A social media giant says Chargers fans are the least optimistic about their team of the 32 NFL fan bases.

The finding comes from nosy Facebook, which claims a sports fan community of 50 million customers who like an official team page.

Here's how the site collected its material from a recent seven-week span, took a stab at forming conclusions about all 32 fan bases, and made me think George Orwell indeed saw the future:

Specifically, we took a look at all Facebook posts and comments NFL fans made during the preseason (July 22 – September 7) about the teams they Like on Facebook, and classified them according to how positive or negative they were. This enabled us to compare and rank all 32 NFL teams by how positive the overall conversation among each fan base was during the preseason (Figure 1), as well as look more closely at trends over time for specific teams. As always, the insights presented here are based on depersonalized, aggregated data.

• The five most optimistic fan bases: Chiefs , Dolphins, Vikings , Saints and Titans .

My take: Sports fans in greater Kansas City eat happy pills for breakfast. These kindly folks supported the baseball Royals through some 20 years of futility. The last time the Chiefs won a playoff game, Joe Montana was their quarterback.

• The five least optimistic fan bases: Chargers, Patriots , Steelers , Bills and Washington.

Facebook, putting a spin on the data, theorized "Chargers fans spent half of the preseason worrying about the Rivers contract situation."

My take: Bunk. Chargers fans worried far more about the franchise leaving than Rivers leaving. How could they not? The harsh rhetoric of Spanos mouthpiece Mark Fabiani, the team's point man in the stadium game, created the impression the team plans to leave San Diego.

Absent a deal with the Chargers, the only NFL team to employ him, where would've Rivers gone, other than Alabama to coach youth football? Not only did the Chargers hold his negotiating rights through early next March, they could've retained him through 2016 or 2017 with the franchise tag.

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I've not been spying on Chargers fans. But I find many more bullish about this team than, say, the 2012 and 2013 Chargers. Team veteran Malcom Floyd detects a similar enthusiasm.

"I think fans think we have a good team this year, and (that) we definitely have a great chance," said Floyd, who joined the Chargers in 2004. "They say to me, 'Go ahead and win it all.' "

It's Rivers who drives a lot of the optimism.

"We have the best quarterback in the league," Floyd said. "We just need to be there for him -- all of us."

• The fan base that refuses to lose hope? Browns fans, who are more optimistic than seven others.



My take: Befriend a Browns fan if you desire unflinching loyalty. Vegas oddsmakers make the Browns heavy favorites for a 12th losing season in 13 years. The franchise has never made a Super Bowl. The owner was found to be a crook. The general manager was suspended for violating an NFL rule. The head coach was the team's fifth or sixth choice. Cleveland's supposed answer at quarterback, Johnny Manziel, was shut down this summer due to a sore throwing elbow. He spent last winter in a rehab clinic. And yet, the (shot) glass is half full.