I don't quite understand the 'blowhard professor' and bitcoin references. There are are hundreds of thousands of attributed peer-reviewed publications per year by serious academics who want to further the field.
You're absolutely right. There are. Blowhard professors, in my opinion, are the ones that prioritize recognition over research. There's a thread in certain research circles that would eschew any such recognition in the hopes of putting their work on a pedestal in place of themselves (e.g., the Bitcoin people, again in my opinion).