Preposterous Universe
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Efficacy of prayer
Chris C. Mooney mentions something that certainly surprised me -- the NBA's New Orleans Hornets begin each home game with a prayer. Not just the team, the whole arena -- the prayer is read over the loudspeakers by someone standing at center court. Since the Hornets are not a government institution, they certainly have a right to hold a prayer, but it seems obnoxious, as there are certainly plenty of non-religious people, or devotees of different religions, in the crowd for each game.
Apparently New Orleans is the only NBA franchise to have a prayer before each game. Among other things, the prayers ask for success for the Hornets and the NFL's Saints. This gives us a nice chance to check on how useful it is to ask for divine intervention. Here are the current NBA standings:
Goodness, all that praying doesn't seem to be helping very much. Where is God-Man when you need Him?PhoenixSuns 24 4 .857
SanAntonioSpurs 23 6 .793
SeattleSupersonics 20 6 .769
MiamiHeat 23 7 .767
DallasMavericks 19 10 .655
SacramentoKings 17 9 .654
MinnesotaT-wolves 16 10 .615
ClevelandCavaliers 17 11 .607
OrlandoMagic 15 11 .577
WashingtonWizards 15 11 .577
LALakers 15 12 .556
DetroitPistons 14 12 .538
NYKnicks 15 13 .536
IndianaPacers 13 13 .500
PortlandTrailBlazers 13 13 .500
Philadelphia76ers 13 14 .481
DenverNuggets 13 15 .464
HoustonRockets 13 15 .464
LAClippers 12 14 .462
BostonCeltics 12 15 .444
MemphisGrizzlies 13 17 .433
UtahJazz 11 17 .393
NJNets 10 17 .370
GSWarriors 10 18 .357
ChicagoBulls 9 17 .346
TorontoRaptors 10 20 .333
MilwaukeeBucks 8 16 .333
CharlotteBobcats 7 17 .292
AtlantaHawks 5 22 .185
NOrleansHornets 2 25 .074
~ posted by Sean Carroll
at 9:22 AM ~
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