For years, while growing up on Grandview Drive, one of our playing palaces was Greg Estep’s yard.

Greg was my next-door neighbor, so it was always just a short walk to shoot some basketball in the driveway — even at night, because his father Emmanuel had fixed us up with some lights.

Many of our summer days were filled with playing Whiffle ball in Greg’s side yard. It was usually two-on-two, double-or-nothing Whiffle ball. And we usually used wooden bats because swinging the lighter Whiffle ball bat was supposed to mess up your swing.

The trees served as the perfect backdrop, along with a row of bushes that rested parallel to Grandview Drive.

We’d keep statistics and standings, had our own league right there in Greg’s yard.

Those days seem like so long ago.

I only bring it up now because of learning about Greg’s illness. He was on my mind, along with his wife Pam and their grown children, Chris and Heather. Doctors have discovered what appears to be cancerous tumors in his esophagus as well as in both lungs and cancerous spots on his liver.

Greg and Pam are going to the Cleveland Clinic today to learn more about what Greg is facing and the course of treatment that will be taken.

Being next-door neighbors and the same age, Greg and I hung out a lot back in the day. He was always a good athlete and that translated well for him in high school where he played basketball and football for the Tomcats.

Greg was the starting quarterback for two years at Ashland in 1973 and 1974. During his senior season, which was also my senior year, he led the Tomcats to a 6-3-1 record.

Mike Gothard was the premier player on the team, but Greg was always a good leader and he had a knack for coming up with big plays at opportune times.

One of those six victories was a 14-13 decision over Ironton in Tanks Memorial Stadium when Estep threw a late 10-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Rick Sang and then again found Sang over the middle for the two-point conversion that turned out to be the winning points.

Estep completed all five of his passes for 54 yards in one of his highlight games that senior season. The victory snapped Ironton’s 21-game regular season winning streak.

The 1974 team had several underclassmen on it and that team went on to fame as the JAWS unit that finished 14-1 and lost in the Class 4A finals to Louisville St. Xavier in 1975. It is one of Ashland’s mostly fondly remembered teams.

Estep played with those guys and others. He also played on a very good basketball team that was stunned in the 16th Region Tournament by Greenup County in the opening round after going undefeated against region competition in the regular season.

That would be the year that Fairview wound up going to the State Tournament — the Eagles’ only trip to the Sweet Sixteen to date — as Ashland wondered what might have been.

The fighter in Greg Estep the athlete — his nickname was “Mad Dog” for goodness sake — is the same person who is in the fight for his life now.

Bill Hornbuckle, another of our gang on Grandview Drive, saw Greg in the hospital last week and said he was in good spirits and ready to learn more about what needed to be done. Greg would never be one to feel sorry for himself.

I hope and pray for Greg as he tackles this hurdle in front of him. I know he’ll approach it head-on and with the same feisty spirit that made him a memorable athlete at Ashland.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.