O&B ALL THE WAY
Ali In The Family By Ben Cornfield Courtesy photos
Ali Peek Wilbur has been raised to love the orange and blue under unique circumstances Name: Ali Peek Wilbur
Occupation: Senior editor of the soon-to-be launched Yahoo! Sports Florida. Co-host of “Friday Night Lights – Orlando” on Friday from 8–11 p.m., and “The Doc and Ali Hour” on Monday through Friday from 3–4 p.m. on WRSO 810AM Yahoo Sports Orlando. Also on the hour-long pregame and postgame show for WKMG CBS Orlando called “Gator Gameday” and a weekly college football segment for the “Not Just Sports” show on KDWN 720AM in Las Vegas.
“This is in our blood. I mean, I was probably the only 12-year-old girl that anybody ever knew that cut out every single article of the Tampa Tribune that had to do with Florida, taped them on our wall, and cried if Florida lost.
The Florida Gators football season is moving into the meat of the SEC schedule. While that means so much to so many people across the country and the world, this time of year has held an incredibly deep meaning for one family for well over half of a century. Ali Peek Wilbur’s brother, Scott Peek III, is a redshirt senior who serves as a reserve at fullback after spending the last few 26 GATOR COUNTRY | NOV/2012
seasons as a scout team linebacker. He has put in all the hard work expected of a Division I athlete, but he has done it all with a unique support system and sense of tradition behind him. Ali suspected that’s simply what happens with a grandfather like Scott Peek Sr., whose name is still in the UF record books. “[My grandfather] was a member of the Golden Era Gators,” Ali said. “That era is
Gators ties: Her grandfather, Scott Peek Sr., played football and owns the school record in track and field’s “220 on the curve,” an event no longer run by UF. Her father, Scott Peek Jr., also played football, lining up at cornerback for the Gators. Currently, her brother, Scott Peek III, is a backup fullback. She also married into yet another Gators family when she wed Eric Wilbur, the punter for the 2006 national championship team. Quotable: They helped create the career path that I have. I wanted to be a reporter since I was little. We have videos of when I was six years old pretending to cover the Florida-Florida State games. This is what I’ve wanted to do my entire life and so I think as exciting for me as it is to live my dream, I think it’s probably almost equally exciting for them to know that I want to do this because of them, because of what they have instilled in me my whole life. Fact: Famous alumni include Olympic medalist Dara Torres.