Just for once I want to see complete examples of the syntax on an actual advanced query of any kind right away. Sure, toss out one simple case, but then show me how it looks when I have to join 4-5 reference tables to a fact table and then filter based on those things.
Once you do that, it becomes clear why SELECT first won out originally: legibility and troubleshooting.
As long as DBs continue to support standard SQL they can add whatever additional syntax support they want but based on history this'll wind up being a whole new generation of emacs vs vi style holy war.
It quite interesting to dive into history of SQL alternatives in 70x/80x.