Following unproductive meetings with Canadian Football League executives and the leagues legal counsel Friday, the Canadian Football League Players Association has decided to take a significant step to emphasize its solidarity in negotiations: The union has begun sending strike ballots by priority mail. A player confirmed to TSN on the condition of anonymity that he received his ballot yesterday. Another confirms hes been told to expect his shortly. "The unions executive committee insists a strike vote does not mean were pushing away from the table," the player said. "But we want the league to know were serious about our position." The players executive committee includes union president Scott Flory, vice-presidents Jay McNeil, Marwan Hage and Jeff Keeping and treasurer Brian Ramsay. Keeping (Toronto Argonauts) and Ramsay (Edmonton Eskimos) are the two active players on the committee. The league and players are still scheduled to meet in Toronto Wednesday - eight days before the current CBA is set to expire on May 29 - when the players will table a new proposed collective bargaining agreement that will include a revenue sharing scheme with the union requesting a percentage of gate, sponsorship and television revenue. With each revenue stream the union is proposing its share be in the range of approximately 40-55 per cent. The proposal includes a salary cap of approximately $7 million in the first year of a new CBA. In 2013, the last year of the current agreement, the salary cap was $4.4 million. The league has so far been reluctant to discuss any revenue sharing model. "Weve been told to expect a step back tomorrow (from the owners)," the player says. The CFLPA requires more than 50 per cent of its players to confirm a strike vote. But the players must adhere to provincial labour laws, and cannot picket immediately. According to a source with knowledge of the talks, only players in certain provinces, where a strike vote can happen before the current bargaining expires, have received their ballots. Frank Viola Twins Jersey . Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night. Wholesale Twins Jerseys . Roy says he will know more about Duchenes potential playing status Sunday. Duchene has been out since damaging the MCL in his left knee when he ran into a teammate against San Jose on March 29. Hes been skating on his own all week, before joining the team Saturday hours before a pivotal game in a series tied at 2. https://www.cheaptwins.com/1532t-tom-bru...rsey-twins.html. Alvarez hit his first career home run, pitched six innings and hurt his right hamstring while running the bases in the Miami Marlins 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. Terry Steinbach Twins Jersey . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Martin Perez Jersey . - David Tomasek had two goals in regulation time and was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Belleville Bulls upset the Oshawa Generals 6-5 on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action.MIAMI -- By now, the Miami Heat know a thing or two about planning championship celebrations. Theyre getting a fair amount of practice. A pair of 3D videos that will turn the court into a theatre screen and even the infamous yellow rope -- which got attention for all the wrong reasons in Game 6 of last seasons NBA Finals against San Antonio -- will be part of the show Tuesday when the Heat distribute their newest championship rings and raise another commemorative banner to the rafters before the teams season-opener against the Chicago Bulls. For the Heat, its their third banner-raising party in seven years, and the second one theyll hold in a span of 12 months. "Its a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to the expectations that we set for ourselves as an organization," said Michael McCullough, the teams executive vice-president and chief marketing officer. "Id say its much more internal-based than external." Elements of the team introduction video have been teased in social media, but not much in the way of details -- especially about the rings -- have leaked out publicly. One known piece of the party is that yellow lanyards, a reminder of the rope that security personnel used to cordon off the court in the last seconds of regulation of Game 6 as it looked the Spurs were about to clinch the title, will be part of a fan-giveaway item. Those security workers had to retreat, and take the rope with theem, when Ray Allen made a 3-pointer with 5.dddddddddddd2 seconds left in regulation to cap a wild Heat comeback and tie the game, which Miami wound up winning in overtime. The rope has been a talking point around Miami ever since. "Its a nod to the importance of that element," McCullough said. The Heat will wear specially designed warm-ups and uniforms, all with gold effects to signify the colour of the championship trophy. The jersey will only be worn on opening night, and is one of 10 that the team plans to wear at various times this season. The team will also be offering a wide range of championship-themed jewelry, including rings, to fans for purchase. All the looking-back is nice, but to the players, whats going on before the game takes a back seat -- for good -- once the new season starts for real. "After we get our rings, thats last year," Heat star and four-time NBA MVP LeBron James said. James made no secret about how much he enjoyed last years ring party, and he and Heat players have said some of the elements that they know about, such as the player video, meet with their approval. "Im going to see some of it, obviously," James said. "Im going to watch a lot of it and I dont take it for granted. We did some special things last year and this is an opportunity for us to look back at it one more time, but I definitely wont lose sight of whats in front of me." ' ' '