Everyone was pretty much ready to hate Jaime when he appeared, not because Ted was respected on a Hal level, but because of the silly way he went out, heroic mode notwithstanding. And while Ted was still the bwah ha ha ha guy at that point, people had a real affection for the character. Thankfully, for the reasons you pointed out, among others, Rogers and Giffen managed to make Jaime likeable and relatable, not to mention his entire supporting cast.

I didn't really pay much attention to the title until I listened to the buzz on scans_daily, and evn then didn't pick it up until I read that amazingly written little scene where Guy hands over Ted's copy of BH Liddell Hart's Strategy to Jaime. We were told how wonderful Kyle was. With Jaime, we were shown.