Syracuse’s current nine-game losing streak is the longest in program history. Its last win came more than a month ago.

“In those cases, the chemistry is often one of the first things to go,” said SU head coach Phil Wheddon of losing.

But the Orange’s team chemistry has only gotten stronger as the season has gone on, and a party game is one of the reasons why.

Syracuse (3-11, 0-6 Atlantic Coast) has maintained a strong team bond by playing “Mafia” on bus rides and in airports. The game has filled many of the hours the Orange has spent on the road and in the air, allowing players to take their minds off their undesirable season. More importantly, it contributes to the team’s unity and has brought them closer, Georgia Allen said.

“Mafia” is played with a minimum of seven players and revolves around conflict between the “Mafia,” and the “Townspeople.” A player’s role — either as the “Mafia,” “Detective,” “Doctor,” “Barman,” “Magician,” or “Innocent” — is determined by the card they are randomly assigned by the moderator. At the beginning of the season, Kate Hostage suggested SU play the game when it had several hours to kill. Ever since, it’s been a hit.

“There’s always couple girls that do homework on the bus instead, they don’t play,” Victoria Hill said. “But I think everybody has played. There’s never anybody against it. We all support the team having fun together.”

Those selected as members of the Mafia have specific roles and are responsible for figuratively killing off Innocents. During the “day cycle,” Innocents must seek out which players are Mafia. To maintain the secrecy of your identity, you have to be good at lying, Allen said, and there are several SU players who aren’t.

“Clarke (Brown) is bad. Mackenzie (Vlachos) is bad. Lysianne (Proulx) is bad,” Allen said. “They can’t lie. They just can’t.”

Throughout each round, which can last anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes, players try to discover others’ roles through their behavior, hold discussions and accuse players whose roles they think they know. The Innocents aim to correctly identify the “Mafia” during the “day cycle,” removing them from the game, while the Mafia try to kill off Innocents during the “night cycle.” The game ends when either the Mafia wins by killing all the Townspeople, or the Townspeople correctly identify the Mafia.

While all of SU’s players have participated in the game at one point or another, Wheddon has never played. When he hears it starting in the back of the bus, he makes sure to not interject or get involved, he said.

“I stay out of those games,” Wheddon said with a chuckle. “On the bus, they’re a very tight group. If they’re not sleeping or studying, they’re playing (Mafia).”

Getting to know one another’s tendencies as people has helped Syracuse on the field, Allen said, as the players have learned how to motivate and pick each other up. The Orange’s cohesion has contributed to the constant belief that it can compete with anyone, regardless of what the records and statistics say.

“I know so many teams that would have crumbled completely by now,” Allen said. “This team is nowhere near that.”

So instead of turning on each other, the Orange remain together. And on the next bus ride Syracuse takes seeking its first ACC win, there will likely be another game of Mafia.

Published on October 9, 2018 at 10:08 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu