Jeff Kent is a Hall of Famer

Some voters might hold his prickly personality against him, but there should be no doubt that Jeff Kent is a Hall of Famer, although he certainly won’t be a unanimous choice. . . .

Of course, neither were Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan or Cal Ripken Jr. unanimous picks. . . .

No Hall of Famer has been elected without dissent. . . .

Thirty years ago, 23 voters snubbed Willie Mays and, in 1936, 11 turned their backs on Babe Ruth. . . .

Kent, by the way, finished his career with more home runs than Joe DiMaggio, who wasn’t elected to the Hall until his third year on the ballot, and more runs batted in than Mickey Mantle. . . .

Lakers rout Clippers, Andrew Bynum impersonates Shaquille O’Neal: Just the way they ‘Drew it up. . . .

Phil Jackson said it would be about a year before Bynum was back to his former self and, 12 months after damaging his knee, Bynum made his coach look like a prophet by delivering a knockout performance against the wobbly Clippers. . . .

LeBron James remains the favorite, but perhaps the suddenly pass-happy Kobe Bryant is trying to follow the Magic Johnson-Steve Nash lead in pursuit of another MVP trophy. . . .

If the hapless Tampa Bay Rays can reach the World Series and the woebegone Arizona Cardinals the Super Bowl, isn’t it possible the Clippers could reach the NBA Finals? . . .

You know, some day? . . .

Take heart, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals: Underdogs won two of the previous three Super Bowls played in Tampa. . . .

When the Miami Dolphins wrapped up the only unbeaten season of the Super Bowl era, outscoring the Washington Redskins at the Coliseum in January 1973, they were two-point underdogs. . . .

By the way, maybe the Cardinals weren’t the worst team ever to make the playoffs, as was being suggested a month ago. . . .

UCLA might have won a 12th NCAA basketball title if Trevor Ariza had stuck around for one or two more seasons. . . .

Reader Denis Maloney of Sherman Oaks e-mails to remind that Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, wore No. 44 at Syracuse. . . .

As did Jim Brown. . . .

Two more notable Southland athletes who wore No. 44: UC Irvine basketball All-American Kevin Magee; Ducks forward and Stanley Cup champion Rob Niedermayer. . . .

Paul Westphal, who wore No. 25 at USC, switched to No. 44 in the NBA, where he had it retired by the Phoenix Suns. . . .

Proving that just about anything related to the Super Bowl is ripe for a wager, BetUS.com has posted odds on which songs will be performed by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at halftime, listing “Born to Run” as the favorite. . . .

Goose Gossage, who gave up the famous “pine tar” home run to George Brett in 1983, told the audience at Saturday’s Professional Scouts Foundation fundraiser in Century City, “That’s the maddest human being I’ve ever seen.” . . .

Donovan McNabb’s winning percentage as an NFL starter is higher than Brett Favre’s, Eli Manning’s or Warner’s and slightly lower than Peyton Manning’s, but after five trips to the NFC title game he’s still looking for a Super Bowl ring. . . .

Doug Williams, 21 years ago, remains the only African American quarterback to win football’s biggest game. . . .

Former USC and NFL quarterback Jim Hardy, introducing himself Thursday at a luncheon in Palm Desert: “I played for the Rams when they were in Los Angeles, the Cardinals when they were in Chicago and the Lions when they were winning.” . . .

If you think it’s difficult to pick an all-time Lakers starting five, e-mails Andrea Kasper of El Segundo, “try finding five Kings outside of [Wayne] Gretzky worthy of an all-time starting lineup.” . . .

How about Rogie Vachon, Luc Robitaille, Rob Blake and Hall of Famers Marcel Dionne and Larry Murphy? . . .

Next month’s Amgen Tour of California, the second stop on Lance Armstrong’s comeback parade, will skip right past the Los Angeles Basin, the seventh stage of the eight-stage race taking riders from Santa Clarita to Pasadena and the eighth taking them from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido. . . .

Are we not worthy? . . .

Noting that the Dallas Cowboys reportedly are interested in Ray Lewis if he becomes a free agent, FARK.com suggests they’re interested “not because of his declining skills but for his willingness to beat the . . . out of Terrell Owens when he whines.”

--

jerome.crowe@latimes.com