Call it deep background.
If we are trying to see the war through the eyes of Americans of 70 years ago we need to examine the popular culture environment to some extent. Hence movie reviews, sports and other items that are only indirectly related to the war. I suspect more Americans could name the home run leaders in the American and National leagues than could identify Tobruk or Hanoi in September 1940. Similar comparisons would apply to football. Especially the college game but also the young NFL. I also suspect the sports section had more regular readers than the News of the Week in Review section in the Sunday edition. Incidentally, Homer’s father was playing semi-pro baseball in the Blue Mountain League in Eastern Oregon during this period. In a few years that would only be something to be recalled nostalgically from the South Pacific but for the time being it is real life. More so than the far off Battle of Britain or the even farther off Japanese invasion of Indo-China.
Besides, sports threads are kind of fun to put together.
BTW, did you notice that "Whizzer" White, later a US Supreme Court justice, was mentioned in the game story of the Lions' scoreless tie against the Chicago Cardinals? (Why on earth did they schedule that game at a neutral site in rainy Buffalo? If both of their home fields were occupied by baseball, which I suspect, they could have moved it to later in the season.) Also, that might have been the last scoreless tie in NFL history, although I'm not at all sure.
I have to tell you that I've never heard of the Blue Mountain League. I've never even heard of the Blue Mountains, even though I've heard of the Green Mountains, White Mountains, Black Hills, and two Red Rivers. (LOL!)