma.

But for more than 5 hours of NBC coverage, there was nothing. Steve Hoffa gave up and went to bed at nearly 3 a.m. His stepson Johnny Morris, like most of the guests, had given up much sooner.

"I couldn't take it anymore," Morris said. "I had to go home and get on the Internet to see it."

Friday morning wasn't any better. As the family breathlessly awaited any mention of the track and field, the anxiety only grew, as NBC ignored it until its scheduled tape-delayed coverage nearly 12 hours later. Knowing that Hoffa was competing while they sat in the dark was excruciating.

"It's nerve-racking," Steve said. "They've got all this stuff going on, and they can't break away for a minute of it."

Getting notified of the final results over the phone cast a solemn pall over the rooting party, which by that time included Augusta's Paralympic shot put hopeful Scott Winkler, who will be traveling to Beijing next week.

"I just hate it for Reese," said Vicki, who, despite the disappointment, was still inviting everyone to stop by the house that evening to watch the event on tape and share another cookout and a slab of Olympic cake.

Steve Hoffa stoically handled the heartbreak as only a father can. He understands what his son is going through. Leaning back on the counter in his kitchen, his own personal story of missed athletic glory came to mind. He played guard for a small high school in Jeffersonville, Ind., when it reached the championship game of the state's storied basketball tournament played in Butler Fieldhouse. Unlike in the movie Hoosiers , Hoffa's team lost what many in Indiana might be considered a bigger event than the Olympics.

"We wanted to be on the wall," Hoffa said of the team pictures of state champs immortalized in the arena.

That's the same thing Reese Hoffa was shooting for in China, a place on the permanent register of Olympic champions. He hadn't finished outside the top three in any event since 2005, so expectations were soaring for him to bring home an Olympic medal.

But for whatever reason, Hoffa's usual consistency wasn't on display in the National Stadium on Friday. Despite qualifying for the final on his first throw in the morning -- advancing a step further than he did in his Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens -- Hoffa narrowly advanced to the final eight competitors on his third throw and failed to improve on it in his final three attempts, while a Polish thrower took home the gold.

"The bad thing is I know and he knows he's the best in the world," said the father. "But some days, you just don't have it."

It just feels worse when that opportunity won't come around again for about another 1,460 days.

"Wait another four years," said Steve Hoffa. "He'll be around again."

In 2012, the family members plan to be in London to see it for themselves.