Quarterfinals and predictions

Hey all - shout out to my man Steve, who's in town with his family.  Gonna meat them for dinner as soon as we done with this!  Firing up the grill right now.  We won't have time to marinade or tenderize stuff before grilling but some of what we'll have is pretty young.  A kind of veal, if you will.  I think his youngest is 12/13, something like that.  I mean, on an unrelated note.  Was that too obvious?  I try for a more subtle and deliberate tone here, you know.

Anyway.  Quarterfinals start tomorrow!  Two games, France v Uruguay and England v Belgium.

At the start of the Cup I would have said France over Uruguay for sure.  Halfway into the Matchdays I would have reversed that because France wasn't playing at their tits, and Uruguay was on fire.  But after France beat Argentina.... I just don't know.  Not sure I can call this one - France looked better in the run-ups, but Uruguay looks better in the Cup so far.

I doubt whoever wins that match won't advance, though, because they'll meet the winner of the Brazil v Belgium match.  And DAMN - this will probably be one of the two best games this cup (the other being the final).  Both teams are ON, and both are tight both offensively and defensively.  Brazil is sloppy but has an artistry and grace that almost no other teams have; Belgium is technically maybe the tightest team in the Cup.  We will see!  My money's tentatively on Brazil, but that's because of the waffles.

Steve's family are approaching, and dinner is coming, is why.  Belgian waffles.  It was kind of a thinker there I guess.  Mmm my stomach's rumbling already!

Maybe we'll have like Chik'n'Waffles but with a different kind of barbecued meat.  Change it up, you know.

On Saturday is Sweden vs England and Russia vs Croatia.  I suspect we'll see an England vs Croatia match after this - Sweden's playing well but England's playing better, and Russia is way too sloppy - some teams haven't been able to take advantage but I think Croatia totes can.

Anything can happen in the cup, though.

If my predictions are correct we'll see Brazil vs France and England vs Croatia in the semi-finals, and then Brazil vs England in the finals.  But again, anything can happen.  

Maybe I will use the special pecan barbecue sauce I've been saving for special company.

It's always delicious when old friends come into town with their young ones.

  -Dave