Anyone who has played football at any level has probably asked themselves this question.

Any parent who has had a son -- or daughter -- play football at any level and watched a practice has probably asked themselves the same question.

And any female who has a boyfriend, neighbor or guy whom they happen to sit across from in homeroom, chemistry class, study hall or lunch has probably asked themselves, or their friend on the team, the same question after watching practice.

"Why do you guys do that stupid [fill in the blank] drill?"

High school football is wonderful. It teaches an individual the importance of teamwork. Players learn to be tough and how to think quickly on their feet.

And there is a position for individuals of all sizes and skill sets. Bigger guys are linemen. Aggressive guys who are big are defensive linemen. Faster individuals are backs or receivers, players who can throw and are generally strong leaders get to be quarterbacks. Guys who enjoy crashing into things play on defense.

But football, like all sports, has some bizarre practice techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Every year, the opening of high school training camps in Pennsylvania touches off a volley of stories from co-workers who played the sport. Camp stories are easy to remember, even 20 or 30 years later, because for two weeks every summer the game was all consuming.

Any coach worth his whistle spends training camp time going over the basics of form tackling and blocking. There's a refresher course for quarterbacks on taking the snap from center and on handing off to a back.

There are stretching drills and jumping jacks before practice to loosen up muscles. There are weight-lifting sessions to improve strength. There are wind sprints after practice to improve endurance. And there are those drills that make no sense ... to players and coaches.

"There are a number of them," said Beaver Area coach Jeff Beltz, who played college ball at Geneva, when asked what he believes is a drill that has no great redeeming value. "The major one for me is the 'carioca,' where the players run sideways and sort of shuffle their feet. I'm not quite sure what that's good for and then someone mixed a cut drill off it ... I just don't know."

The name of the drill isn't misspelled. Many pronounce it "karaoke," but the official name is carioca and comes from a dance that was popular in Rio de Janeiro. (See, this column can be a learning experience.)

The coaching staff at Beaver Falls High School gets a kick out of watching opposing linemen, three of them at a time, do a drill where they dive over each other and then roll on the ground in a sort of figure eight pattern in pregame warmups.

"I'm not quite sure what doing that has to do with football," Beaver Falls coach Ryan Matsook said. "We kind of laugh about it when we see other teams doing it in the end zone."

Brian Keating of Orlando, Fla., a former Mt. Lebanon High player, and a friend of PG staffer Dan Gigler, who also played at Mt. Lebanon, said the drill he never figured out was the tip drill. It is mostly for defensive backs and receivers and works like this: A pass is tipped into the air by one player and then has to be caught by another who is behind him 5 or 10 yards.

"I'd have to say the tip drill was a serious misallocation of time," Keating wrote. "Given the infrequent game occurrence of 'perfectly tipped' balls, the fact that we [tip drill] every single day for 10 minutes, and the fact that catching a perfectly tipped ball is so freaking easy. Ask Franco Harris how much time Chuck [Noll] spent on catching balls floating out of the air."

Most players at just about ever level see no need for grass drills that are also called "up-downs." Players jog in place until given a signal and then have to dive on the ground and then get to their feet as fast as possible.

The idea is to develop quickness and a never-give-up attitude.

"What's the point?" Gigler asked. "Learning how to fall down and get up? The play is over. A better drill is learning how to stay on your feet until you reach the ballcarrier."

There's also a drill where a player lays on his back or stomach on the ground and then has to scramble to his feet and chase after the ballcarrier who is given a lead of 5 yards. Seems to us, if a player, especially a lineman, is on his back on the field and the back has a head start it isn't going to matter how quickly he recovers unless he is Usain Bolt.

"We try to stay football functional with our drills," Beltz said. "We try to have a football function in mind when we do something."

And then there is our personal favorite ... the bear crawl. That's when players get on all fours and have to go from sideline to sideline as quickly as they can.

We once asked a coach what the bear crawl drill had to do with football.

"Not a darn thing," he said with a smile. "It's a punishment drill."

So ... that's why we always had to do it!