Arthur S. Brisbane felt compelled to weigh in on Jere Longman’s controversial piece on LoLo Jones.

He writes:

In this particular case, I think the writer was particularly harsh, even unnecessarily so.

I queried the sports editor about it, and his response was that “One person’s harsh is another person’s tough minded,” and that the writer, “while acknowledging Jones’s accomplishment and qualities of perseverance and candor, thinks this female athlete fell short.”

I believe writers like Jere Longman, who does have a long and worthy track record at The Times, should have some room to express their hard-earned perspective. But this piece struck me as quite harsh and left me, along with others, wondering why the tone was so strong.

If I was Longman, I’d be pretty ticked off. Wonder if Mr. Brisbane will weigh in on whether Times Op-Ed columns are too harsh?