this is hysterical!
so who, herein, is Joe Pesci?
.
There is no Joe Pesci. That is a big part of the problem.
There are verbal versions of what that movie presented that work even more effectively then violence. If an extremely well known charismatic professional pool player had ever taken the reigns and decided to take a role of leadership and demand a respect towards the game from the other players this sport would be in a very different place today. But, none did.
Johnny Archer is the single player that stands out in American pool as the guy that had the chance to be that guy. He has/had worlds of respect, he was extremely well known and well liked, and the other players listened to what he had to say and followed him. He could have been the "Joe Pesci" of sorts for pool. He could have been the guy that would call up Rodney and say "WTF bud? What are you doing, Mark is a good guy and we all need him. You cannot go disrespecting him like that."
Then just as Joe Pesci did there he acts as the middle man, the arbiter and he phones up the other side and makes peace and keeps things going.
Unfortunately pool does not have one single professional in the entire of America that has the respect and ear of their peers and who is willing to actually BE "that guy" and right the ship when it goes off-kilter like this.
Rodney is clearly the disrespectful cowboy, Mark is clearly the casino manager, and there is no Joe Pesci out there that both sides know and respect that can speak to both sides from a position of respect and authority and get things back on the right path. So the disrespectful cowboy is left to wander around with no direction and no way of getting back into the casino.
Guys like Joe Pesci, if Archer had decided to BE that guy, they help ALL the sides and he could not help Rodney and Mark both. But Archer chose long ago to take a very different role and now that ship has long since sailed and he can never be what he should have been for the betterment of pool.
There is no one else. SVB is a phenomenal player but he is a loner for the most part and will not lead the players and simply does not have the charisma and is not the central figure of the scene from a personality standpoint. There is no other pro that can be that guy atm in America. It is very sad.