They’ll Have a Foggy Notion Today : 49ers Say They Won’t Let Elements Bother Them in Chicago

So if this game turns into Pea Souper II, which team should be favored? One city’s reputation is at stake here. When Tony Bennett put down his famous track about little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars, he never mentioned fog rolling down Michigan Avenue.

San Francisco to Chicago: Stick to Windy.

You want fog? Quarterback Joe Montana suggests an early-morning drive by Candle-thick Park.

“This is the fog capital of the United States,” Montana said, defending his city. “We should be used to it.”

If it seems as though the 49ers are psyching themselves up for today’s NFC title game and/or cross-country skiing competition against the Bears at Soldier Field, it’s only because the National Football League last week decreed that nothing short of nuclear winter will prevent its showcase games from being completed on schedule.

The point is that if you can’t see whether it’s Jim McMahon or Mike Tomczak at quarterback, as was the case last week in the Bears’ 10-foot-visibility victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, what good is dragging out a controversy all week?

And if the title winner is going to be determined by weather, so be it, the 49ers have decided. They knew the chances when they lost the home-field advantage. Most of them can even read a USA Today weather chart. Dark blue means colder, right? The 49ers are ready for sleet, snow, fog, smog, or a combination of all.

Of course, ready is one thing. Can they win in it? History says no.

San Franciscans were reminded this week of their road playoff record--0-3 under Coach Bill Walsh, all in cold-weather conditions. Today’s forecast calls for temperatures in the 30s, with a decent chance of rain or snow.

But if these Bears were really polar, the 49ers ask, why were they sprinting toward the first plane out of town last week when the fog finally lifted?

“I didn’t see them staying there and practicing,” Montana said. “We had snow in the mountains here, but we practiced in the cold last week anyways.”

The Bears practiced all week at Suwanee, Ga.

Of course, in the unlikely event the game might be determined by talent, and not some meteorological shift, the 49ers are ready, too, despite the odds. You have to go all the way back to 1979 to find the last team that won an NFC title game on the road: Rams 9, Tampa Bay 0.

Walsh has noted all the trends--scripted them, dissected them, analyzed them--and concluded that the whole notion is bunk.

“Those are the things I hear every year,” he said. “I think New Orleans had won 5 times on the West Coast. Every time you turn around, some precedent has been set that we have to try and break, or the other team has got to try and break.

“When we lost to the Bears, (Oct. 24), we had won 11 straight road games, so I guess you’d have to say that we could have never been beaten on the road. Of course, the Bears beat us, 10-9. So I don’t see that precedent means anything to anybody, other than it makes for some really lively conversation before the game.”

More impressive to Walsh has been the Bears’ resiliency this season, during which they might have been forgiven for anything less than a 12-4 regular-season record. This doesn’t mesh well with the domino theory. The Bears lost linebacker Otis Wilson for the season with a knee injury Aug. 22 and William (the Refrigerator) Perry in September with a broken arm.

McMahon was, well, McMahon. He missed 6 games with a knee injury. Tackle Jim Covert’s back is back, but he missed 8 games after having surgery. All-pro defensive end Richard Dent broke a leg Nov. 27 and has been out since. His replacement, Sean Smith, missed the first 7 weeks of the season with a knee injury. Safety Shaun Gayle has been out since Oct. 9 with a cracked vertebra.

And Coach Mike Ditka suffered a heart attack.

“To get as far as we’ve gotten is truly amazing,” defensive tackle Dan Hampton told the Chicago Sun-Times last week. “With all the little-engine-that-could-type scenarios we’ve had to go through, it’d be a crying shame to let it slip away right now.”

Hampton said this isn’t the same team that walked through the league on its way to the title in 1985. And it’s not. Twenty-seven new Bears have joined the roster since Super Bowl XX in New Orleans.

For this feat, Ditka was named coach of the year last week by the Associated Press, and he celebrated by leading a national press corps down the yellow bluff road before deciding to name his starting quarterback for today’s game.

“This is killing you, isn’t it?” he said to reporters last week. “What I’m trying to do is double-talk you guys and tell you we have more than one starter.”

And, someone asked, to keep the 49ers guessing, no doubt?

“Take a bow,” Ditka said.

Ditka, of course, finally named McMahon the starter Friday.

Out West, Walsh wasn’t losing sleep over the McMahon-Tomczak decision.

“It really doesn’t matter,” Walsh said. “I think their style of football is very similar with both men. If one was Steve Young and the other Montana, it might. But the two have very similar styles, and in their system, do basically the same thing.”

Meanwhile, foul weather looms off the shores of Lake Michigan, threatening to turn another perfectly good game into a mess.

“In a game like this one, anything can happen,” Walsh said. “A fumbled ball, the wind blowing, somebody slips and falls. I think we’ll play well. I think we’ll play our best game this week--of the season. I really do.”

Walsh hopes everyone gets a chance to see it.

NFC Notes

In case you’re wondering, Jim McMahon’s record as a starter is 49-19, including playoffs. Mike Tomczak is 16-3. . . . Bear punter Bryan Wagner will take over kickoff duties for Kevin Butler. Coach Mike Ditka says Wagner has a stronger leg. . . . Anticipating bad weather, the 49ers brought 1,500 extra pounds of equipment, including rubber-soled shoes. . . . San Francisco cornerback Eric Wright, who has a groin injury, may be able to play some today, Coach Bill Walsh said. Cornerback Tory Nixon, though, is out with a hamstring injury.