To me throwing away your jersey says nothing about wanting lowe gone, and more about the fact you're sick of the team and are going to abandon it.
so to me this isn't fire Lowe. This is someone saying I am no longer a fan, and when the team is good I might jump on the bandwagon.
I think for any person its difficult to tread that line between support and fandom. You might like a cause but dislike the actions taken, and vice versa. Its a juxtaposition really. But more than that, its very anti-biological because people are generally built to be vulnerable towards cognitive dissonance.
I think what I'm trying to say is that normally fans are homers. I think it has to be overtly and undeniably bad for that to change. Moreover, I have to ask: how can one unconditionally cheer for a team and at the same time fully disagree with its structure and make-up?
As a Flames mod, we went through the same thing during the Sutter years with Calgary. People thought everyone was a troll even though they called themselves Flames fans. Between the giving-up and the insults, we had to find the reasons for being emotional. Did one ultimately want what's best? And was it frustration, not continuous attack?
If this guy paid for the jersey and once wore it, is he not a fan? He certainly took the time and effort to make his message public, when he simply could have done it in the quietness of his own home.
Just my take.