to be bested by

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 793: Signing Professional Athletes.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 793. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. If you want to support this podcast, if you want to keep us going into the future become a member, help support us by becoming a Learning Guide member or by purchasing one of our courses on our website.

This episode is a dialogue between Nick and Jamie. It’s going to be about when you have a professional athlete – a professional sports player who joins a team. “To sign them” means to get them to become a member of that team. Let’s get started.

Nick: I don’t care what it takes. I want Robinson on my team next year.

Jamie: He’ll be a free agent and he’ll be fielding a lot of offers. I don’t know if we can make him an attractive enough deal.

Nick: We’ll offer him a signing bonus. That should sweeten the deal.

Jamie: I’m afraid that may not be enough. Don’t forget that he was