Contempt, entitlement, disinterest, vulgarity, sharking, cheating, incorrect focus, and a lack of team camaraderie.
I added a couple of more items to your list. I'm not sure how fair all of these items are but I highlighted them in my trademark blue, because they deserve to be emphasized if for nothing more than the perusal of those in the this forum or by chance, members of the USA Mosconi Cup Team.
I am usually hesitant to pile on with negative criticism of the U.S.A. "professional" pool players because their life is not an easy one but I respect their journey and the difficult path they have chosen. It is with resignation that I agree with your post.
A few years back, Doug Gordon (a fine, respected European promoter/pool aficionado and friend of America) and I took it upon ourselves to write a CODE OF CONDUCT for pool players of all ranges. The chore wasn't taken lightly and Doug and I put forth some great effort.
It was published in the Sticky Notes of AZ Billiards for years but a few, loud, whiney babies from this very forum, cried unceasingly to the moderators and owners of this site, wailing about how it was useless, how it had no teeth and just wasn't relative.
Eventually the owners grew tired of these few whiners and removed the CODE OF CONDUCT from AZ Billiards. I mention this because it really isn't just the professional pool players who lack the will to build or carry themselves in the manner needed. A few unsavory people with mean-spirited vengeful agendas managed to coerce the very owners of this site into removing the CODE OF CONDUCT for pool players.
I have to concede that our CODE OF CONDUCT was merely a sign post for people involved with pool and that it had no teeth but instead of Americans pulling in the same direction, they managed to divert a harmless sign post over the cliff. The owners of this forum also have to be held responsible for allowing the patients to run the asylum. So you see it is not just the USA Mosconi Cup Team that has let America down. This self-centered, egocentricity runs throughout America and I'm not sure if there is any hope of anything changing.
Maybe as others have opined; "pool is what it is and doesn't need a face lift" and maybe that is true here in America; but sad nevertheless.
It sure seems that in other parts of the globe, pool is viewed in an entirely different manner.
My ideas about bringing in fresh, young talent, like Landon Shuffett has fallen victim to the European Mosconi Cup management perspective that the pressure would be too great for young, up and coming athletes.
And perhaps my silence and the silence of others, bears some responsibility as well. Thanks for starting this thread.
JoeyA