I prefer sorting by date rather than title. The first word of the title doesn't always give any indication as to the subject matter and sorting this way won't result in similar threads being grouped, so I see little value in doing it like that. I'm obviously glad to be corrected if I've missed something.
When I log on to the Cove I always view threads using the "Posts Last 24 Hours" and/or "Since Last Visit" facilities, as I find searching within a chronological context is easier.