Thursday Night Throw-Ins: Mwanga Snubbed, Le Toux Wins Something, Philadelphia Leads USA in World Cup Petition

Hope you’ve been enjoying some of the good playoff matches that have taken place over the past week (including tonight’s second leg of San Jose-New York). And now, your Thursday Night Throw-Ins:

Mwanga Motivated By Top Rookie Snub – philadelphiaunion.com
“I’m going to prove to people that maybe I should have been the Rookie of the Year,” Mwanga said. “It’s all about doing better than this year and how much I can improve.”

Philadelphia First To 100,000 Bid City Signatures – philadelphiaunion.com
Philadelphia has more than 102,400 signatures to sit atop the leaderboard and holds a more than 20,000-signature lead in the competition against 17 other finalist U.S. cities. (by the way, if you haven’t voted for Philadelphia, vote here!)

Sebastien Le Toux Wins XBOX 360 Fair Play Award – philly.com
“I’m very flattered to win this award,” Le Toux said. “It is proof of what I try to show on and off the field on a daily basis, as well as my respect to the MLS rules and the fans.”

Surge in Attendance at Men's College Games – nytimes.com
Not Union-related, but positive nonetheless: "On one hand, there is something big going on here, this slow growth of soccer in the United States," said John Francis, a professor in San Diego State's sports business master's degree program who has researched the growth of soccer in the United States. "At the same time, there are interesting things and smaller stories emerging within this larger trend."

Q&A: Union Manager Peter Nowak – philadelphiaunion.com
"We didn't want to blow this out of proportion in this first season saying we had all these expectations of making the playoffs. That wouldn't have been fair. We're an expansion team and we were always aware of who we were. We were confident we could win games this season, and some things didn't go our way. In the second season, I think we will have higher expectations. I think this first season will help us. I think we'll be more confident going into next season."