The outcry is passionate and predictable.

Double standard!

Preferential treatment!

Celebrity worship!

“File this under the category of athletes living under different rules than the rest of us,” fumed Chicago Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch.

Well, yeah.

And your point is?

The big hoo-ha is being made over Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who will be allowed to travel to Miami for the Super Bowl thanks to a judge’s ruling this week.

Johnson, you might have heard, was under 24-hour home confinement after three arrests in the past 18 months. The final one came in December when a SWAT unit raided his house and found enough weapons to outfit the University of Miami’s defensive front seven. Three handguns, three rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition were found in Johnson’s possession. Not only that, but two days after that raid, Johnson apparently violated terms of his 24-hour house arrest when he was present at a Chicago barroom on the night his bodyguard and roommate, Willie Posey, was shot to death.

Johnson was allowed to attend Bears games and practices under terms of his house arrest, but he wasn’t permitted to leave the state of Illinois. Until earlier this week, when a Chicago judge ruled that yes! he could travel to the Super Bowl.

You think such a special judicial dispensation would have been granted to Joe Sixpack, a down-on-his-luck truck driver who needed to travel to Miami to pick up a load of mangoes? Probably not, but, then again, ol’ Joe isn’t a run-stuffing 325-pound quarterback killa.

I know, I should be incensed about this double standard, but why bother? I used to get indignant about athletes getting preferential treatment; now I just get bored. I’ve been beaten down by jock-sniffing judges, two-faced university presidents and starry-eyed sociology professors.

Why do you think Willie Williams was allowed to enroll in the University of Miami despite having 11 arrests on his record?

Why do you think a University of Florida appeals committee overturned a drug suspension and allowed Marcus Thomas to play in key games this season?

Why do you think Miami Northwestern High School running back Antwain Easterling was allowed to play in the state championship game against Lake Brantley despite the fact that he had been charged in a sex crime with a 14-year-old girl?

Because they are star football players, that’s why.

Maybe it’s time we all just realize sports really are that important to people. And judges, jurors and district attorneys are no different.

“I’d say Tank Johnson is very lucky he wears a helmet and jersey when he goes to work,” says Orange County Public Defender Robert Wesley, an avid Florida State fan.

“No question, lawyers and judges are products of their environment. We root for our teams, too.”