What would the equivalent be? Win the lag and break and run every game without your opponent getting to the table? Or alternate breaks where they trade break and runs all the way through until the lag winner wins the final rack? Either one could be exciting once but if the series is geared towards that outcome it could also produce a lot of boring pool matches. The big packages are exciting when they aren't the norm.
I read it all the time about how so often, one player is basically denied a chance to win because the other is running rack after rack after rack. The thing is that, speaking as somebody who spends 40-50 days a year attending tournaments live, I just don't see this happening. In my 47 years attending pro events live, I've only seen more than a five pack on about four different occasions. As we've seen from At-Large's stats in the aftermath of matchups between the super-elite (e.g., SVB vs Orcullo) the very best still break and run in the 40%-50% range even when they're in their very best form. Only top players in great form manage more than 40% break and run stats and I'm not sure that's too high.
That said, your statement that the current winner breaks format has more blowouts than it would be with either alternate break or tougher playing conditions is incontrovertible. As you rightly point out, there's a tradeoff in play. How much back-and-forth play there should be is highly debatable, and your opinion matters every bit as much as mine. If you attend a pool or snooker tournament, however, what gets the fans most excited is when one player gains and maintains control of the table for a long stretch.
Has anyone thought about different cloth for the rails that doesn't play so slick but we could still have the typical cloth on the bed? I hear some people saying that older cloth plays tougher, but I think for appearances and table to table consistency fresh cloth is better. Right now they have tables that accept balls more than you would expect and they are tightening the pockets to offset that. Would larger pockets that play tougher be an improvement?
I've read many posters suggesting that the cloth may explain why equipment that looks tight is so often playing loose. Perhaps they are right, but I'm not knowledgeable on this matter, so I must defer to posters that understand such topics. If the cloth is having the effect of making conditions easier, that probably needs to be addressed.
Most of all, you can take a deep bow for a well-judged, well-presented and thought-provoking post .
