Originally Posted by chay
I probably should just walk away here but ugggg.

Originally Posted by Bostonian
Given that men in business settings often discuss sports to break the ice, it could help both men and women to know a little about sports to fit in in industries where men currently predominate. Is it sexist to say that?

Depends on what you mean by "help". If help means that they will be able to engage in meaningless small talk, sure go for it. If "help" means that they need to do it so they won't be passed over for a promotion because they can't name the starting line up and spout sports facts then I'm going to go with that being sexist (unless you're talking about a job in the sports industry).
The way it works, of course, is not that people are promoted in non-sports companies directly based on sports knowledge, but that people who are more popular and who have bonded with their co-workers are more likely to be promoted to leadership positions. In some environments, being able to talk about sports (and playing sports such as golf or being on the company softball team) helps accomplish that.