Yes, the result is a bit unexpected but it works much better than other "more traditional" approaches. I mean, it's really "at a glance" that I can find the strongest news.

As for the "Hyped News" name, I don't think negative is inappropriate, take "Git" for example. Instead, amount of points and comments can be at the same time an indicator of importance (mostly points) and controversy (mostly comments). In either case, the leftmost news end up being those which people are more excited about.