08/27 — The New York Jets' eighth annual Kickoff Luncheon is winding down in the magnificent Cipriani Wall Street ballroom. But not long ago, the event captured a little bit of the buzz and excitement that has been building around the Jets all off-season and pre-season.

Part of the excitement was from the guest list. Seated with owner Woody Johnson, GM Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Eric Mangini at the head table was Donald Trump, right at home in this section of the city.

Then arriving at 1 p.m. to speak to the large group of fans, team personnel and players was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"This is going to be a fantastic season for the Jets," Mayor Mike declared. "Rudy Giuliani delivered a Subway Series between the Yankees and the Mets. I would be delighted if I could deliver a Subway Super Bowl between the Jets and the Giants."

Kickoff Luncheon hype? Of course, but the players were received with strong applause and some cheers, from the first player introduced, punter Ben Graham, to the last, QB Brett Ratliff, whose applause piggybacked on the greeting of the player right before him on the balcony above the ballroom floor for No. 4, Brett Favre.

(Emcee Bob Wischusen, the Jets' radio play-by-play voice, introduced the players alphabetically by positions, with the QBs last.)

Even Mangini had to admit in his remarks that "the excitement for the new season is tangible. We're all excited about it."

The coach brought up the team's top two draft picks to provide a little flavor of the "Jets core characteristics" that they have embodied.

"Now that I'm here," LB Vernon Gholston said, "I don't think of myself as being the Jets' top pick. I just think of myself as one of the guys, each day learning my craft and being the best I can be. And believe me, we have the talent and leadership to make this a special year."

"I'm thankful for my situation," said TE Dustin Keller, Gholston's fellow first-rounder, "and I'm going to do everything in my power to help this team win."

Both players thanked the Jets fans, some of whom were in attendance at the luncheon. "They're always there through the good and the bad," Keller said. "Sometimes they're a little bit crazy, but that's OK."

The excitement around the Green & White, Johnson said, stemmed from three areas: the off-season and preseason moves the club has made, the move to the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, which will be open for team business on Monday, and the New Jets Stadium that will be ready for the 2010 season.

Also on the ballroom floor, beneath the ornate chandeliers, arches and Corinthian columns, awash with majestic NFL Films music, were four members of the Jets' 1968 Super Bowl team: RB Emerson Boozer, G Dave Herman and DBs Randy Beverly and Mike D'Amato.

And 14 of the members of Jets Flight Crew added to the atmosphere. In fact, the Flight Crew has just filed past the room I'm working in now that the luncheon has concluded.

The event, which Johnson tagged as "one of the biggest lunches in the NFL," is a great way to introduce the Jets to the fans and the area on the eve of their Sept. 7 season opener at Miami. But it is also a great way to raise money for two great causes: the New York Jets Foundation and the Alliance for Lupus Research.

Dr. Joseph Trunfio, the president and chief executive officer of Atlantic Health was the honored guest at the event, which raised $700,000 for both causes — and that was before the live auction that ended the afternoon. Mangini, a major supporter of both groups, put what he called was an "optimistic" goal of finishing the event having raised $1 million.

The Jets players left Cipriani around 2 p.m. to board buses and head right on across the city, to the New Jersey Turnpike, and on to Philadelphia, which will be the site Thursday night of their traditional fourth preseason game against the Eagles — and for the Jets' final tuneup for the season ahead.

"Shoes" Is Made for Blogging

Wischusen has a very busy week ahead with production meetings and other events surrounding his broadcasting role for the start of the college season, not to mention today's luncheon and the Eagles game. But "Shoes" found the time to provide us with his first blog as one of the new members of the expanded Randy's Radar blogosphere.

His topic is topical, regarding to play Favre in the final preseason game or not to play him, and it can be found in the Radar section of newyorkjets.com.

Then this weekend, we'll break out the third new blogger, current SNY commentator and former Jets QB Ray Lucas.