TB - why random threads expanded on group open?

I always find it annoying when I check for new newsgroup messages and a
group opens into the middle of a very long thread that I am not
interested in. There seems to be no method to this madness! There may be
unread, collapsed or expanded threads above and below, but TB usually
(although not always) opens the groups in the midst of some longwinded
flame war or spam thread (and focus may or may not be on an out of sight
thread). This forces me to kill or collapse the annoying thread, and
then scroll up and down to check for threads of interest.

When I say "open", TB is running constantly after bootup, but the (only)
news server folder is collapsed. Clicking on that folder loads the new,
unread, messages and expands the list of groups. At the point I click on
a particular group to read, this is when I suffer the aggravation!

I would LIKE it to open with all message threads in the group collapsed,
AND the first thread with NEW messages in view, if not also with focus.

Any insight?