Some might want to put sole blame on the economy for the shape Guitar Center is in but a recent article has plenty of blame to go around to account GC's alleged $1.6billion (yes BILLION!) debt.
From The Tone King:On June 27, 2007 GC was bought out by Bain Capital for $1.9 billion plus assumed debt. With the debt, Bain had written a $2.1 billion dollar check for Guitar Center and all of its subsidiaries.
For those who don’t know, Bain Capital is a private equity and venture capital group that was founded in 1984 by current presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Basically, Bain buys companies, restructures them, and then sells them off at a profit. There are some success stories, and some no-so-success stories.
Unfortunately, when it came to Guitar Center, Bain hasn’t had much luck. One of the common complaints among GC employees after the restructuring involves their compensation. It’s hard to believe, but Guitar Center used to offer comprehensive pension and benefit plans. It’s the usual story. Outsource IT to India, freeze raises for years, increase management but cutting back on sales personnel by making them part-time, making it difficult to keep the floor covered.
And being hit by a recession right after the buy out didn’t help matters any.
It's an interesting read. Check out the whole article at The Tone King.
As a fan of mixed martial arts since UFC 2, it has been awesome to see the sport evolve. Unfortunately, with the new dominance of the UFC, other organizations have been disappearing faster than Betamax. Strikeforce is the latest casualty of the UFC, partially due to the raiding of all of Strikeforce's major talent. They were planning on going on even after they were acquired by Zuffa but now that's not going to happen. Tonight will be a lopsided card and SF will be relegated to a minor footnote in MMA history. Better remembered than WAMMA but not has heralded as PRIDE. Let's hope that other promotions like Bellator will grow because we'll always need a farm team for the UFC. Watch the last Strikeforce card on Showtime for free since they have a free preview weekend.
As a young kid and a fan of rock music, I fell in love with the sound of Jon Lord's keyboard playing. The Hammond organ which could sound corny and elevator in the wrong hands would growl and scream with the great Jon Lord pounding the keys. Lord who suffered with pancreatic cancer passed away from a pulmonary embolism. He was and is one of my favorite keyboard players and he'll be missed.
Kevin James has been a fan of MMA for years so it's only natural that he throws an MMA theme into one of his comedies. With UFC stars both past and present like Bas Rutten, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and others, I'll definitely be seeing it. To see Kevin training and getting his shoulder separated by Randy Couture click here.
In anticipation of UFC 148 and the most anticipated rematch in recent history between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen, the UFC have made their first fight free to watch on their website. Watch it soon because it won't be free forever!
After seeing Chael fight Michael Bisping and having a really tough time getting the British fighter to the ground, I think Silva, if he learned from last fight will be prepared. Of course my heart picks Silva but Chael Sonnen has an excellent chance of repeating what he did their first fight.
I love my iPhone and iPad and when I'm not listening to Howard Stern, I'm listening to an MMA podcast or Joe Rogan. I'm not sure why Apple would release a podcast specific app except for having a way to browse and subscribe in app. Check it out.
