I've bitten my tongue long enough on this one. There's blood in my mouth.
The answer to your question is, NO. The "world" of pool doesn't need the USA. However, the USA doesn't need the "world" of pool, either.
Why?
We have DCC, the U.S. Open, SBE, Hard Times, etc. We have the APA, TAP, BCA, VNEA, Independent Leagues. We have guys and gals that will play, gamble, sweat and talk about pool until the sun comes up and then goes down again. We have 90% of the best custom cue and case makers in the world (Barton included. I don't care where he lives and works, he's American and maybe the best case maker ever).
We have Pat Fleming, Justin, Fast Lenny and Big Truck. We have Hustlin apparel. We have Dragon Promotions (regardless of how you feel about Charlie) promoting just as many events here as they do abroad.
We have Johnny Archer, SVB, Corey Deuel, Hillbilly, Earl, Hatch, Dechaine and the list goes on.
We have AZ Billiards. I think the "AZ" stands for Arizona, which is who the website was started for, pool players in Arizona and just exploded into what it has become. We have Phil Capelle, Dave Sapolis, Scott Lee, Dominic Esposito, Tom Simpson, Bob Henning, Jerry Briesath. Not to mention Billiards Digest, Pool and Billiard Magazine and Inside Pool.
We have akaTrigger's (Melinda) blog.
Do you know what else we have? Allison Fisher, Darren Appleton, Efren Reyes, Orcullo, Klatt, Morra, Souquet, Immonen, Ga Young Kim, Gerda, Xiaoting, Ouschan and every other international player coming here to live, work and play pool in the USA. They all come here chasing tournaments and play. So, we obviously have a lot more to offer than you think.
Tell me, who flocks to the UK for the same?
Does the "world" of pool need us? Maybe not. Do we need the "world" of pool? Absolutely not!
-Jeremy