Ninety5rpm said:Studies done about the effect of positive thinking and even placebos on cancer patients indicate otherwise. I doubt any studies have been done on specifically measuring the effect of Armstrong inspiration, but I know too many inspired cancer patients to believe it's negligible.
Miraculous healing is one thing. Inspired by Armstrong to find out everything possible about your disease, to not blindly trust your doctors, to get second, third, etc., opinions, to explore all your options, to grit your teeth and look ahead through all the gruesome treatments, is quite another.
The positive and ultimately healing effect of the inspiration that Armstrong has undoubtedly instilled in hundreds if not thousands of cancer patients might be difficult to measure, but I'm convinced it's very real. (edit: see also this post).
Finally, the average cancer patient is not a hardcore pro cycling fan. He or she does not understand, as we do, that doping, and denying the doping, is a necessary aspect of the sport.
Among the several different messages that Armstrong is delivering in this amazing piece, at all different levels, is this one: You know better. You know I dope. You know I know I dope. You know I have to deny that I dope. You should also know that my story and image is a huge inspiration to countless cancer patients, and that has a real and positive effect on their potential outcomes. You know that exposing the prevalence of doping within the sport, even more than it already has been, is not good for the sport, and certainly not good for the ability of my image to continue to inspire as effectively, especially if I personally am the target. You know better. Let. It. Go..
Please don't conflate the need for transparency with respect to serious political issues with a need for transparency in sports entertainment. Most sports do just fine with far less transparency than cycling has - the last thing cycling needs is more transparency.
Ok I'll support Armstrong now, you've convinced me...Faust. But is there a "give up my soul" clause in the contract.