Cup of China 2012 Preview

Time for some more wonderings about a GP event-- this time Cup of China 2012, which takes place this Friday/Saturday. But first, for those still "wondering" what time their fave event happens...

• Friday, November 2
  4:00 a.m. ET - Short dance
  5:30 a.m. ET - Ladies' short program
  7:30 a.m. ET - Men's short program
  9:15 a.m. ET - Pairs' short program

• Saturday, November 3
  3:00 a.m. ET - Free dance
  4:40 a.m. ET - Ladies' free skate
  6:35 a.m. ET - Men's free skate
  8:35 a.m. ET - Pairs' free skate 

As for where to watch these fave events live if you don't have Universal Sports... I'm not nearly as helpful on this one. If you have a link, please feel free to post it in the comments. As for me, I'll be trolling Twitter and You Tube in an effort to put the pieces together...

Wonderings about the men:

Will Nan Song do as well at this event this year as he did last year (when he blew the lid off the place with his astounding athleticism and won his first senior GP medal)?

Will Brian Joubert succeed in his bid to win all senior GP events at least once? (CoC is the only one left on the list.)

Will Adam Rippon’s new programs be the all-that-and-a-bag-of-Trader-Joe’s-Pita-Chips that I’ve been hoping for since he announced them? And is he truly BFFs with his triple axel, as was his reported mission at the start of the summer?

Oh, and will Daisuke Takahashi be stupendously awesome this weekend or just kinda awesome?

Wonderings about the ladies: 

Will Mao Asada run away with this one? Or will Gumbyskaia (aka Julia Lipnitskaia) prove as formidable an opponent in her senior GP debut as she’s been elsewhere?

Will Kiira Korpi’s stunning SP (as evidenced at Finlandia Trophy recently) help secure her a spot on the podium?

Will Mirai Nagasu make a dent anywhere higher than 5^th place?

Wonderings about the pairs (of which there will only be six this time):

Will Kavaguti/Smirnov skate like true champions, or more like champions-until-one-or-two-other-Russian-teams-take-the-ice?

Will Pang/Tong find enough duct tape and safety pins to hold their “old” selves together on home ice? (See THIS ARTICLE for reference.)

Will Moore-Towers/Moscovitch have an early season peak here, as they’ve had (early) in the past two seasons?

And as for ice dance:

Will Pechalat/Bourzat prove to have the Moves Like Jagger in their free dance? (sorry, someone has to say it)

Will Weaver/Poje have a head-on competitive collision with Bobrova/Soloviev (the same team they competed against at SKAM) ...and maybe win the battle this time?

Will Chock/Bates find their way to their first GP medal?

Stay tuned for answers to these questions and more, more, more!