OFF THE WALL

Fake marina 15 miles from the water in Miami

Formula One pictured a race in Miami and envisioned sun, sand, beaches and boats, writes of The Associated

Jenna Fryer Press.

So when the inaugural Miami Grand Prix landed at Hard Rock Stadium, nowhere near the South Beach backdrop F1 was seeking, the promoter said don’t worry.

F1 wants boats in a suburban neighborhood?

Done. They built a fake marina. With fake water, and all.

Well, it’s not really water at all in The Mia Marina, located between turns 4 and 6 at the purpose-built venue around the Miami Dolphins’ stadium. It can be found at the corner of NW 27th Ave. and NW 199th St. in Miami Gardens, a land-locked neighborhood some 15 miles away from F1’s initial desired downtown location.

It isn’t exactly Monaco, but the man-made marina is a 25,000-square-foot dry dock designed to look like water. The 10 yachts are real but the water is just plywood that’s been covered in a decal.

Tickets to the “Yacht Club” started at $9,500 up to $38,000 for a four-person pass.

It’s part of a five-star weekend experience created by Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium and managing partner of the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. He’s worked with owner Stephen Ross to turn Hard Rock Stadium into a global sports and entertainment venue worthy of the top events in the world.

Hard Rock has hosted Super Bowls, college playoff games, a major tennis tournament, international soccer, concerts and the “Rolling Loud” musical festival.

From Jay-z and Beyonce ,to Serena Williams and Neymar, the biggest names have all been to Hard Rock.

And on Saturday, former first lady Michelle Obama watched an F1 practice session from the back of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s pit.

“Steve Ross had a vision and for us to truly host the world’s great big events, and for that to be true, Formula One has got to be on that list,” Garfinkel said.

Trivia question

On this date in 1984, the late Kirby Puckett debuted with the Minnesota Twins. How many hits did he have?

They said it

• From Mike Bianchi of the Ortando (Fla.) Sentinel, on sports’ next headache: “How long will it be before the stud college quarterback — two days before the big game — threatens to enter the transfer portal unless the boosters renegotiate his NIL deal? You know it’s going to happen eventually.”

• From Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times: “The Cincinnati Reds are off to their worst 25game start ever — 3-22. It’s gotten so bad even Pete Rose won’t bet on them.”

• From Janice Hough of Leftcoastsportsbabe.com, on the Phillies blowing a 7-1 lead in the ninth: “Giants manager Gabe Kapler never wants to hear about piling on with a big lead again.”

• From OTW: On this day in 1961, the new New York baseball team got its nickname, the Mets. If New York were to get another new pro sports team, it would probably be named the Bets.”

Trivia answer

The Hall of Fame outfielder went 4-for-5, all singles, in a 5-0 win over the California Angels. He batted leadoff, but scored only once.