I have no problem with Jeff Kent, but Noble has always been a guy who's on his own damn high horse. He refused to vote for Alomar just for spitting in the face of an umpire. What's ironic about Kent is that he's not exactly an angel. But Kent as a player is a HOFer imo.
I don't have a problem with Kent either, it's just his ballot only consists of Griffey and Kent, with high praise for Kent who, like you said, wasn't a choir boy (but hey, he probably didn't do steroids... maybe... who knows)... but there's not Bonds, Clemens, Piazza, etc.
I also, personally, reserve calling someone the "Babe Ruth of xxx" for the best 1 or 2 players at that position, sport, whatever. I think Kent is maybe the 10th best 2nd baseman.
I just hate the whole steroids issue. It makes an already flawed process even more flawed by letting these writers become the moral police and "guardians of the game" because they heard from their buddy's doctor that his partner once took a class with the Mets doctor who said that Piazza made a joke about the Cream and the Clear.