I didn't mean it in a bad way, it's probably me, I've been known to be color blind sometimes when ti comes to shades of red and blue.
As for the article, I agree with alot of it but I think these things go in cycles and eventually it'll come back around to being more popular again. A hit movie featuring pool players comes out and we might see another jump in popularity but at the moment it definately seems to be on the down side in the mainstream.
Some halls in New York City when I left were crowded every single night and on weekends there would be sometimes multihour waits for tables and this was just 2 years ago. I think location makes a big difference and some areas are probably suffering more than others when it comes to the local halls.
I'd love to own a hall but it seems in my area that it's alot like you described. Poker taking over the rooms and empty tables all day and the only real money would probably be turning it into a night club type environment and that just isn't something I'd want to get into.
Poker is big because I think the average joe honestly thinks they can pick up that deck of cards and have a chance to be just as good as the pro's and beat them and that really gets them interested. To me, watching poker is one of the most boring things in the world but that's my guess when it comes to the average joe and why it's becoming so popular.
Bowling, while average person won't be able to step up and beat a pro, they can head to the local alley and bowl and come away with a "score" and every time they throw that ball, something usually happens, they knock some pins down and they get a score.
In pool, it's either you pocket the ball or you don't. There really isn't an in between and I think people who aren't avid players are frustrated by that part of the game. It's a game that you can't really play casually and expect to become proficient at it where the others you can or at least in your mind you can talk yourself into thinking you can
I could be completely wrong but that's my opinion.
