Hornets owner George Shinn wants his franchise to be the first pro team to include a prayer among its pre-game ceremonies. But what they're praying for is as unusual as the gesture itself.
   
New Orleans mayor C. Ray Nagin offered the first prayer for his city's new basketball team, and turned it into a pep rally for the Hornets. With the Jazz lined up solemnly on the court for what the public-address announcer called an invocation, Nagin pleaded, "We ask two things, Heavenly Father: That the Hornets beat the Jazz tonight, and that New Orleans wins an NBA championship this year."
   
That brought big cheers from the sellout crowd -- though not as loud as when the prayer also included a reference to the city's NFL Saints being "6-2 and on their way to the Super Bowl" -- but earned some puzzled looks from the Jazz.