Paul Rouse: Sport and 'The Simpsons': What better way to cast an eye on America

It is not just the playing of the sports, but the manner in which they have colonised so much of American popular culture that matters.

Homer Simpson and daughter Lisa

Some of the very best episodes of The Simpsons are centred on sport. And that means some of Homer’s finest lines are sporting ones, including: “But this might be my last chance to win one!”, issued after he was caught trying to steal the Super Bowl trophy in 1999.

Homer is — of course — the father of the Simpson family, married to Marge, with Bart, Lisa, and Maggie as their children. Their home is set in the fictional town of Springfield, where Homer is a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant; it is fair to say that this is a job to which he is particularly ill-suited.