Certainly, JAM, it's not fair to generalize here, for some of the top US players take this seriously. That said, I could write a book on the many indiscretions for which I've been present in and around American pro pool players that made American pool look bad. I also need to note that American pool players who behave badly are never called out by their fellow American pros, further evidencing that their fellow American pros just don't care enough about it.
Even restricting myself to the last few years and only events I've attended, and I'll leave the names out, we've seen: a) a top American in contention for Master of the Table at Derby City, and entering Saturday's nine ball play still undefeated, got drunk the night before and overslept his match for his first loss, and then failed to show for his next match, thereby compromising his chance at both the $16,000 first prize for the 9-ball event and the $20,000 prize for Master of the Table, b) an American refuse to shake an opponent's hand, for no discernible reason, after a Mosconi match despite being begged by coach Johan to do so, c) during the Derby City Bigfoot Ten Ball, an elite American player whose opponent was nearing the finish line uttered to his opponent "play me a long race and I'll turn you into a cab driver", and d) an elite American pro yelling at the crowd." At Steinway Billiards, I was once lashed into by an elite American player when I applauded for a shot made by his opponent that he didn't feel warranted applause. Even restricting myself to elite players, I could surely come up with many other examples. Unfortunately, in each case these infractions were by highly visible players in highly visible situations.
Some things make the present demonstrably different from the past:
1) Matchroom has increased its investment in pool and Emily Frazer's comments, reiterated in an article that appeared on AZB, that the lack of professionalism in American pool needs to be addressed if the pro pool product, over which they now have considerable control (as a result of their acquisition of both the US Open 9-ball and the WPA World 9-ball Championship) is to be optimally positioned from a marketing standpoint. Matchroom's appetite for continuing to increase its investment in pool will be greatly influenced by their perception of the attainability of that vision, and the behavior of American pros will figure in how they view things.
2) We live in the internet age. Billy's behavior would have gone unnoticed twenty five years ago. Now, matches are streamed and player behavior is more visible than ever and even when pros play unstreamed matches, they know they may be being taped on someone's phone. The internet has changed the world in which the pool player operates, and every pool player knows it.
3) As a regular Team USA member at the Mosconi, Billy Thorpe is now among the most visible American players worldwide, so his actions will have far more influence on how American pool is perceived worldwide than all but a few of his fellow American pros.
Yes, I do feel that Americans are inferior in their behavior to the Europe-based players, and this is not meant to suggest that there aren't European players that cross the line, too. I think a lot of the difference is attributable to the fact that the undeniably seedy action scene is the training ground for most top American players, and this is not so in Europe.
Unlike some others, I strongly believe that American pool can evolve past all this and don't feel that objectionable behavior is so deeply embedded in American pool culture that it's time wasted to try to improve it. Also unlike some others, I don't embrace the status quo.
Finally, it needs to be said that all I have is my own experience in making these judgements, and others may have had different experiences and can rightly see things differently. This is, undeniably, a matter of opinion, but I hope I've made mine clear.
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