For Father's Day, Mary and the boys got me a new baseball glove, a Rawlings REVO 950 with a 12.75 inch thumb to ring/little finger solid core deep pocket. The perfect glove! And, they even had it personalized at the factory: "DANZ."

With the ability to customize every aspect of a baseball glove today, there are a near infinite number of options. But, as a traditionalist, I like the classic leather color all around with the Pro H web and a minimum of floppy lacing for a clean professional look.

I have an old Spalding baseball glove that I've had with me over the years but I don't remember if it was originally mine, my sister's, a family glove or just something I picked up somewhere. I never played organized baseball after grade school and I don't remember ever buying a glove after that either. I was always all about basketball.

The boys and I played some baseball in the backyard tonight. The glove felt and worked awesome. Two or three years ago when Drew could only hit wiffle ball dribblers off the tee, I told him if he ever hit a home run over our fence that I'd take him out for ice cream. Tonight, Drew's improvement over the spring season really showed as he hit line drive after line drive into our fence from across the yard. I knew it was only a matter of time. Finally, he pounded a high one through the tree and well into our neighbor's yard. After dinner, we all went out for some well-deserved ice cream. It was a wonderful Father's Day.

I was fortunate enough to be asked to review Lands' End newly redesigned original mesh polo. Since a polo is a work staple for me during the summer, I jumped at the opportunity. I already have several dark navy or as Lands' End calls it true navy polos, so I requested a dark cobalt blue polo shirt.

I wore the shirt twice before washing it. (I'm not one of those persons who has to wash a brand new item before I use it. *cough* Mary *cough*) I'd say that it felt great but the best compliment that I can give the polo is that I totally forgot I was "reviewing" the shirt until I got undressed the first evening. In actuality, the shirt does have a great quality feel and weight to it.

I like the fact that the polo has a "no curl" collar and the banded sleeves don't appear as though they will stretch out has has happened on some of my cheaper polos. I've gotten a good number of polos in the past for birthdays and Father's Day and, if not for a certain item I have on order, I wouldn't mind asking for another Lands' End polo for Father's Day... especially given the very reasonable price. A classic polo is easily the most versatile piece of clothing in a guy's wardrobe, perfect with shorts, jeans, khakis, or slacks, tucked or un-tucked.

The fabric is a classic polo mesh weave the same as I remember my first polo from years ago (a hand-me-down), exactly the way a polo should be.

*FREE GIVEAWAY*
And now, the best part of this blog post. Lands' End was kind enough to provide me with one of its newly redesigned original mesh polos to be given away to one of my readers. All you have to do is: (1) leave a comment about why you would like to win a Lands' End polo, (2) use an email address that I can contact you with if you are the winner, (3) one entry per email address, (4) enter by midnight central time Wednesday, June 22, 2011, (5) be the randomly chosen winner. If you want to know your odds of winning, just check out the number of comments to this post. The winner will have to respond to my email notification that you won within 12 hours and provide me the U.S. address that you want your polo shipped to along with the size (S,M,L,XL, or XXL). Sorry, the winner does not get to choose the color. It will be one of the colors on the right.

*I am not responsible for any glitches that happen in the giveaway or even my own stupid mistakes. By leaving a comment you are entering and agree that it is perfectly legal and that I won't be held responsible for any butt-hurt you may suffer.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Lands' End and received a polo shirt to facilitate my review, one to giveaway, and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

[UPDATE:] I was too tired to pick a winner after midnight so this morning I surfed over to Random.org and had it pick a random number between 1 and 57 inclusive and it spit out "55." So, DanV is the lucky winner. He has since responded to my email and his information has been forwarded. Thanks everyone who entered.

Drew's baseball team had a miniature golf outing and pizza party today that Mary, as team parent (f/k/a team mother), organized and I attended with Drew and Will. This is Drew teeing off.

Will was very proud to wear his big brother's baseball jersey excitedly stating, "They'll think I'm on the team!" This is Will teeing off.

Drew tapping in a short putt.

Will putting from the edge of the green (and showing his ambidexterity).

The boys had a great time and then chowed down on some pizza.

I've got to replace the expansion joint between two concrete slabs of our patio as Mr. Frog reminded us tonight. The poor guy was stuck. Fortunately, Mama made like Steve Irwin and freed the little green jumper.

The Man of the House website describes itself as, "the real man's magazine, a guide for the jack of all trades trying to be better - at work and at home, as a father and as a husband...Man of the House is about men helping other men become better men. We're here for the man who wears a dozen hats and worries about losing his hair." The site has an interesting and useful conglomeration of articles, how-tos, tips and advise spanning a wide variety of subjects pertinent to the average man. In short, it appears designed for the middle-aged, middle class, regular guy, who must somehow be an expert in everything from home and auto repair, to modern technology, to investing, to child rearing.

Currently Man of the House is running a World's Greatest TV Dad Contest. The 32 TV dads in the March Madness style contest are: Eric Taylor, Don Draper, Mike Brady, Tom Bradford, Phil Dunphy, Michael Kyle, Homer Simpson, Mitchell Pritchett, Howard Cunningham, Jay Pritchett, Charles Ingalls, Phillip Banks, Richard Castle, Tim Taylor, Paul Hennessy, George Lopez, Steven Keaton, Ray Barone. Michael Hogan, Robby Stewart, Carl Winslow, Jason Seaver, Al BundyAl Bundy, Dan Conner, Adam Braverman, Hayden Fox, Danny Tanner, Red Forman, Cliff Huxtable, James Evans, Tony Micelli, Jack ArnoldJack Arnold.

As for me, my pick for Greatest TV Dad probably coincides simply with the one I watched the most growing up: Mike Brady. But, I have no delusions about him winning the contest. He's old school and the winner will likely go to someone more modern who's had to deal with far more complex and difficult issues of modern times. But that's one of the reasons I like Mr. Brady, I make the assumption that he (and his wife) raised the kids right from the beginning so that there were no huge problems on down the line. I firmly believe the battles you fight when the kids are young are the battles you don't have to fight when they are older. Likewise, the values you instill in them in their youth are the values you can rely on as they grow older and are under your watchful eye less and less.

I remember Mr. Brady giving his boys, Greg in particular, just enough rope to hang himself with, that is, to learn a lesson on his own the hard way. But, when the situation called for it, I remember him sitting on one of his kid's beds and having a heart-to-heart talk. It seemed like a good mixture. And that, alas, is what a modern dad (and mother together) must be, a disciplinarian and instiller of values and educator of all the lessons that one needs to be successful in life. Because, lets face it, you ain't gonna learn all that from the TV!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of P&G and received promotional items to thank me for taking the time to participate.