Like everything about him, Bill King's satanic countenance, with its beard, bristling mustache and almond-shaped eyes buried behind protruding cheekbones, is distinctive. But it is not the sort of kisser that inspires instant affection, particularly from television nabobs and superstitious old women.

A crone once chanced upon an unwitting King on the streets of Milwaukee. She identified him instantly as the Dread Adversary and began menacing him with her cane.

"I beg your pardon, madame," said King who, despite his diabolical mien, is unfailingly cordial to his elders. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh, I know you," snarled the woman. "You, you...you are the devil himself." And she set about giving him his due.

"Aha!" cried King, dodging the blows. "So you recognize me, do you?"

"Yes, I do, you devil you."

"Well, then," cooed King, twirling his mustache seductively, "we shall surely meet again. At my place down there."

The old woman emitted a strangled yelp, withdrew her cane and fled with remarkable haste.

King, of course, is not the Prince of Darkness. He is the play-by-play radio announcer for the National Football League's Oakland Raiders and the National Basketball Association's Golden State Warriors. But, as Ron Fell, longtime producer of King's football broadcasts, has observed, "Bill is not what you call your average run-of-the-mill sportscaster."

He certainly is not an ordinary announcer, or an ordinary anything else. King is a balletomane and opera buff, a serious student of Russian history, language and literature, a sailor of the high seas, a wine connoisseur and accomplished chef, a motorist who considers paying more than $200 for an automobile gross extravagance, and a trencherman who devours raw onions for breakfast.