I think you have it half right. I think Joe could actually be a substantial [short term] help to pool if he started promoting it all the time. Would the stands all suddenly be packed, and a hundred thousand concurrent viewers on every live stream? I kind of doubt it, but I do think he is one of the few who could have some fairly substantial pull. The problem, at least as far as professional/spectator pool goes, is that it wouldn't keep their interest. The product just hasn't ever been remotely close to good enough to have much appeal, even to serious pool players, much less to anybody else. So in a sense it doesn't much matter if Joe could bring people to the dance if most wouldn't stay for very long anyway.Joe is NOT the next best shot at pool, he is the epitome of the current pool player, and it seems this thread is about improving pool - more of the same isn’t going to work.
I would write the explanation of insanity but I’m sure we all know what it is.
Fortunately a couple of promoters, while not doing nearly enough in this respect in my opinion, are finally willing to start doing a few things differently to see if it ends up being more appealing to the masses. While it is only baby steps, the willingness for a couple of promoters to even try anything new or different at all is a new step that they should be applauded for, and perhaps it pays some dividends in time. There's no guarantees but it certainly has a way better chance of working than doing the same ole things that everybody else has been doing for decades that has been proven not to work.
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