I had to rush my game a bit in order to meet the original deadline. If I had known about an extension, I would have probably done things a little different.
That being said, I was actually pretty happy with the way my end game came together, so maybe being 'forced' to rush was a good thing.
I have no problem with granting an extension. Of course, since the original deadline was 1/31/2011, an extension of 1 week isn't enough. I guess you just have to establish the new deadline that give Ali enough time to finish.