This version of three Bears barely ho-hum

This week is proof that the world as we knew it is over.

Fortunately that doesn’t mean that Iran has the bomb and is inclined to use it.

Nor is it a commentary on the transition from “The Closer” to “Major Crimes.”

Nor does it proclaim that the transition from Tiger Woods to Rory McIlroy is complete.

It just says that the current week’s events at Bourbonnais were much less eventful than they would have been at any other time during the past half-century.

Three stories involving the Bears hit the headlines and were greeted with different levels of interest from none to some.

The most recent occurred Tuesday when news arrived that Brian Urlacher underwent an arthroscopy on his knee.

Surprising was the relative ho-hum on the streets and in the media. It was only as big a story as various news outlets needed it to be.

Surgery just isn’t what it was in the good old days — make that the bad old days — when Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers went under the knife.

Now there isn’t even much of a knife to go under. A knee injury isn’t season threatening, much less career threatening, much less life threatening. Rehab isn’t likely to take longer than a keynote speech at one of the major political conventions. Playing shape will come sooner than later.

Knee surgery is barely surgery anymore. It’s a procedure. It’s a scope. It’s a cleanup. It’s an inconvenience rather than a hardship, a concern more than a worry, a setback more than a knockout.

Urlacher could be back on the field in two weeks. If not, he should be all right for the season opener Sept. 9. If not, he should be back before the Bears miss him too badly.

The Butkus and Sayers knee injuries were more serious than Urlacher’s appears to be, but even serious knee injuries now are less serious than they used to be.

So after much speculation, the bulletin that Urlacher was undergoing work on his knee was greeted with minimal angst. It was like the fourth story on ESPN’s afternoon “NFL Live.”

Palms will get sweaty and collars tight if Urlacher isn’t back in uniform by the end of the month.

Until then, ho-hum.

Let’s proceed to the news that Bears defensive end Julius Peppers’ college transcripts might have made it onto a website.

If the information really was Peppers’, indications were that he didn’t take the toughest courses and didn’t exactly ace them.

This is all in the context of an academic scandal at the University of North Carolina over the past few years.

This type of college sports scandal doesn’t have quite the same impact after what happened at Penn State.

The question might be, “Did anybody get raped?” If the answer is no, just sigh in relief and move on.

So, yes, ho-hum to this one, too.

Finally, there is the Bears’ ongoing problem at offensive left tackle and J’Marcus Webb’s struggle to keep the job.

Not long ago if a team had a player named J’Marcus at any position, he was worth a couple of victories in the standings.

You could go down competing rosters and the one with more names like J’Marcus figured to win the game.

Now a J’Marcus is just another guy named Joe or Jeff or Jimmy John.

Ho-hum, yes, but with a little pang of sadness over this one.

mimrem@dailyherald.com