Newly minted Princeton Heavyweight coach Greg Hughes has had a pretty good year, leading the Princeton lightweights to one of their most successful seasons ever. All of this is nice, but Hughes is arguably more famous for his brief coaching cameo in the opening credits of the hit TV show, House, MD; watched by millions each week. row2k got a quick interview with Greg to find out how the cameo came to be.

row2k - You and your crew are featured in the opening credits of the show House, how did that come about?
Greg Hughes - For about a week, there was a helicopter flying over Princeton early every morning and then again in the late afternoons. Nobody really knew why, but figured it was shooting footage for the university. At that point, none of us had heard about the show "House," or that it was based in Princeton. On one of the days during that week, the helicopter made an appearance over the lake and spent about 20' filming my crew.

row2k - What was it like or what were you thinking when being buzzed by a helicopter during practice?
Greg Hughes - It was a pretty wild experience. They made passes over us for about a mile. In that time, there were some moments where they came extremely close. So close, in fact, that the wind from the rotors blew the oars out of some of the kid's hands and we had to stop and wait for them to clear out. None of us knew why they were doing it or who it was.

row2k - For how long were they circling your crew?
Greg Hughes - They were filming us for about 20'

row2k - Which crew is it that made it into the final shot?
Greg Hughes - The crew in this shot is my 1F from 2004.

row2k - How did you hear about it when the show first aired?
Greg Hughes - After the first episode aired, one of the coaches came into the boathouse and said that there was a quick clip of a boat rowing down the lake. I programmed the DVR for the next week to check it out, and there we were...

row2k - What are your thoughts on that show, does being in the opening credits get you to tune in more often that you would otherwise?
Greg Hughes - There's no question that House is my second favorite program on TV. It's awesome, but can't quite beat the Daily Show. Greg House should be a freshman coach. Normally, I record shows to watch later and fast-forward through the opening credits. Not so with House.