C# Generic Type Converter

I've seen many type converter in C#, but I haven't come to a generic one yet ... so I decide to write one. I hope this will help ... someone out there

This method provides a unified way of converting object of values to other types.

        /// <summary>
        /// Converts to the type that you like
        /// </summary>
        /// <author>www.pickmike.com</author>
        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
        /// <param name="value"></param>
        /// <param name="defaultValue"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static T convertToType<T>(object value, T defaultValue)
        {
            T result = defaultValue;
            try
            {
                if (value != null)
                {
                    bool tryToCast = true;
                    // Checks for the date
                    if (typeof(T) == typeof(DateTime)) { if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(value.ToString())) { tryToCast = false; } }

                    if (tryToCast) { result = (T)Convert.ChangeType(value, typeof(T)); }
                }
            }
            catch { }
            return result;
        }

Usage:

int myInt = convertToType<int>("10", 0);

DateTime? myDate = convertToType<DateTime?>("something invalid", null);