5 days would be optimal, as most leagues (Madden anyway) have seen. 4 days may be right in the middle of a person's work week. Not caring about what you're schedule is, well, is a bit thick headed. And it's not just your own schedule you're worried about, it's someone elses as well. with Widgetraf, he tried messaging me a few times, while I was at work, I'd get on AIM and not see him around and go to bed. Finally got a hold of him yesterday, but hew as AFK. I waited for about an hour, I think, then went to doing other things. He messaged me back while I was away and I was finishing up what I was doing and going to bed.
Now, we agreed to try to play tonight, but I had to go away, came back, and it looks like now he's AFK.
Your hard deadline is a bit silly, considering the timeframe. while 4 and 5 days may not be too different, it helps to make sure you can set aside some time to play. Sure, it may only take 30 minutes to play all the games, but if two people are constantly missing each other, that's pretty lame I think.
Anyway, Raf, if you're around, my Wii is waiting for you