PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : Smith, Candlestick Iffy, but Ready

The Dallas Cowboys were delayed an hour by head winds before their arrival in San Francisco on Friday for the NFC championship game, which Coach Barry Switzer said will include running back Emmitt Smith.

“Emmitt will start, but whether he plays five plays, seven plays or 10 plays, we just don’t know how long because of the hamstring problem,” Switzer said.

“He’s got problems with his wheels, and when you have problems with your wheels, it’s hard to go 100%,” he said.

Smith worked out with the team earlier Friday, taking handoffs and running plays.

“Emmitt really never turned it loose, and he won’t do that until game time” Sunday, Switzer said.

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As workers painted hash marks and used a giant vacuum to soak up two weeks of rain, head groundskeeper Bill Buckley declared Candlestick Park’s turf a bit squishy but ready for Sunday’s game.

Workers removed the tarps in sections Friday afternoon, focusing on 30-yard segments at a time. They rolled the field and ran over it with a WaterHog, a vacuum that resembles a riding lawn mower.

Then they quickly covered the field again in anticipation of more rain Friday night and today. The field probably will remain covered until 7 a.m. Sunday, six hours before the game.

Though the field is wet and the sidelines remain waterlogged, Buckley said “it’s twice as good as it was for the 1992 game” between the 49ers and Cowboys for the NFC championship.

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The San Diego Chargers certainly couldn’t have expected this for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Steelers: better weather in Pittsburgh than in San Diego.

The Chargers arrived in Pittsburgh Friday night, only hours after a high temperature of 68 missed by three degrees of tying the record high for the date.

Some Steelers even wore shorts during a 90-minute workout under sunny skies Friday.

Sunday’s forecast calls for temperatures in the low 50s, with an 80% chance of rain--a marked contrast to the minus-59 wind-chill factor for the Chargers’ last AFC championship game in Cincinnati in 1982.