'He was a mentor who never had a bad word to say about anybody (except when Don Paul stole time from his sportscast). After my worst day in broadcasting, filling in as a sports anchor on a weekend that included Bills pre-season highlights (trust me it was a train-wreck of truly epic proportions), that following Monday Van looked at the tape and said, “Rico, as a sports guy, you’re a pretty good newsman.” I never forgot that support.'