How did you become a BYU fan?

I'm always interested to hear about why people became fans of their favorite teams. In the case of the Cougars, there are three likely reasons: you're a student, you're from Utah, or you're a Latter-day Saint. The school's connection to the LDS Church is well known, as is the way BYU travels well for away games, since many Utah and LDS transplants show up in their Cougar blue.

Of course, those reasons also make it more difficult to be a BYU fan, especially these days. Inside the state, the BYU-Utah rivalry (I refuse to call it by that stupid nickname) has reached ridiculous proportions... and, let's face it, things didn't go our way this past year. Outside of Utah, BYU's connections to both the state and the LDS Church make the school and its athletic teams an easy (and unfunny) punchline for the ignorant and the belligerent. Sometimes it takes a special kind of fortitude to stay True Blue. But chances are, if you're here and you're reading this, I don't have to tell you that.

But maybe you're from out of state and adopted the team. Maybe your family used to live in Utah and you follow the Cougs from afar. I'm sure there are lots of different stories. So mark yourself in the poll, and tell your story in the comments.