It's funny you mention the age factor thing. I was probably one of the only people who became a Hal Jordan fan during Kyle's run. I'm 26, so it was my era too, but it caused me to seek out past issues and I became enraged retroactively!
I dunno what it was, but something about Hal (either as his old self or as Parallax) just appealed to me more than Kyle, even thought he was the *actual* GL of my decade, and the one who dominated all of DC's media at the time. Actually, that's one of the things that made me resent Kyle: the fact that DC decreed that every single bit of GL merchandise and mention had to revolve around Kyle, the last and "only" GL in existence. No Corps. No Guy. No John. Certainly no Hal. Just Kyle.
That really bothered me. As a result, I was only able to start appreciating Kyle as a character once DC stopped trying to shove him down my throat all the time (the irony of the fact that they're doing this with Hal now is not lost on me, btw).
But for whatever reason, I just dug Hal more, and was gratified to find an actual group of like-minded people. HEAT's bad rep was mostly undeserved--rather like how scans_daily has a bad rep among many--and while I was seriously reluctant to admit I was (and likely still am, since I never officially resigned) a member, those remnants of my fifteen-year-old self felt compelled to pipe up.