I've experienced the same thing which made me wonder whether there are any control by the admins deciding which stories that should end up in the front page.

For example a magic button for admins or moderators that will boost a story to the front page irrespective of the votes or time the stories have been submitted.

Because some older stories with little number of votes come up to the front page where new stories with same number of votes doesn't end up in the front page.

What do you guys think can there be a power for a selected few?