Captains/Coaches Pregame meeting

[Freddy]

Question 1:
Where and when did it originate that more than one representative from each team comes for the conference with the officials?
3-1-1 states, "Each team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain."
Now, I'm not saying I'm against it. I just find it somewhat odd that up to four members of each team come for a meeting, although only one can be the designated captain.
Shucks, why not just make it a meeting for all players of each team? That's something I don't consider all that bad an idea. Heck, let's skip the middlemen and just grab a mike and address the entire gymnasium for a pre-game conference!

Question 2:
Where did that designation "speaking captain" come from?
We never had it back in the 70's or early 80's, but I notice it has gained wide use now. Is that the adopted title now, to distinguish the one actual captain from the others who join him/her for the meeting with the officials?
This seems to be the application of 3-1-2, "The captain is the representative of his/her team and may address an official on matters of..."
But how many of you, when addressed politely by any player, would say, "Wait a minute, I can't answer your question--you're not the speaking captain"?

Question 3:
After the game starts, I kinda forget who the captains are, anyway. I'll answer any question from any player asking in a sportsmanlike manner. If I really need to remember who the captains are, I'd want them to each wear an armband or some identifiable item that shows to me they are the captains. Okay, they're marked as "captains" in the book, but I've never had a need to go back and find out who they were in order to carry out any responsibility as an official.
Have any of you really ever had a need to identify who the captains are in a real game situation?

Tentative Conclusion (pending your reaction and response, of course): This "speaking captain" thing seems to have become about as impractical and irrelevant as the statement, "Okay guys, tonight we're gonna play the black line all the way around."

Or am I off base on this? (Not to be confused with "off the baseline". )

(Sorry if it seems I'm hijacking your thread. I'm just trying to determine whether you should leave that foreign phrase "speaking captain" out of it.)