A reformed 'Rat'
Jay, I agree with you... now that I have gone back to work.
During the 5 year period that I played nothing but pool, I would have disagreed with you vehemently. There were many times on the drive home from a tournament or gambling session that I would get the distinct feeling that I was just another rat, chasing after a small slice of a very small piece of cheese. What was I chasing after? Winning the U.S. Open and $40K. Then I read somewhere that Tiger Woods gets paid more than that just to SHOW UP at a golf tournament. Pretty discouraging. For someone like myself, with no marketing/business skills, just the pure desire to master the game, I was devastated. Combine the fact that I was lacking in the talent department, along with the fact that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is actually an tin cup with a few plug nickels in it and you get the idea of how my perception of the game was getting warped. That's when the self-flagellation would begin, "What the $#(@ am I doing?" and the worst realization of all "This game/life is changing me, for the worse".
Fast forward to today, and I no longer see pool in such a cynical light. I'll always love pool, it's my first true love. I play it for enjoyment, it's a hobby now.
I think two things can be done to improve the game.
1) Give the rats a bigger piece of cheese. There are many players who work not only on their game, but their behavior and try to bring the game up along with them. They are fighting the good fight.
2) Stop romanticizing the rats that have cut up more people than Jeffery Dahlmer. It's time for some players to admit that there are certain behaviors that bring the game down into the gutter, and be held accountable.
Merciless greed has had the run of our beloved game for the last 30 years. To those that have profited from it, I say "Time to pay it forward".