Not only does it pad out the page, which prevents users from digesting many headlines at once, but it gives the submitter a "sticky" comment at the top of their submission page for them to elaborate on their post. If you're aiming for high quality content and discussion, it might be worthwhile to consider it.

Also, thanks for making your alternative open source and documenting your sorting algorithm!

Wow thanks for pointing this out (about the algorithm). That's perfect for people like me who hobby around in algorithms! Big thanks for considering your users!