I think you're overstating the case: I wouldn't call the Turing Award or the Fields Medal nonsense, for example. The "test of time" awards for enduring research

I think you're overstating the case: I wouldn't call the Turing Award or the Fields Medal nonsense, for example. The "test of time" awards for enduring research are also pretty valid, I think (e.g. http://www.sigmod.org/sigmodinfo/awards/#time http://www.sigmod.org/sigmodinfo/awards/#time ) Just because an award might be subject to politics doesn't mean it can't nevertheless be a meaningful recognition of high-calibre work. Obviously, awards aren't the only or the most reliable way to identify good work, but many awards can't fairly be dismissed as "nonsense", either. (But in the case of the Crunchies, I think they are widely understood to be a meaningless PR stunt.)