>>>I hear it more as the quarterback making a very long pass in desperation, maybe aimed at someone, but in a kind of play that's unlikely to succeed. And of course, the "Hail Mary" reference is the idea that he's praying as he does so. (Some important Christian prayer begins "Hail Mary, full of grace," I believe.)
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>>Yes, it does.
>>The prayer has nothing to do with a desperate person seeking help, but that's OK.
>>It was already one of the most frequently used prayers by Catholics like me, but Bing Crosby made the prayer one of the most popular in the language- its original Latin version - with his enormously popular hymn - Franz Schubert's Ave Maria.
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>Oh yeah, never connected "Ave Maria" to "Hail Mary," but of course, as soon as you say it, it's obvious.
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>Tamar

Yes. Among Catholics there are two almost unreconcilable camps - those who favor Schubert's version of Ave Maria (a large majority), and those like me, who prefer the Bach/Gounod's version.
Schubert's has a fascinating history. He originally used the German version of a poem by Walter Scott "Lady of the Lake" as the lyrics for his melody.
Someone set the original Latin version of the prayer to Schubert's melody and gave his composition immortality.