I'll continue this Sam lovefest!
Seriously though, it's hard to argue with his business success. The Van Halens screwed themselves in the Cabo Wabo Cantina deal. The place was struggling and they panicked and wanted to be bought out. Sam gutted it out and turned the place around, then the Van Halens complain about losing out on the deal!
Terry mentioned it earlier in this thread, but I also have to give the guy credit for helping to sustain VH's success, especially in the 90s. How many of their general peers were still going platinum and filling arenas in '95? AC/DC? Ozzy? Not many.
My main annoyances with him are overestimating the size/importance of his pre VH solo years, exaggerations about the number of records VH sold during his time in the band and the constant hat-hanging on the number 1 albums.
And lastly, look at the volume of work he's put out there since leaving VH vs. what VH has done during that same time period. Not even fucking close. The guy is also fan friendly vs. one of the least fan friendly bands out there.
Well, now that I got Sam up for breakfast, I'm going to take a long hot shower and see if I can scrub myself clean!